q is for quandie

Today, as promised, I’m sharing the desk from my neighbor’s uncle’s estate sale.

Here is how it started out.

Upon first glance, my plan was to strip the top of the desk and paint the base, but unfortunately there was some veneer damage on the top.  So I decided to just go ahead and paint the whole thing.

I began by washing the desk with some spray cleaner and then rinsing it with a damp rag.  As I did that, I noticed that I was wiping off some orange-ish colored stain.  That’s usually a sign that the stain is going to bleed through your paint.  So I decided to just head that off at the pass by using Dixie Belle’s BOSS on this piece.

First up though, I patched the chipped spots of veneer by gluing down the loose edges and then filling in with some Dixie Belle Mud.  Next I scuff sanded the entire piece, and smoothed out those Mud repairs.  Then I wiped away any dust.  After that I added a coat of BOSS.  Here’s a quick snap I took after adding the BOSS to the side of the desk …

Yikes, that stain is just bleeding orange all over the place.  Gruesome, right?  I definitely needed to boss this one around!  This is the clear BOSS, by the way.

It goes on milky looking but dries clear, in case you were wondering.

Once the first coat was dry I went ahead and added a 2nd for good measure.  Sometimes one coat of BOSS is enough, but I wasn’t taking any chances with this one.  After that 2nd coat, I left the piece to dry overnight.

The next day was Monday, and it was a particularly stressful day at the day job.  So when I got home that evening, I really just needed something to go right for me because nothing else had gone well all day.

And you know what?  The BOSS did its job perfectly.  I added a coat of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth over it and not only was there not one tiny spot of bleed through, but the Drop Cloth also covered beautifully.  It was just really gratifying to see that first coat of paint go on without a hitch.  I really needed a win on Monday, and being able to paint this piece white so easily was just the ticket.

I’ve noticed in the past that even the clear BOSS will improve the coverage of white paint, and that was definitely the case with this piece too.  I still needed a second coat of the Drop Cloth, but I call needing only two coats a plus when using white paint of any kind.

A couple of days later, I pulled out two of the smaller version of IOD’s Petit Rosier transfer.  I used most of one each on the drawer fronts down each side of the desk …

I did have to lose about an inch of the transfer on either side to get it to fit inside the trim.  If any of you can read French, you probably realize that, but for the rest of us I think it looks perfectly fine.

I used the top portion of just one transfer on the middle drawer.

I absolutely love this transfer and am really disappointed that it has been retired.  Why do they do that?  Do sales slow down after the initial excitement of a new transfer?  Really, some of these should just be considered a classic that people like me will buy over and over again.

You can still find it online from shops that have some remaining in their inventory, but they are getting harder and harder (and more expensive) to come by.

I sanded the edges of the desk to distress it, and followed that up with a topcoat of clear wax.  Then, I simply washed up the original hardware and put it back on (the pulls that were missing from the middle drawer in the ‘before’ photo were inside the drawer).

I staged the desk with some of my painted books.

Those of you who have been following me for a long time might remember when I did these.

I absolutely love how this desk turned out.

This look is totally ‘me’.  I’m going to list it for sale, but I won’t be sad if it doesn’t go.  In the end, I may just have to keep it for myself.  Although I have no idea where I would put it.  I’d have to move something else out, to move this piece in.  Maybe one of you can save me from that fate.

Being able to count on that BOSS to just do exactly what it was meant to do to on this desk was something that I really needed last week.  So I want to say a huge thank you to Dixie Belle for making a product that just simply works, and for their easy peasy paint that also just does what it’s supposed to do without requiring much effort or expertise on the part of the user.  Sometimes you really just need something to go right the first time, even if it’s just a paint job.  You know what I mean?

The next time you want to paint a piece that you suspect will be a bleeder, just save yourself some trouble and reach for the BOSS first.  You’ll be glad you did.

If any of you locals are in need of a desk, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details on this one.

I think I already shared the story of how I acquired today’s piece.  My picker, Sue, found it at a garage sale that wasn’t too far from our homes.  I was at work at the time, so she texted me a photo and said she’d pay for it and ask them to hold it, if I could send Mr. Q to pick it up.  So after a few exchanges of text messages, Sue had purchased it, and Mr. Q had picked it up and brought it home.  And I never had to leave the office 😉

My handyman, Ken, repaired the runners inside the dresser and re-glued a few things.  Once he was done it was ready for me.

