q is for quandie

I never would have bought this color based on the sample chips.  I also never would have found it appealing based on the Annie Sloan description, a ‘warm greyed brown’.  Brown?  Me?  No way.

Then I saw a dresser painted in it.  Yes way!  Lovely.  So I purchased a can of Annie Sloan’s Coco and brought it home.

And I decided to use it on the Bryn Mawr vanity.  You remember, the orange-y companion to the dresser that I picked up in Bryn Mawr.

I wanted to get some more practice with stripping and staining, so I stripped the top and refinished it with the General Finishes Java gel.

It was the perfect pairing.  The dark Java finish on top with the Coco on the bottom.  I could just eat this one up.

I’m calling it a vanity, but I don’t have a mirror for it.  Perhaps I should just call it a desk.  It’s a nice petite size, which would be perfect tucked into the corner of a living room or bedroom.

I staged this with one of the alabaster lamps I picked up at the Linden Hills sales.  I actually came home with three of them!  And I happened to find the perfect shade for it in my stash.

This guy does have a bit of a flaw.  I thought the dark finish would cover up some stains on the top, and they are still visible.

But I am sure that someone out there will be able to overlook that because otherwise this vanity/desk is quite lovely.

I like this side view shot because it gives you a good look at how nicely the Coco and the Java gel work together.

I’m sure this one will go home with some lucky new owner.  Will it be you?

It is posted on craigslist for those of you in the Twin City area.  Woops, missed it, this one is SOLD.

Mr. Q picked up this dresser the other day.  I was drawn to the wreath applique on the middle drawer.  It hearkens back to my shabby chic days.  I still like a well placed applique.

This one had some veneer problems at the bottom that someone tried to fix with a red marker.  Not with much success.

Anyway, here is where our story begins.  I had just seen a gorgeous dresser that Miss Mustard Seed herself painted recently.  She used an undercoat of Luckett’s Green, some well placed vaseline, and then a top coat of Boxwood.  She also left the top unpainted.  When I saw this dresser, I thought to myself “yes, this would be perfect for that very same look!”

I got to work.

I stripped the top, sanded it and then just waxed it with dark wax.  So far, so good.  Easy and the results were lovely.

Next, I painted two coats of MMSMP in Luckett’s Green.  Then, I strategically rubbed some hemp oil in areas where I wanted to distress the final color to reveal the Luckett’s underneath.  Next, I added two coats of Boxwood.

Let me add here that I know all of the rules.  Or at least I think I do.  I mixed my paint ahead of time and let it sit to be sure the pigments were dissolved.  I shook.  I stirred.  I let it rest again.  I shook.  I stirred.  The paint looked good to me.  No lumps.  I stirred frequently while painting.  Basically once between each side, and between each drawer.

I let it dry, and then I started distressing.  I worked on the body of the dresser first, and it was turning out absolutely beautiful.  I was excited.  Then I started on the drawers.  They weren’t looking quite as good as the body, but I thought it was just me.  Finally, I waxed everything and put it all back together.

Oh my.

I don’t even want to put my name on this one.

It’s awful.  If anything, it looked even more awful in person than it does in this photo.

The green on the drawers had far more yellow in it than the body of the dresser.  And I hated it.

I was crestfallen (isn’t that a great word?).  Horrified, really.  I had spent ALL day on this.  And it was hideous.

Sometimes I just have to walk away.  Put the dresser in the corner with its face to the wall to consider its bad behavior.  Go three days without even looking at it.  In the end, I figured I had a number of options.

I could try repainting the drawers with another batch of paint, as I have done in the past with two other dressers in milk paint greens.  But the danger in this plan is that I could end up with the same problem all over again.

I could repaint the entire thing in another color all together.  Specifically I was thinking of some Annie Sloan chalk paint because I knew I wouldn’t have the same coloration problem.  But, I also knew I wouldn’t be able to replicate this fabulous chippy look with Annie Sloan.  And this dresser just needed to be chippy.

  Final option … I could try painting just the drawers white and see how it looks.  I just loved the way the body of the dresser had turned out and I didn’t want to cover it up.

I mean, really, just look at this gorgeous leg.

Would you want to cover that up?

So … I sanded the drawers really well (remember, they had already been waxed), mixed up some MMSMP in Linen, and painted it on.  I could see a lot of chipping showing up pretty quickly.  I was nervous.  Would it be too much chipping because of the wax?

And here it is.  Yes, there is plenty of chipping on the drawers.  But I really think the chippyness works with this style of dresser.

I love the white and green combo.  It’s fresh.

