Friday, August 25, 2017

A Dresser for My Husband :)



Hey everyone! I'm very excited about this project - we finally have a matching bedroom set! When my husband, Curtis, and I got engaged, my parents gave me almost all of the pieces that they originally had for their bedroom set when they first married. They told me I could do whatever I wanted with them, so I definitely did! As you might have seen, some of my earliest posts were the dresser I refinished in off- white and the two matching black nightstands. The only thing missing was the tall standing dresser that completes the set - the dresser my brother has had for years. After moving to our new place back in January, we realized that the dresser we had for Curtis, a more wider and lower height, didn't quite fit in the room. Curtis couldn't open the drawers fully because they kept hitting our bed, it was a bit frustrating! Luckily, my brother kindly offered a dresser swap, and it worked out very well! After bringing this tall dresser home, I decided it needed an update, one to suit Curtis' personality. :) I got rid of the old fashioned handles, painted the base grey, and wound up doing each drawer a different colour. The results were exactly as I hoped! 





I love how solid this bedroom set is, this dresser was no exception! It's going to last us for years! After pulling everything apart, I painted the base with Rustoleum's grey chalk paint. It made a huge difference already! 



After sanding each drawer down to the bone, I put on Rustoleum's White Linen chalk paint. Sanding was quite fast, and necessary for the project to work properly. If I were just going to leave the drawers painted, I wouldn't have needed to take the time to sand them down. 


Once the paint was dry, I ran the sander over top. Without sanding too much of the pain off, I was able to get the wood grain to show through - a pretty cool effect! I used this same technique when I refinished a coffee table a few years ago and have been wanting to do it again! 


Sometimes, I'm very indecisive. Rather than spend the rest of my evening wondering what colour stain I should use, I just decided to use them all! Using a rag, I rubbed different stains over each drawer, ranging from light to dark.


I've had these wooden knobs for ages and haven't known what to do with them - until now! I painted them a simple matte black, and voila! Just like new! 


After the stain dried, I used Varathane on the base and drawers to protect them. Then I placed the drawers in order, from light to dark. My dog Rebel, is a bit of a ham, he loves to get in on photos! 






I chose to distress the base of the dresser a little bit, to keep it in line with the rustic look that I have on the other pieces in the set. After putting the knobs on, it looks fresh, updated and perfect for Curtis! :) 














What a fun project! I thoroughly enjoyed this one! And I'm glad that I like it, I get to see it every day! Thanks for visiting my blog! 


Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Beautiful Dining Table Set



Hey Everyone! I'm so excited to share this project! I found this table set at a neighbour's garage sale and couldn't believe my luck! It came with four chairs, everything is solid wood. The best part? All we had to do was carry it up the road to get it home! I was pretty happy to not have to figure out how to load it into our car! :) 



My husband, Curtis, helped me sand down the table top right down to the bare wood. After all the sanding, I wiped everything down with a damp cloth. 


I decided to use some leftover stain, Minwax's Classic Grey. I felt that it wasn't quite the look I was going for, it had more of a blue undertone, so I decided to take a risk, by doing another coat, this time using Minwax's Jacobean. It gave it a warmer grey look, much better! 


For the bottom of the table, I used a classic - white chalk paint. I also put a protective coat of clear wax to give it a matte finish while protecting it as well. 





I'll be honest... chairs are the worst! I really dread refinishing them because of their tricky, hard to get to spots, and because it seems to take forever! Luckily for me, the grey chalk paint I used covered them nicely, and my husband kindly helped with the painting! After painting, I used polyeurethane to protect them. I originally tried wax, but found it very difficult to keep a consistent matte finish with the colour, I repainted and then used poly to protect them and keep the colours consistent. 





.... And the finished product! This table looks very different than it did a few weeks ago. It's been the perfect summer project, one that I could work on here and there, while still getting other projects done. I can't wait to see who it's lucky new owner will be! :) 


My dog, Rebel, loves to wander into the photos when he sees me taking pictures. He's a bit of a ham! :) 











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