I’ve been watching a few furniture makeover experts on YouTube lately and so many of them just sand off old finishes rather than using a chemical stripper.  Especially when the piece is solid wood rather than veneer.  So I decided to give that a shot on the top of this dresser and it worked like a charm.  I started with an 80 grit paper on my orbital sander, then moved on to a 120 grit, followed by a 220 grit.  Easy peasy!  This sort of work is only possible for me in the summer when I can work in my carriage house workshop and I don’t have to worry about the dust (I don’t have one of those fancy sanders that suck up the dust).

It can also be a bit of a problem because I usually get up around 6 a.m. to start working out there this time of year.  I’ll work until the day heats up too much to be comfortable.  I don’t think my neighbors would be real excited about listening to my orbital sander at that hour.  Using a chemical stripper is much quieter.

By the way, as I was doing the sanding while wearing a mask I realized that this was one upside to COVID.  I used to absolutely struggle with wearing a mask while I worked, but now I barely even notice it.

Once I had the top sanded down, I pulled out the drawers and removed those porcelain knobs that came with the dresser yet were totally wrong for it.  You can see the knobs a tad better in this photo from a week or two ago …

White porcelain with yellow roses on them.  Totally wrong for this piece!

Once those were off, I also had to remove some ancient contact paper that was lining the drawers.  That is one of my least favorite tasks, and I think that plays a part in why I don’t like to line drawers myself.  I know that sometime down the road, someone is going to have to remove that stuff and I hate to do that to them.

Next up, I dug through my stash of knobs and was happy to find that I had 8 large wooden knobs that would be perfect on this piece.  I’m really glad that I kept all of those wooden knobs that I used to remove from dressers back in the day.

All that remained was to choose the paint.  I decided that this dresser was the perfect candidate for some milk paint.  There’s something about this particular style & age of furniture that just screams milk paint to me.  So I dug through my bin of already open milk paint thinking I’d have to create a custom mix using a couple of colors, not having enough of any one color for the entire piece, but then I stumbled upon the Homestead House Soldier Blue.

If you aren’t familiar, Homestead House milk paint is the same milk paint manufacturer that makes Miss Mustard Seed and Fusion milk paint.  This was their original line of milk paint and they have over 50 colors to choose from.  So if you’re looking for a new color to experiment with, check them out!

You guys have seen me use this color on a couple of smaller items including this wooden bucket.

But I still had quite a bit of it left, easily enough for this dresser.  And really, ever since I first cracked open this color I knew I wanted to use it on a full piece of furniture one day.  This was that day!

I cleaned the dresser, scuff sanded it lightly and then brushed on two coats of Soldier Blue.  I won’t go over my tips for using milk paint here, but if you aren’t familiar you can check them out in my milk paint basics post.

After two coats of paint were dry, I sanded to distress the edges with a 120 grit paper and then smoothed out the flat areas using a 320 grit paper.  I did not get a lot of chipping on this one, but much like with the black dresser that I shared a week or so ago, the existing finish on this one was quite dried out so I didn’t expect a lot of chipping.   So once again I created my own distressing by sanding down the edges of the piece.

I vacuumed away the dust and then topped it all off with Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta.

I’m really loving this product for use over dark shades of milk paint in particular.  It totally brings out the depth of color.  You can apply it with a rag, or use a waxing brush which is what I did here.  Simply apply with the brush, then wipe away any excess with a clean, lint free rag (the lint free is especially important over darker colors like this one).  After 12 hours you can buff the surface to create additional shine, but as we all know, I prefer a more flat look so I don’t do much buffing.  By the way, the Butta’ cures in about 7 days.

Today’s q tip:  If you’re using a brush to apply Butta’ over a dark paint color, be sure to scoop out the Butta’ onto a paper plate (or something more environmentally friendly like a pretty vintage china plate that you purchased at a garage sale for a dollar) first to avoid dipping your brush back into your full container of Butta’.  This way you can avoid contaminating your entire supply of Butta’ with dark flecks of paint.  This is especially important with milk paint that is more prone to chipping.