You can see that in most spots I got chipping right down to the wood on the drawers, but some spots just chipped to the green undercoats.

Here is the top.

 This dresser has a fresh spring garden appeal to it.  I’m sure it will be perfect in someone’s fabulous home.

If you are interested in purchasing it, leave me a comment.

Remember the little drop leaf desk that was so kindly donated to me by some friends?

Well, I wanted to give it an old, chippy, came out of a Victorian scientist’s lair, sort of vibe.  As if the drawers are filled with handwritten ledger pages full of notes about experiments and science-y stuff.

I think I succeeded.

After Ken re-attached the drop leaf, I gave this dresser a bit of a sanding and a cleaning.  Then I painted it with Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paint in Trophy.  As you can see, I got a lot of chipping, even though I had sanded quite well.

I pretty much loved the chippy look on the outside, but I was worried that the inside would chip even more since I knew I wouldn’t be able to do a good job of sanding inside those cubbies.  This lead to a rash decision to paint the inside with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White.  Nope, didn’t like it at all.  Looked so fresh and white.  All wrong for this chippy old desk.  So, I painted over that with the MMS Trophy with some bonding agent mixed in.  Still not entirely thrilled with the result though.  The bonding agent adds a little shine to the paint, and I don’t love that.

Some of this shine is the freshly applied hemp oil and will tone down a bit, but still … in hindsight, perhaps I should have just let it get chippy.

You can also see that the bonding agent changes the color a bit, making the grey a bit warmer.

I added some fabulous old metal drawer pulls to the inside drawer and the drop leaf.

But really, I don’t know that anyone would actually use a desk like this for its original purpose of writing letters (or taking notes on mad scientist experiments).  I think one would tend to keep the leaf up to admire the fabulous stencil.

One could still store important papers in the drawers, maybe sort bills using the cubbies.

Or just gaze at this desk and imagine a scientist tucked away in his garret in the center of Paris, making notes about his findings using ink and a quill, perhaps by candlelight.  Drinking absinthe and listening to Edith Piaf.

What shall be the fate of this lovely little desk?  It may make it into the Carriage House sale.  But as always, if you are interested in this one, let me know.

Well, a number of you voted on what I should do with the sideboard, but I decided to go my own way (I hope at least some of you are humming some Fleetwood Mac in your head right now).

You’ll have to get used to it.  I assume it annoys the crap out of my friends.  The way I always ask for opinions and ideas, and then I pretty much do what I want.  I do listen.  And I ponder.  And I consider my options.  But in the end, I make up my own mind.

In this case, that meant that I re-styled the vintage sideboard to accommodate a wide-screen TV and some components.

I just felt there were more people out there that needed a fab vintage piece to put their TV on, than those that needed a place to store the china.

I basically stole this idea from a picture that one of my blog readers had pinned (thank you Meggan).  I consulted with Ken, and he took out the middle drawers, built a shelf there instead and added some holes in the back for the cords.

Keep in mind that the holes seem really obvious in these pictures because they are back lit.  Also, once you have some components on those shelves, they will block those anyway.

I painted it with Annie Sloan’s French Linen and finished with paste wax.  I even stole borrowed the color from the inspiration pin.  This color is a fabulous shade of greige.  You know greige, right?  Grey and beige.  Beige and grey.  A nicely warm grey.  I didn’t realize until now that greige is not a made up word, it actually means:

greige (greɪ, greɪʒ) 

adj.  unbleached and undyed: greige linen.

Suddenly Annie Sloan’s name choice for this color makes sense.

I updated the hardware to these stone knobs in keeping with the updated use for this piece.

I staged the inside of the cubby on the side with a fabulous old locker basket, but it won’t be included, I normally use this to store my paper towels in the pantry.  Although it would be a clever way to corral your DVD’s or games.

These side doors had been removed from the inspiration piece on pinterest.  I did like that look, but decided that most people would rather hide stuff behind doors on the sides.

So there you have it, a re-styled sideboard.  Perfect spot for your wide screen TV.  A nice juxtaposition of vintage furniture meets modern technology.

By the way, the house in the background with the blue door?  That is nnK’s house.  She was out doing yard work and threatened to photo bomb my pics.  One of these days I bet she’ll do it!

Also, the fab vintage suitcase pictured above was painted by Bees Knees Bungalow.  I had to have it.  She has another in brown that will likely make its way to the Carriage House Sale.

One final b & a.

As always, please feel free to leave me a comment if you are interested in purchasing this re-styled sideboard.  I will likely post it on craigslist by the end of the week.  Oops, you missed this one, it is SOLD.