First Gig!

About a week ago, I sent an e-mail to my co-workers telling them about the work I do with furniture. I got a great response, including one from C.S. who wanted me to refinish a nightstand / end table. She had purchased it from a furniture market and over time its most recent paint job had peeled off. She was hoping I could give it a new paint job and a bit of a face lift.

As you can see, [you may want to click on this and the following images for a closer look] it was missing a lot of paint, but it was a really cute vintage piece. C.S. still wanted it to look distressed, just not so distressing. I love the look of grey painted furniture and contrasting door and drawers and when C.S. showed me the paint color she had picked out for the room, I knew my color scheme would be a perfect fit. 


Distressing is not something I have much experience with, so I really put some thought into which methods I wanted to use. I decided to leave much of the old finish in place to add texture and depth to the surfaces. I sanded everything just enough to remove rough edges and loose paint. I removed all of the hardware (which had been painted over at least twice) then I used a high-gloss paint on the doors and drawer to highlight the textural variations. I sanded the old paint off the hardware and gave it a spritz of metallic spray paint before reattaching everything. For the frame of the nightstand, I gave it a light coat of fresh white paint, then added a thicker layer of gray which I sanded a bit so the white and some of the original finish and wood could peek through. I think it turned our very nicely! (So did C.S.)

Aside: I have to tell this story because it's just too cute. When I picked up the furniture from C.S. she introduced me to her toddler daughter saying, "This is Katie. Remember how we talked about her coming to paint that table?" Her daughter was silent the whole time I was there, but watched me closely with big eyes. When I left I got a text from C.S. saying that her daughter asked if I was Katy Perry! (She knew her from Sesame Street.) Adorable right? Even better, when I delivered the finished piece and was introduced to C.S.'s husband, he smiled and said , "Oh! Katy Perry!" 

Pride and Joy

Last summer my husband and I bought our first house which necessitated us buying a large dresser. As I started searching for the right one, I was shocked by how expensive they were. I looked at dressers from IKEA, Crate & Barrel, West Elm, CB2, Target and a number of other stores, but I was priced out of the size I was searching for. As I've often done in the past, I turned to my favorite local thrift stores. That is how I found this treasure...

It was scratched up. The two small drawers were missing their hardware and one no longer had its track. The hardware was also broken on the second drawer from the bottom on the left. There were superfluous wooden accents on both sides near the top. In short, this massive dresser had been abandoned.

But, it was the perfect size, it was high-quality (dove-tail joints!), and the price was right: $55 + $10 for delivery. It's my proudest rescue.

Over five of the hottest days in August 2011, I knocked off the wooden accents with a mallet; I removed the cabinet doors; I sanded  for hours upon hours; I removed the hardware and spray-painted the drawers; I replaced the missing drawer track; I replaced the hardware; I hand-painted the newly exposed cubbies; and I stained the whole unit.

This project took me less than a week and cost $85 (not including the electric hand sander I invested in)  and now it's my third most prized possession (#1 = childhood stuffed panda; #2 = engagement ring). Plus, I truly loved doing it. I got so much joy from taking something someone had given up and transforming it into something beautiful and and meaningful again. And refurbishing this old dresser was so much more satisfying than paying hundred of dollars for something brand new. It's also what inspired me to start redoing furniture for others.