Initially I was planning to use some dark wax over the bare wood top of this dresser, but the more I looked at it, the more I loved the way the natural color of the wood played against the Soldier Blue paint.  So I decided to simply add Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat right over the bare wood.

I wasn’t worried about the imperfections because I love how that adds some history to a piece.  But at the same time, this top is protected for future use with three coats of flat clear coat.

I staged this piece with a painting that I picked up at an estate sale a couple of weeks back.

It’s an original oil painting, but I don’t think it’s valuable.  One of these days maybe I’ll find a lost Rembrandt at a garage sale, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t it.

I just thought this painting was really pretty.  The colors and subject matter are soothing.  I really disliked that frame though, so I used the Soldier Blue that was leftover from the dresser to paint it.

Now it pairs beautifully with the dresser.

So, what do you think of this makeover?

And if you had to pick, which of the three dressers I’ve shared recently is your favorite?  Is it the team player painted in Typewriter black …

Or the star of the show with its beautiful floral transfer?

Or is it today’s dresser painted in vibrant Soldier Blue?

Leave a comment and let me know which one you liked best.

If any of you locals are in the market for a dresser, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details on this one.  P.S.  the painting is for sale as well.

Thank you to Homestead House for providing the Soldier Blue milk paint, and to Dixie Belle for providing the Big Mama’s Butta’ and the flat clear coat used on this dresser.

First, an update on last Friday’s Typewriter black dresser. The majority who commented loved the simplicity and predicted that it would sell fast, and it definitely did.  The buyer picked it up yesterday.

In my area, black continues to be an excellent seller, especially black with a wood top.  And I pretty much agree that it’s easier for most people to work a piece like that one into their existing décor.  It’s more of a team player rather than the star of the show.

The decision whether to keep a piece simple, like the black dresser, or add a more dramatic personality is always tough.  But it’s even more difficult when, in addition to selling refurbished furniture,  you are also a blogger.  I’m not only thinking about whether or not a piece will sell, but also whether or not the process of refinishing it will be interesting to my readers.  How bored would you all get if I painted everything black or white with no color and no transfers/stencils/etc?  Yawn.

The other factor is that I refurbish furniture (and other vintage items) mainly for enjoyment.  It’s a hobby for me, not my livelihood.  So I really tend to lean towards deciding what I want to do, rather than what I should do.  Of course I want my pieces to sell (because otherwise what would I do with them?), but that’s not the ultimate goal for me.  For me, the ultimate goal is to take something that was cast off and create something that is beautiful.  And then hopefully it will sell.

That brings me to today’s piece.

My friend (and former co-worker) Bruce brought this piece to me.  It had been in his cabin up north and wasn’t being used.  Quick sidebar, when he delivered it he shared the video of the large black bear that was roaming around his yard up there with me as well.  Yikes!

Anyway, back to the dresser.  As you can see, the veneer at the bottom had come off, but Bruce had saved the pieces.  I planned from the start to put a transfer on this one though, and I knew it would distract from any wonky veneer, so rather than trying to re-glue it, I just peeled off all of the veneer along the bottom.  That tends to leave some rough wood behind, so I gave it a good sanding.  Then I stripped and sanded down the front legs, the knobs and the top of the dresser.

Next up after painting the body in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, I used Miss Mustard Seed’s white wax to finish those legs, knobs and dresser top.

I did not get a super perfect result with my stripping/sanding.  Personally, I’m OK with that.  I like a little age to show on my pieces.

I knew I was going to be using the Rose Celebration transfer from re.design with prima on this dresser, and that the white waxed wood would play really well with the beige background of this transfer.

What do you think?  The knobs don’t quite disappear, but they don’t really distract either.

Next I added the Rose Celebration transfer to the front of the dresser.  For more details on how to apply a large transfer like this one you can check out this post.

The transfer was a bit larger than the dresser front.  I wrapped it around the sides, and I had 5″ or so left over at the bottom.  I had originally contemplated centering the design both horizontally and vertically, thus cutting off about 2.5″ at top and bottom, but ultimately I decided I liked this look better.

I just love the colors in this transfer, aren’t they pretty?  And the background of script and those swirly thingies (I’m guessing there is an official name for those, but I have no idea what it is, do any of you?), so lovely.

