Campaign Dresser re-do

 Hey People! Sorry for the LONG time away. We are now "almost" fully settled in BEAUTIFUL Colorado! We are in a suburb outside of Denver and seriously loving it. Every day we thank God for allowing us to live here!!
I have seriously been a creative maniac since we moved in here. Moving from CA to CO we more than doubled our square footage in our home which is a HUGE GINORMOUS blessing, but also a challenge to decorate and plan the spaces since we have so much more space now. We have an ENTIRE basement that I haven't even touched. The space is empty! So if ya'll see any amazing basement spaces that you think I'd like PLEASE send them my way! Ok so I have a lot...and I mean a LOT of projects to share with you guys. Too many honestly to share in one post so I'm gonna start with a dresser that I scored for free on CL when I was still in CA and hauled it to CO. This thing was in pretty amazing shape. It doesn't have the typical campaign pulls that totally sink into the casing...but I didn't care...free is a very good price! Here's the dresser in its "Ohnoiwanttostartthisprojectbutiforgottotakeabeforepic state"

It wasn't in that bad of shape. Just needed a quick sand, prime, and paint. One of the easiest re-do's I've done in a while! Here's the super sassy after...

I used a really pretty deep blue gray oops paint and Shellac clear coat that I already had. This project was CHEAP! Soaked the amazing campaign hardwear in vinegar and it brightened it up just the right amount. I'm in LOVE with this dresser! I actually gave my daughter my old dresser so I could use this one instead. I love it!!!
The lady that I got it from was the SWEETEST lady ever. She totally didn't think I'd want the dresser because its "Old" and no one else had wanted it! lol if she only knew...she also gave me the cutest drop leaf kitchen table that was her parents kitchen table when they were married. This lady was over 80 years old...so the drop leaf table is at least 150 years old if not older...and what amazing shape its in!

See what I mean? I haven't decided what to do with it yet. The leaves are not the strongest ever and my kids love to pull on the table as they climb in and out of their chairs so I'm just hoping they don't pull the table on top of them one of these days! Oh and check out those chairs...those are a sneak peek...posting about them next week. I hope you all like my new dresser! What do you think I should do with the table? Paint? Stain? Its bare wood except for a thin layer of orange oil. I hope you all have a fabulous week!!!

One of my FAVE dresser redo's EVER...

Hey people!!!! Ok here is a dresser in its pre-fabtastic days. Picture those drawers actually inside that case and not sanded m'kay? This dresser was on CL...only about 10 mins from my house...and they had it listed for 20 bucks. Now THAT would've been a great price...but I always offer less to see if they'll take it. I offered the guy 10...he was stoked...I WAS MAJORLY STOKED! ;)

This dresser is one of those iconic mid century modern styles that everyone has seen...and everyone loves. The molded drawer handles...the cute stubby feet...the height is perfect! I just love this style! 

Now the picture on the right is after I had already sanded the drawers with 80 grit and then 120 grit to remove the old finish. The drawers were in totally decent shape (except for some MAJOR gluing that was needed)...the frame...was...not. I would've LOVED to be able to keep the frame in its original wood but there were several chunks of missing veneer...several LARGE scratches in the veneer that I knew would be hard to cover with stain and have not show. So I went to my FAVE resource for mid century furniture re-do inspiration....enter Design Sponge! I searched before and after pics of dressers and found this...

This is what I'm talking about! Beautiful wood grain...outlined with crisp white! So pretty and modern and funky! I knew I would shamelessly copy them since their case was in bad shape too but their drawers were salvageable. I did have to do some major repair on pretty much every drawer. The wood was in really good shape but the drawers handles were all cracked...the trim was coming up...so i used A LOT of wood glue and put everything back together again. So after thoroughly sanding the drawers (see above pic for the pretty raw wood that I ended up with)...I applied a thick layer of Howard's Feed and Wax to the drawer fronts. Here is a pic of the before the wax and after...

Insane huh? I was AMAZED at how awesome that stuff is and how it brought out all that fabulous wood grain and color with just a layer of citrus smelling wax! Adore Howards...I will be using it from now on! 

So after the drawers were waxed and polished I filled all the scratches and holes in the case veneer with wall spackle. (I use it instead of wood putty...MUCH cheaper and works just as well...and MAJORLY sandable)...let that dry and then primed and painted the box with two coats of oops white paint. I left the feet in the raw wood for some variety. Here's the after.... 

 

 

Sharing my dresser at some fab parties:

Gray bench redo

Hey everyone! So I just refinished a bench. No big deal...but I wanted to share it with you! I had been looking for a bench for a LONG time. I wanted one to go on one side of my dining table so my kiddos could share it. I wanted NO upholstery...totally wipable and kid proof...and a dark gray-ish black color. Well have any of you tried to find a bench on CL and not pay a fortune? Its almost impossible!!! You could make one yourself for not much money thanks to The fabulous Ana White. 
But I wanted one pre-made...SOLID...kinda ugly but good bones...and CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP! Well the other day when I was perusing Craigslist I found my bench. 15 bucks and the perfect size!

