q is for quandie

This poor dresser has been wasting away out in the carriage house all winter.

 Somehow its plain straight lines just weren’t inspiring me.

But I have made a commitment to get to all of the pieces that are waiting for me out there, and this one was next up on the list.  It is a great example of how my plans change as I begin working on a piece.  My original plan was to paint it grey with white horizontal stripes on the drawers, much like this inspiration photo from pinterest.

I was going to use Fusion paint, because I knew that would handle the taping of the lines quite well.

I even ran to Hobby Lobby and bought some really pretty crystal knobs that I thought would work well with this rather more formal look.  However, while picking up those knobs, I also grabbed some glass pulls just to see how I liked them on this piece.  Since it already had two holes for each pull, I thought maybe, just maybe, the glass pulls would work.

Sure enough, they were exactly the right size.  To me, glass drawer pulls give a very ‘vintage farmhouse’ feel to a piece, which meant I had to change gears and go with milk paint.  Also, after taking a closer look at the dresser, I decided it would be the perfect piece for stripping the top and refinishing it with my favorite wax for that, the Cece Caldwell Aging Cream.

All that remained was to pick a color.  I debated several Miss Mustard Seed colors, but in the end I realized I was kind of bored with the “out of the bag” colors.  I needed something custom mixed.  I went to my favorite place for inspiration, pinterest.  I keep a pin board for MMS colors and I try to pin custom color examples whenever I see them.  I considered using a color that Dear Emmeline created called Eucalyptus.  It is a mix of Boxwood and Ironstone.  But I wanted more blue in my color.  Then I saw a dresser painted by Abbe Doll and decided it was perfect!  A mix of 3 parts Luckett’s Green to 2 parts French Enamel, and I just happened to have plenty of both colors.  I don’t think that she named her color, so I’m calling it Tropical Island.  It’s a beautiful shade of blue green, like the waters surrounding a tropical island.

And since I was on a roll with the whole ‘island’ thing, I decided to turn the dresser into a kitchen island!

Ken and I worked together to add new casters.  Why new?  I wanted them to be functional.  The vintage casters tend to look pretty, but you wouldn’t really want to roll your pieces around on them too much.  These larger casters also added the perfect amount of height to bring the top up to counter top height.

I staged the piece in my own kitchen first to see how it would look.  I thought it would be perfect to take photos in the early morning when the light is flooding in.  I forgot to factor in that the light would be flooding in behind the island.

Hmmm.  Not the best plan.  Although I like that you can now easily picture this piece as an island.  And since it is intended to ‘float’ in the room like this, I did paint the back.

You can see that I added a little hook to the side for hanging a towel.

In the end I hauled the tropical kitchen island out to the photo cottage to take advantage of better lighting.  I staged it with a lovely French ironstone bowl and some other pretty vintage kitchen items.

As is typical with MMS milk paint, there is some slight color variation in the paint.  You can really see it more clearly in this close up.  The drawers are a little more green than the body of the dresser.  But in this case, the drawers are all the same, and I think this look works on this piece.

After having the island in place in our own kitchen, Mr. Q and I have decided we really don’t have room for a kitchen island.  So, this one is for sale?  How about you, do you have space to fill in your kitchen?

Remember the cane back chairs I picked up a while back?

Well, they are promised to one of my favorite customers, Nikkii.  We once added up all of the pieces she has purchased from me, and it was in the double digits.

I think the very first piece she purchased from me was this bed, back in my pre-blog days.

 She also has the Duncan Phyfe sideboard …

and this sweet white dresser …

Not to mention the footboard chalkboard.

Plus a bunch more!

So I am happy to be working on these chairs for her.  I know they will be right at home along with the other pieces she has!

However, they are turning into one of those projects.  The ones where you just keep running into snag after snag.  And they still aren’t done, but I thought I would give you an update (mainly because I don’t have anything else to share today!).

My original plan was to start with removing those arm rest patches so that I could just paint the arms.

Easier said than done.  The Velcro slipcover thingie came right off, but the upholstered arm cover had about 400 million staples holding it in place.  I spent over an hour on the first one, and still had about 20 firmly embedded staples left in the arm that I simply could not get out.  It was time to consider a plan B.  I am going to attempt to re-upholster them.  Miss Mustard makes it look so easy, I hope it is.

Once I made this decision, I decided to go ahead with the painting.  I painted one coat of chalk paint on the first chair, and quickly realized that it was going to be a challenge to cover all of that cane with a brush.  Time for another plan B.