If you look closely, you can see that there are seams where the different pieces of the transfer line up (this transfer comes in six pieces).  I’m not too bothered by those seams, but if you are avoiding the multi-piece transfers because you don’t like the look of the seams, you can mitigate that by trimming off the 1/4″ or so of clear transfer at the edge of each piece before you apply them, and of course, also line up your transfer more precisely than I did.

As you can see, the transfer really disguises the area at the bottom where I removed the veneer.

Once the transfer was applied, I sanded the edges of the piece to distress and then added a coat of clear wax.

I did one final thing before calling this piece finished.  I refurbished the insides of the drawers using Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta in the Orange Grove scent.

I sanded them lightly, cleaned them well, and then applied the Butta’.  It really freshened up both the look and the smell of the drawers.  This is the first time I’ve tried this on the inside of drawers, and I’ll definitely be doing this more often.  It’s such a simple way to freshen them up.  And you all know that I really don’t enjoy the process of lining drawers with paper so this is a nice alternative.

And there you have it.

The star of the show!

What do you think?  Now, I’ll just have to wait and see how long this one takes to sell.  I’ll keep you posted.

If any of you locals are in the market for a dresser, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for all of the details on this one.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle for providing the paint and the Big Mama’s Butta used on this project.  And thank you to re.design with prima for providing the Rose Celebration transfer.  Although I am no longer a Brand Ambassador for them, they did give me this transfer for free back when I was.

A while back Brigitte contacted me and asked if I’d consider making a trade for the coral dresser.  I have done this once or twice before, and I’m always open to at least considering such an arrangement.  Brigitte had a dresser that she’d meant to refurbish herself but had never gotten around to it, how many of us can relate to that?  So she sent me a few photos of her piece and sure enough, it was right up my alley …

So she gave me this dresser plus some cash, and she took the coral dresser home in return.

I debated cropping Mr. Q out of that ‘before’ photo, but decided why not be real?  This is the lazy way of getting a before photo.  Why go to all the work of re-attaching that mirror just for a photo?  So much easier to just have Mr. Q hold it in place for the few seconds it took to snap the picture.  Also, although I included the mirror in the ‘before’ shot, I’m not putting it back on.  It is gorgeous, and I will re-do both it and the harp it’s attached to, but I have always felt that dressers like this sell more quickly without a mirror.

And by the way, that tiger striped grain?  It’s fake.  To me it looks like it was stamped on, but I haven’t been able to find any info on how they created this look back in the day.  It must have been a popular technique though because I’ve painted over a few of these faux finishes.

I ended up going with a classic combo on this one.  I stripped the top, re-stained it in Special Walnut, and once dry I added a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s Flat Clear Coat.

Then I painted the rest of the dresser with Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paint in Typewriter.

I didn’t get much chipping on this piece, and that didn’t surprise me.  The original finish was very dried out, and that usually translates to minimal chipping.  But I did sand the edges quite a bit to create the worn out appearance that I wanted.

After sanding and then wiping away the dust, I added a coat of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta.  If wax and hemp oil had a baby, it would be this product.  It’s made with all natural Hemp Seed Oil, Coconut Oil, Beeswax and Carnauba Wax.  It’s much easier to apply than straight up wax, but it’s a bit more substantial than just hemp oil on its own.  I highly recommend using this product over the darker shades of milk paint.

Once I had the Butta applied, I decided to do a little wet sanding with Dixie Belle’s Howdy-Do Hemp Oil over it.  Why?  Mainly because I realized I hadn’t done a super great job of sanding it smooth the first time around.  This was an easy way to smooth out the final finish.  Basically I wrapped some 320 grit sandpaper around a sanding sponge, applied some hemp oil directly to the paper, and then sanded the flat areas with it.  Then I buffed it with a clean, lint free rag.  This gave me a buttery, smooth finish.

I swapped out the knobs that were originally on the top drawers for some that I had on hand that had a little more detail and were in better condition, but I kept the original pulls on the bottom two drawers.  I gave them all a good wash with soapy water, and once dry I added some of the Bronze Age Metallique wax from Prima Marketing to the pulls to brighten them up a bit.