Pardon the partially primed top. I was DETERMINED to be a good blogger and take a before pic...and I ALMOST forgot! Phew.  Ok so you can see...sturdy...kinda gross looking...good bones! Just what I wanted to be able to make it glam and functional!
So here was my process...
Sand the top thoroughly with the palm sander.
Wipe clean
Prime that sucker
Dry time
One coat of my most favey fave new color...

Dry....
Another coat of the above super rad color
Dry
SHELAAAAC like crazy a few times with adequate dry times in between of course...I wanted this thing to be tough as nails!

So after that whole process I decided to let it simmer in the garage and get less fumey before I exposed my kids to it. Now its in the house and we LOVE it.

Oooh....Aaaaaah! What is it about a bench with a shiny top that just makes my heart sing? I adore this thing...such an easy makeover but so practical for our family and all those sticky fingers! Love you guys! Hope you have an awesome week!!!

Linking up with my fellow partiers:

Green Hutch with hot legs

 Hey guys! I posted this post a while back about a hutch that I got for free from my friend. She didn't like it, wanted it gone, and I GLADLY took it off her hands. Swoon..I was in love with the spindly legs and curved front...and those knobs. to.die.for. Well I lived with it in its birdseye maple-ness for several months before I just couldn't stand it anymore and I HAD to paint it! I used a combo of two pints of oops paint that I had in my garage. I wanted a kind of bright mint green and I think I achieved my goal! I went completely against my normal protocol on this piece. I didn't sand it AT ALL. Didn't prime it either! GASP. I also didn't strip it to remove the wax. I wanted to get it painted while my kids napped and I was trying to be quiet...so I mixed the paint...realized I dug the color...and slapped it on this sucker! I LOVE how it turned out. The color is bright but goes so well in the room! Its amazing how much more I love this piece now. Its a statement maker...that's for sure! What do ya'll think?

 

Linking up with the following fab parties:

Settling in and a recent re-do

We made it to California!! Such a long and exhausting process but we are here and very thankful! I have been a very busy bee lately with major unpacking, and sorting, and box-breaking-down-ing that I haven't had much time to do anything inspiring in the furniture re-do department but I do have a small project to share with you. Right before we moved (like two days before) a friend of mine told me that she had an antique sideboard (think gorgeous tall carved legs) that she was trying to get RID of! She doesn't like it...its been in her family for EVER (since that's how old it is) and it doesn't fit anyone's decor style so she asked me if I wanted it. Uh YA I did! Here she is...

I had wanted a vintage sideboard for a really long time and free (and solid, and gorgeous, and durable, and BIRDSEYE MAPLE) is a very good price! Did I mention its Birdseye maple?? Oh I did...ya it is! So here's the thing...even though the finish is gorg it was in less than great shape with tons of scratches/fading/etc. I honestly almost painted it...I had NO idea how to repair birdseye maple and I didn't even want to try. I was planning on painting it gray or white...lots of distressing...yada yada typical stuff..but something inside me said WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? I didn't have a sense of peace or purpose about painting over this gorgeous wood...even though it was less than gorgeous at the moment! So I got on good ol google and researched how to spruce it up. It had a large white stain on the top (like the kind that moisture causes) and I figured that the only way to get it out would be painting over it. Well I was WRONG. Did you know that an old T shirt/plus a low/medium heat iron=wood stain removal powerhouse team?? It does work and it works WONDERS! Water rings, white stains, brown stains...if water caused it...the iron/t-shirt combo gets it out! It takes a while...put on a movie and get comfy because you'll be bored out of your mind. Or do what I did...set the tshirt on the top...the iron FACE down on top of that and walk away for a couple mins. No joke. You'll come back and lift it up and it'll be WAY less noticeable or gone! My spot was really really big so I had to move the iron around about 502 times before it was a ton better but each time I saw improvement. I didn't give up and neither should you!! :) So while the iron was doing its job I decided to go to work on the scratches. I had an old minwax stain pen in Golden oak from some scratched hardwood rental house floors that we repaired before we moved out to insure we got our deposit back (were sneaky ones!) and I started lightly painting the pen tip over those scratches...they made them blend in SO much! It worked wonders! I drained that whole pen on this sideboard! I recommend the pen option if you don't want to re-do a whole piece and just have a scratch to repair that's lighter than the piece...try it! You'll be amazed! So after thoroughly ironing the top and fixing the scratches I took off the gross hardwear and soaked them in white vinegar for about an hour and then cleaned them thoroughly with soap and water and a toothbrush in the grooves. Lo and behold they are BRIGHT GOLD! SWOON! Birdseye maple AND bright gold ring pulls???? I'm in heaven! The stain on the top was made significantly less obvious but I still didn't totally dig it so I decided to leave the base alone and paint wide gray stripes on the top to hide some of the worse areas. I love and adore this piece. It totally "makes" my dining room and I will NEVER sell it!