I decided to spray paint the cane first, then cover it with a final coat of chalk paint.  I generally avoid spray painting indoors though, so I had to wait until the weather cooperated so I could haul them outside for this step.  I am not a big fan of spray painted furniture, but when it comes to both cane and wicker, it can often be the best option.

While manhandling the chairs for spray painting, I realized that one of the arms was really wobbly.  I thought I could shore it up by just tightening the screw that holds it in place.  No dice.  I called my handy man/neighbor/furniture miracle worker, Ken, for a consultation.  He decided he could work some magic with glue and by adding an additional screw where the arm meets the chair back.  Since I’m going to paint these, he knew I could patch and paint over the screw head.  Thank goodness for Ken, but of course this was another delay in getting the chairs painted.

Meanwhile, I was working out a plan for the cushions.  Luckily my friend and Carriage House Sale partner, Sue, is a fabulous seamstress who doesn’t mind tackling the occasional sewing job for me.  I sent the cushions home with her along with some drop cloth fabric.  She whipped up some slip-covers for me in no time!

She made them with an unstructured pillow sham-like design, so they could be slipped off and washed.  Since Nikkii has some little ones at home, I know she will appreciate this feature.  Here is the underside, with two ends that overlap so the cushion can be slipped out.

And here is how one looks on a partially finished chair.

Nice, right?

So … progress is being made … but I’m not quite done.

I still need to add another coat of white, distress and wax, then re-cover the arm patches.  I’m hoping to get all of that done this coming weekend.  Wish me luck!

On a related note, for you Fixer Upper fans, remember when I first posted about these chairs and I mentioned that Joanna had used similar chairs in one of her fixer uppers?  Well, she did it again.  In the most recent episode, Asian Ranch, she used them again …

Does she re-use furniture for staging the homes for the show, and then take them back and use them again?

Or does she have a supplier of these chairs that she just goes back to for more?

Does anyone else wonder about this?

And while we’re on the subject of Fixer Upper, did anyone else notice the piano in the Asian Ranch episode?  It came with the house and looked like this …

And they kept it in the house …

See it tucked away back there behind the table?  It’s a little difficult to see in this photo, you can see it a little bit better in the episode, but I think they painted it black.

And I love it.

So now I’m tempted …

What do you think?  Black piano?  I could use MMS Typewriter milk paint.  Do I dare?

I purchased this chippy blue chair many years ago at a garage sale.  I no longer remember what the seat looked like at the time, but I’m sure it was gross.  I’m also sure that the seller thought this thing was ready for the dumpster.  But you know me, I love that chippy factor.  And this one is authentically chippy.

 I recovered the seat with some pretty vintage pink and white fabric and for many years the chair lived in the ‘potting shed’, which became the ‘summer house’, which became the ‘photo cottage’ last year.  At that point, the chippy blue chair became homeless.  I’ve shuffled it around, but it hasn’t really found a spot.  I used it in the photo shoot for this dresser I painted a few months ago.

But it ultimately ended up stashed on the front porch, so during last weekend’s clean up I pulled it out of there.  Taking a close look at it, I realized it was really dirty from all of those years in the cottage out back.  It deserved some attention.  I pulled off the seat, removed the fabric covering and sent it to the washing machine.  Then, I vacuumed off the surface dirt.  Finally I pulled out the magic eraser, and that made all the difference.

Look how much dirt came off, ewwwww …

That was a brand new magic eraser when I started!  Are you now wondering how it is possible that 90% of the time I neglect to take photos of my process, but somehow I managed to get a photo of dirty water for you?  Yeah, I don’t know what’s wrong with me either.

After cleaning the chair, I re-glued some of the cross pieces at the bottom that had come loose.  Finally, I wanted to add a little protection to the finish so I pulled out the sample of Fusion Beeswax Finish that Homestead House was kind enough to send to me.

I used some torn up flannel sheeting and rubbed the beeswax over the whole chair.  It added a little more sheen to the painted areas, and some much needed moisture to the chipped areas giving the chair a fresher look. I don’t know if you’ve used a magic eraser before, but it does tend to remove the shine from things.  So the beeswax added a really nice lustre back to the chair. This stuff is made with pure natural beeswax and hemp oil.  You could quite literally eat it because it is food safe quality, but honestly, it doesn’t look that appealing as a snack.  I did feel quite comfortable using it indoors with no ventilation though, and now my chippy chair has a little more protection from all that dirt.