I found it easiest to put on a latex glove and then use my fingertip to apply the wax.  I gave the wax a couple of hours to dry and then buffed it with a clean rag (a.k.a. one of Mr. Q’s old socks).

I have to admit, I’m always torn about producing simple pieces like this.

Should I have added a stencil or a transfer to give it more character?  Make it more unique?  Or is it OK to occasionally just stick with something more simple?

I guess I’ll see how well it sells and keep that in mind for next time.

In the meantime, what do you think?

If any of you locals are interested in this dresser, be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

Thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the Big Mama’s Butta, Flat Clear Coat and Howdy-Do Hemp Oil used on this project.

First up, I drew a name at random to win the Dixie Belle Silkscreen stencil giveaway from last week.  Congrats to Laura Hopwood!  I’ll be sending those stencils out as soon as I get an address from her (I sent you an email Laura).  OK … well, I think by now we all know that I am really bad about getting things shipped promptly (which is why I don’t sell any of my items online), but I’ll try to get them mailed a.s.a.p.

Remember the washstand that I picked up off the curb at the White Bear Lake Trash to Treasure day?

Well, I’ve given it a makeover and it’s ready for its close up.

First up,  I needed Ken to do a really simple small repair.  He replaced the little pieces of wood that are acting as drawer stops (to keep the drawers from pushing in too far).

The original stops were totally worn down and as a result the drawers would get pushed in too far and then be impossible to pull back out again.

Next, I stripped the top using Citristrip.  Once I had the old finish off, I sanded the top smooth and added a couple of coats of white wax to give it a lime waxed look.

To really emphasize the look of the grain when using white wax, simply work the wax in going against the grain of the wood.  I think this piece is oak (I’m never that good at identifying wood species), and oak is one of the most popular types of wood for lime waxing due to its open grain.  Check out my how-to post on lime waxing for more tips on this technique.

I sanded the base of the washstand lightly and gave it a good cleaning.  I followed that with two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.

I ended up painting the interior of this piece too.  The insides of the drawers were looking pretty shabby, and the inside of the little cupboard area had a wierd red colored bottom.  Giving it all a fresh coat of Dixie Belle’s Putty really cleaned everything up.  I also added a topcoat of Dixie Belle’s Flat clear coat for durability.

I really didn’t care for the copper drawer pulls that came with this piece.  I guess they could potentially be original to the piece, but somehow I doubt it.  They give off a strong 80’s vibe to me.

It’s probably the hearts.  In case you didn’t already realize, I’m fairly heartless when it comes to hearts.  Luckily I found the perfect replacement drawer pulls in my stash.

I purchased these a while back (probably more than two years ago) because I absolutely loved them and I hoped to find just the right project for them.  This is always a dicey proposition because I usually buy six of them and then tend to end up having either too many, or not enough, for the project I want to use them on.  That’s why I have a big container full of single knobs that don’t match!  But this time I had just the right amount, and they were exactly the look I wanted on this piece.

By the way, I purchased them at Hobby Lobby and I just tried to find them on their website and didn’t see them so perhaps they no longer carry them.  Bummer.

I then reviewed my full inventory of transfers and stencils to find just the right option for dressing up the little door on this piece and I ended up with my Farm Fresh Honey stencil from Wallcutz.  Not only is it totally adorable, but it’s the perfect accompaniment to the ‘honeycomb’ pattern on those drawer pulls.

In order for the stencil to lay flat I had to trim down the sides of it a bit.  It’s difficult to get crisp lines if your stencil isn’t laying completely flat (this is one of those instances where the flexibility of those Dixie Belle silkscreen stencils would have come in handy!).  But luckily I was able to trim down those sides without compromising the stencil design and then it fit perfectly on the door.

I used Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean first to stencil just the word ‘honey’ to create a shadow.  Then I moved the stencil slightly up and to the left and stenciled the entire design using DB’s Putty.

I really love the muted color scheme on this piece with its white waxed top, Drop Cloth base, Putty interior and Putty stencil.

What a vast improvement, don’t you think?

Well, unless you were a fan of that awful orange colored finish and the hearts on those original drawer pulls.  But then, in that case I can’t imagine you’d be following my blog 😉

This is where I would normally mention that this piece is for sale locally, but this one has already gone to its new home.  And as always, thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the paint and sealer used for this makeover.