q is for quandie

I did end up choosing to paint the Hudson with MMS Artissimo.  And voila, here he is.

I absolutely adore him.  This was the perfect color, and I’m so glad I saw Danielle’s piece and was inspired to go with it.

I used MMS furniture wax as my top coat this time, and I did find that the color did not get as dark as it does with hemp oil.  Really, both finishes are nice with this paint color, but if you want the blue to be a little more obvious, then wax is the way to go.

You’ll notice that I gave him all new knobs.  I have a confession to make.  I am a bit of a hardware snob.  I prefer to retain original hardware, and when that doesn’t work, I have always tried to use vintage replacements.  I have quite a stash of vintage knobs that I’ve picked up over the years.  But this guy has 12 knobs!  I just didn’t have a dozen knobs that would work.  And, coincidentally, we FINALLY got a Hobby Lobby in the Twin Cities!

I stopped in the other day and was quite certain I had died and gone to knob heaven.

I knew that Hobby Lobby had a good selection of inexpensive knobs.  Every time I visit my mom in Nevada, I bring home a suitcase full of knobs and other fun stuff from her local Hobby Lobby.  Now I have a local store!  And not only that, knobs were 50% off the day I went in.  It’s as if it was meant to be.  I stocked up.  Big time.

And I found the perfect knobs for the Hudson.  They look old, and they don’t distract from the fabulous detail on this dresser.  Look at these amazing legs, and the details around the bottom.

I’m so happy with this one that I just couldn’t stop taking pictures, and then I couldn’t decide which ones to use for my post.Final before & after.

Remember the french cane back chair I picked up a few weeks ago?

I originally purchased the chair thinking that I would attempt to reupholster it, but I’ll admit I chickened out.  No excuses really, just plain chicken.  Then I decided I would paint the upholstery.  I didn’t especially like the results.  In the end, I asked my friend Sue to sew a new cover for the cushion, and I just left the underneath upholstery painted.  I gave Sue a basic painter’s drop cloth to use on the cushion.  Once it was sewn, I stenciled it.  In hindsight, it would have been easier to stencil the fabric first, or at least before the cushion was in place.  It was difficult to get a good result because there was so much give under the fabric.  I’ll try to remember that for next time.

But, overall, I think the chair is darling.

I painted it with MMS milk paint in Linen.  It’s a lovely, creamy white.  I takes more coats to cover with the white paint than the other colors, this chair has 3 coats on it.  Some spots probably could have used 4, but I didn’t have the patience.

To be honest, these sort of projects are more work than they are worth if the goal is to sell it and make a profit.  Which is my plan.  If you just wanted to do it for yourself though, it’s very doable.  I think the chair went from outdated to chic for sure.

I sent my husband to Hudson, Wisconsin to pick up this fabulous dresser last Friday.  I wanted to make it another date night furniture pick up, but the seller was only available during the day.  Mr. Q is still in training when it comes to judging whether a piece of furniture is good, but he is learning quickly.  He thought I would love this one, and he was right.

It has its flaws, as they all do.  Some problems with separating veneer, one leg is pretty chewed up, and there was a missing piece of trim.  My cat Lucy was helping me with the inspection, and posed for this shot of the missing trim.  She really loves a good photo bomb.

As usual, I invited my neighbor Ken over for a consultation.  He said “gosh, that looks like screen trim”, at which point I once again marvel at the depth of his knowledge.  He runs home and comes back with a replacement piece, a little glue and some nails.  Once I paint it, you’ll never know it was missing.

I still have some mismatched ugly knobs and poorly repaired drawer pulls to deal with.  I’m pretty sure I will just replace them all with something else.

Meanwhile, I’m thinking about painting this guy with MMS Artissimo.  I’m drawing my inspiration from this gorgeous dresser that was painted by Danielle at Silver Pennies.

Isn’t he beautiful?!  The Jameson has a little more detail than mine, but I think they are very similar in feeling, tall and masculine (thanks for letting me share your dresser on my blog Danielle.)

I actually have a set of lion’s head drawer pulls like those used by Danielle somewhere around here, although mine are black.  If I have enough, perhaps they will work on the Hudson.

The trick will be getting my blue to end up like this, and not the darker color I usual get.  Danielle used wax instead of hemp oil, so this time I’m going to give that a try … that is, unless I change my mind and paint the Hudson in a different color all together.  Sometimes I do that .. it’s my prerogative.

You may be starting to think that I have been posting quite a line up of ‘befores’ and where are all the ‘afters’?!  I have 4 pieces in progress.  Glue is drying, paint is drying, cushions are being sewn, parts are being purchased … I hope that soon I will have a slew of ‘afters’ to share with you!

I have been scouring craigslist lately looking for suitable pieces to paint and not finding much.  The same old stuff, either priced ridiculously high or located too far away, or just not very nice.  Then, eureka!  Saturday night while watching the Olympics and surfing on my phone … I found the ad for this beauty.  The ad was only 4 hours old.

So, I held my breath and sent an email.  Then, I tried to focus on downhill skiing and waited for a reply.  The stars were in alignment, no one had snatched it up yet and I could pick it up the next day!

Isn’t she beautiful?  She was priced just right, and we only had to drive to So. Minneapolis to pick her up.

She has really lovely hardware, and none of it is missing!  Always a bonus.

But what really called my name was the fantastic raised oval right in the middle.  It’s calling out for a stencil, right?

As lovely as this dresser looks in photos, in person she is very beat up.  The middle drawer is resting on top of the lower drawer, so new rails will have to be added.  She is full of scratches and dings and her finish is older than the hills.  She deserves some repairs and a fresh new paint job, and that is what she will get.

I am almost done with the hutch from Buffalo (that’s Minnesota, not New York).  I haven’t put the glass back in the doors yet.  I broke two of the stops taking it out, so it’s going to be a bit putzy to fix, but meanwhile, it’s easier to take pictures sans glass anyway.

So, without further ado, here is the hutch.

As you can see, I used the colors from my pinterest inspiration as a jumping off point.  My grey is not as pale, and my interior is solid navy blue instead of navy with a damask stencil.  The grey is a 50/50 mix of MMS Trophy and Ironstone.  I pre-sanded to try and limit the chipping on this piece somewhat, but as you can see, I still got a lot of chipping.  This is so hard to predict with the MMS paint.  But, I think the chippyness works.

I replaced the plain wood knobs that came on the hutch with some vintage glass knobs that I had on hand.

The inside is painted in MMS Artissimo.  The interior was previously painted in a really unattractive harvest gold and I didn’t want that to show if the Artissimo chipped as much as the grey did, so I used the bonding agent.  I think this is the perfect hutch to show off a collection of ironstone.  The white just pops against the navy blue of the Artissimo.

I added a Paris stencil to the drawer front for that little extra je ne sais quoi.

There is the sweetest little shelf underneath the drawer with a lovely raised edge.

Here is a final before & after  (sidebar:  I won’t be putting the fretwork back in behind the glass, it was just a bit too frilly for my taste).

I have special plans for this hutch that will be revealed soon!  Stay tuned.