Next came deciding what fabric to use on the seat.  I had a couple of options in my stash.  The first was this H & M tea towel.  I liked that it had a blue border, but once I fitted it to the seat, I realized that not much of the blue border would show.

 

Next I tried a dyed grain sack.

I liked this idea in theory, but when I put these together I felt like the richer color of the grain sack overpowered the pretty blue of the chair.  It’s not a bad combination, just not the one I wanted.

Finally I tried an H & M pillow cover that I had on hand.

Ding, ding, ding.  We have a winner folks!

I like how the blue pops with the white fabric on the seat.  And a bunch of french writing?  What’s not to love?

So, a tip for you here.  These 20″ x 20″ pillow covers from H & M are the perfect size for the average chair seat like this one.  They are a mere $5.95 each (plus shipping though).  The problem with H & M is that their inventory seems to go fast.  They still have this style, but only in pink and pale green.  Another style they have that would look great on some chairs is this one:

So, my chippy chair is cleaned up and re-covered and now I just need to decide what to do with it!

 I’m sure I will find a home for it somewhere, and it will probably make its way into future furniture photo shoots.  Wouldn’t it look great paired with a chippy desk?  Maybe I’ll keep it on the front porch for now, it certainly looks nice next to the white hutch.

Recently someone asked me how I pick the pieces I paint.  I didn’t come up with a very good answer on the spot because I really haven’t given much thought to my process.  I just pick what I like.  But I do realize that choosing the right piece to paint is nearly as important as the painting itself.  So I decided to try and pin down my process a little for all of you.

In winter, most of my pieces come from my local craigslist.  We have a thriving craigslist community here in the Twin Cities.  So a while back I headed out to craigslist and picked out a few examples of what was out there to share with you.

First let’s talk price.  I generally set a maximum of $100 for a dresser.  I use the craigslist search tool to limit my search, otherwise I will be distracted all day by gorgeous pieces of furniture that are listed at $400, which is a total waste of my time.  Although $100 is my max, I will only pay that much for a piece that has all of its hardware, is in great shape, doesn’t need repairs and has something unique or special about it.  Otherwise I like to stick to a price range from $40 to $75 for a dresser.

Let’s start with a dresser that I would not pick.

The first problem with this dresser is the hardware.  Gack!  It is just plain ugly and would have to be replaced, and there are 8 handles.  That is going to add up.  Not to mention, these handles have two holes each, so I’d either be filling holes, or trying to find replacements that fit these existing holes.  But the real problem with this dresser is that it just doesn’t have any personality at all.  If this dresser were dirt cheap, let’s say around $25, and I didn’t have to go far to pick it up, I might consider it.  It could be dressed up with some number stencils on the drawers.  But it was listed at $100.  No way.

Here is another “no” for me.

This dresser was listed for $50.  Great price.  It has something I always look for, key holes.  To me key holes usually indicate a well made, antique piece of furniture.  The ad claims this piece is solid wood, another plus.  So, why don’t I want it?  It’s painted a weird olive green.  I hate stripping paint.  It’s time consuming and messy.  So my choice on this piece would be to either paint it something that works with the green and allow the green to show as an undercoat, paint it a solid coat of chalk paint (or even Fusion!) and not distress it at all.  But the fact of the matter is, I’m a distressing sort of girl.  I reserve the non-distressed look for mid-century pieces.  But that’s just me.  Maybe you’d be OK with any of these options, in which case this dresser is a great deal!  I generally steer clear of previously painted pieces though.

Let’s move on to a distinct ‘maybe’.

These are often called a “chest on chest” dresser because they have a wider lower section of drawers with a slightly narrower section on top.  I find this look really appealing.  The Seven Seas dresser that I painted recently was a chest on chest. The trim around each drawer on this one adds a lot of detail.  The legs in front are pretty sweet.  They aren’t turned, but they still have some personality.  This dresser was listed for $75, which is a decent price but not great.  One glaring problem is the missing drawer pull.  As I’m fond of mentioning, one missing drawer pull is the equivalent of not having any hardware at all.  You’re never going to match that.  You’d have to replace all of the hardware on this piece.  But, it still might be worth it.  Honestly, if I didn’t already have a bunch of unfinished pieces lined up in my garage, I’d follow up on this one.