Here she is after her make-over!

Close up of the gorgeous hardwear!

And here's how that area looks as of today. I put my large book page canvas above it, plus a few fun dining room-ish items on top. I seriously love it!

Oh and I almost forgot...the stripes! I dry-brushed them on to let some of the wood show through!

LOVE! Oh and last but not least...remember that yucky white stain? Well scroll above to the before pic with the adorable pooch in the pic...see that heinous HUGE white stain??? Well here it is today after the iron/tshirt removal miracle...

Yup it pretty much rocks. There was no photo shop involved people...it really worked that well! I'm totally gonna be ironing ALL my unpainted pieces now because goodness knows they've got LOTS of rings to remove! I hope you all are having a FAB week! Thanks for reading this here blog...I adore your comments!!

Linking up to...

Refinishing a Mid Century Modern dresser part 2

Hey there! Sorry this post is slightly delayed. I had major issues with this beast of a dresser but PHEW its done now! Ok so in part one of this journey I showed you guys the demolition process of this re-do...the gritty...not pretty...but VERY necessary steps to getting this dresser ready to be painted and shined! So...diving right in....
After I stripped ALL the laminate off the dresser on the fronts, top, sides, etc I sanded it all down really well...starting from 80 grit and then 120...so that I had a nice smooth surface to start with. I then put on a thin and even coat of primer on the dresser body but left the top and drawer fronts bare since those were gonna be stained. I didn't take a picture of this step but I just made sure the primer coat was light and even...I prefer Zinser primer...its what Centsational girl uses...and it really does work awesome. Super grippy and smooth looking under the paint. I let the primer dry over night and in the meantime I stained all the drawer fronts with Minwax liquid stain in Dark Walnut. I only did one coat on the drawer fronts...the wood was really pretty underneath and I wanted that to show thru a bit. I then laid out my plank top (paint sticks) and started gluing. There isn't really any rhyme or reason to applying the top. I just drizzled Gorilla wood glue liberally on the dresser top a little at a time (it dries fast) and then put the sticks evenly on the top...making sure that they were smooshed up next to each other completely before moving on to the next one. I also used paint cans to keep them flat during the drying process. As they dry the ends tend to lift a little...make sure you put something heavy on there and really concentrate on keeping the ends flat. Here she is with the unfinished paint stick top..

Cool huh? I really loved it in its bare and naked state but alas...I'm in love with dark stains! So after the top of the dresser was totally covered I gave it a couple days to fully cure before I did the staining. I applied the same Minwax stain to the top. I normally apply stain using a t-shirt or rag but I used one of my Purdy paintbrushes this time to get a thicker and more even application. I LOVE how it turned out. I let each coat cure for about 25 mins before I wiped it off...let it sit for a few hours...and applied the next coat. I did a total of two coats on the top. While the top was curing I painted the sides and front of the box with an oops white paint that I had in my stash.

See the bottom part...well that had a thin cardboard like panel that originally covered it and made it a solid section..but the moisture had damaged that part beyond repair so I simply removed that and sanded down the frame. I LOVE the modern edge it gives the dresser...and its solid wood too so no worries about durability! So this is the box with one coat of paint on it...get ready....I'm about to reveal the dramatic "after" pictures...are you ready? You sure? Ok here you go...

TA DAHHHHH!!!!!! Ok so you guys are probably wondering what I used for my handles on the dresser...well that was kind of a happy accident. I searched all over for modern handles that fit the overall look that I was going for, were cheap, and just happened to have the same width holes that the old ones did. Well I couldn't come up with anything that would work. I was majorly bummed and thinking that I would have to drill new holes and just settle for something that I didn't really love...when I remembered seeing different dressers that people have done that use rope or ribbon in place of handles in the drawers. Well that sparked a MAJOR bonfire of creativity and I remembered that I had a huge bundle of scrap leather pieces that would work AMMMAAAAZING in place of handles....plus they are stiff and will hold their shape well! Yay for using what you already have!! The leather pieces that I have are strips...all the same length so all I needed to do was cut them each in half and use one half for each handle. I widened the holes in the drawers just a tad so I could get the strips (which I trimmed the ends a bit to get it to fit) through the holes. Once I had about 3/4 an inch through each hole I simply folded it flat against the inside of the drawer front and stapled it firmly in place. I did this 9 times...and MAN was it tiring...especially with my kids running around me the whole time! The payoff was HUGE though and I could not be happier with how it looks! Its a little modern...a little funky...and it was TOTALLY FREE! I hope you guys love it as much as I do! I'd love to hear your thoughts!!!

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