Here is another dresser that I would seriously consider:

This dresser was also listed at $75.  Look at that charming detail on the top two drawers, and the lovely turned legs in front.  It has a mirror (it was shown in a separate photo), but I often leave these mirrors off.  Especially when they are mounted on two turned supports like this one is.  I just don’t like that look very much, and I find the turned supports annoying to paint.  This is a style of dresser that can work really well for a wide screen TV when there isn’t a mirror.

I do have one concern about this one though.  It could be a ‘bleeder’.  Are you familiar with that term?  Basically some of the orange to reddish colored stains will bleed through paint.  No matter how many coats of paint you use to cover them up, that orange/pink color will just keep coming through.  There are methods you can use to deal with the dreaded bleed thru, which usually involve sealing the piece somehow, but that adds another step to your process and can really be frustrating.  So, I usually avoid those pieces.  They can be hard to spot though.  This one looks like it has the potential to be a ‘bleeder’ although it may not be.  I would have to see this dresser up close and in person before making a decision on it.

This last example is right up my alley.

It was listed at $75.  What do I love about it?  The turned legs, the beaded trim below the first pair of drawers, the fabulous hankie drawer at the top.  I can picture in my mind how this piece will look painted.  I know that I can play up those details with some distressing, or contrasting colors.  I can’t really see what the hardware looks like in this picture, but I can see that it is all there.  But even if I have to replace it, I think this piece is worth it because of that charming hankie drawer.

In fact, I liked this one so much that I did send Mr. Q out to pick it up.  Here is the ‘before’ photo I took when we got it home.

And here it is after its make-over.

I painted it in Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in Trophy.  I used MMS Ironstone on the trim details, and I finished with hemp oil.

I added a little stenciling on the hankie drawer just to give it a little extra personality.

I got some really fantastic chipping on this piece.

I really wanted the details on the dresser to pop, so I painted them in Ironstone for contrast.

As you can see, I did end up changing out the hardware on this one.  The original hardware was pretty, and it was all there, but it was a very yellow brass and I didn’t like the way it looked with the grey of the Trophy.  I just left the original knob on the hankie drawer.  I’m not really sure why, but I tried that one both ways, and just liked the original better (the other drawer pulls are bigger and brassier than this little knob).

I hope this post gives you some ideas of your own about re-fabbing a dresser or two.  Head to your local craigslist and see what you can spot for yourself!

And meanwhile, yes, this lovely dresser is for sale.  Let me know if you are interested.

Linking up with:  Finding Silver Pennies.

During the recent miraculous spring warm-up here in the Twin Cities, my co-workers Sue and Cathy and I headed out to our first lunch time garage sale of the season.  Woo hoo!  Mid-March, and sales are already popping up.  So exciting!

We didn’t find much, but I did come home with a Dixie blonde mid-century nightstand and a really fab old wire ‘in-box’ (which now lives in the Q Branch).

The nightstand was bargain priced, and I knew it would be the perfect candidate for another Fusion makeover.  Why?  Well, when I paint MCM pieces I always feel like they shouldn’t be distressed.  Normally I am all about the distressing, but not with these pieces.  Obviously, milk paint is out of the running when you don’t want to distress.  True, you could add the bonding agent and get a non-distressed look, but seriously, why bother?  That’s going to get expensive, and putzy, and unnecessary.  In the past chalk paint was always my go-to for MCM pieces.  And, don’t get me wrong, they did turn out lovely.

But now that I have tried Fusion, I am pretty sure it’s going to be my paint of choice for MCM pieces and I’m not just whistling dixie!

I painted the body of the nightstand in Fusion’s Champlain and the drawer in my new favorite color, Laurentien.  The color reminds me of my favorite shade of McCoy pottery.

I let the paint dry overnight, and then I added some of my fav MCM vintage wallpaper to the inside of the cubby hole.  As I was working with the wallpaper, it was nice to not have to worry that I was taking off any paint while wiping off excess paste.

The wallpaper has little touches of gold in it, so I decided to add some gold Rub ‘n Buff to the knobs to bring that out.  When I purchased this piece, Cathy assumed I was going to replace those knobs.  Nope.  The knobs are perfect for this piece and are part of its personality.  What do you think of them now Cathy?

I love how the gold works with the turquoise.

Since I felt like the little nightstand would be lonely in a photo shoot all by itself, I also decided to paint up a chair that was waiting for a makeover.

I used the same colors on the chair, and then added some vintage barkcloth to the seat.  The aqua in the barkcloth was a perfect match for the Laurentien.

Didn’t it turn out sweet?

Almost makes me want to add a few mid-century pieces to my own home.  How about you?