More Paint & Paper

This is the dresser that I came to own quite interestingly,if anyone remembers. After I got it home it needed a good cleaning, followed by a good sanding.



After I sanded I put the drawers back and noticed something else that was...um... interesting. Does anyone else see it? Look closely.



Look at the fourth drawer. Doesn't exactly fit, does it? I had to go back and look at the first picture I took before I took out the drawers. I was sure I would have noticed something like that. But sure enough, the bottom drawer (in the top pic) is too short on each side.

Huh. What the heck? How does that even happen? The only thing I can think of is that this drawer is out of the matching 9 drawer dresser that I didn't buy. But that would mean that the 9 drawer dresser now has a drawer that is too big. Oops.

Anyway, at first I figured I would just paint it up and maybe someone won't notice just like I didn't notice. Then I had one of those Aha Moments that Oprah is always talking about. If I could pry off that wood on top of the drawers and then move it over half an inch it would line up with the other drawers. Luckily it wasn't glued down, only a few nails stood between me and 5 perfectly lined up drawers.

I had already painted before I had the Aha Moment so you can see where I moved over those pieces. At this point I'm thinking "why the heck are these pieces on the drawers anyways?"



I planned on doing some podging in the recessed parts anyways so it didn't matter that there was no paint where I moved the wood over. I picked up the paper at Michaels and got to work podging. I'm basically in love with Mod Podge now.



I bought two new knobs for the top drawer since the original ones were broken. Not the typical knobs I would buy but the finish matched the original handles which I planned on re-using. I did, however, remove the plate that was behind the handles to make them look more updated.

This dresser turned out to be a bit more labour intensive than most dressers but who doesn't like busting out the tools, getting inventive and hammering a few nails?





Party on, Wayne!

Homemade Wooden Crate

The challenge this week at The CSI Project is "Pottery Barn Inspired". Since I've only ever been into a Pottery Barn one quick time (did you just gasp?) I didn't really know what that challenge meant. Actually, the first I had heard about Pottery Barn was that episode of Friends where Rachel tricks Phoebe into thinking she bought everything at a flea market. Anyone remember that one?

I hopped onto to their website to see what's what. Since shipping to Canada is pretty astronomical with most US companies I usually don't tease myself with such things. A quick look on their website says shipping to Canada is not even an option.

While drooling over the site I think I lost sensation in my eyeballs. Seriously some gorgeous stuff. I just love the soft, warm, natural colours with the rustic elements thrown in.

Like this room. Beautiful. I want to take a nap there.



Image: Pottery Barn

Then I saw this picture and I thought the little crate would be perfect to hold my phonebooks and cookbooks which are currently in a messy pile on the counter in the kitchen.



Image: Pottery Barn

I had some thin sheets of mahogany from a previous project that I thought would work well for this one. I measured the widest book I had to make sure everything would fit and then just made the measurements of the crate from there. After I dragged the table saw up from the basement and outside (by myself!) I cut out 4 panels that were 3"x9" and 8 panels that were 4"x11". I sanded all the edges then beat up the wood a bit with a hammer and a screwdriver so they weren't so perfect.



I used a combination of little nails and wood glue to put it together and then added little upholstery tacks to add a little character to it.



I first stained the wood with some Minwax Red Oak stain that I had on hand. Then I added Ellrose Dairy Co. to the front which was the name of my Grandpa's dairy farm. After the letters dried I sanded the letters to distress them a bit. Then I took some Minwax Ebony stain that I had and lightly rubbed some over the Red Oak and the letters to tone it down and a little darker around the corners.



A totally free project that helps me control my clutter!



Linking with:

Twice as Nice

I was stalking Kijiji (my favorite new pastime) when I saw this little pair of nightstands for $20. I immediately emailed about them and saw they were located nearby too! I was in the car going to pick them within half an hour.
The woman also had this dresser which she let me have for $5. I really love the shape of these old pieces and that they are solid wood.



I gave them a good sand everywhere (especially since one of them had nail polish spilled on the top) then I primed and sprayed them. Unfortunately, I'm still working on the same gallon of cream paint since I haven't found any more cans of oops paint that I like.

I've been wanting to do a little mod podging for a while and thought this was the perfect project for it. I picked up this Amy Butler scrapbook paper pad at Michaels. It has some really pretty florals and prints, perfect for these dainty little nightstands.



After I finally decided on which paper to use (it was such a hard decision!) I applied it to the drawer fronts and drawer bottoms. I really love the look of the paper I don't know why I waited so long to use Mod Podge. It was much easier than expected! Thanks to Lenore at Lather.Write.Repeat for some tips and inspiration for these nightstands.







I also primed and spraypainted the knobs with Tremclad metal primer and Tremclad hammered finish spraypaint.

I kinda want to keep these for my little girls room but I think I will let them go. But they really are my favorite so far!



'cause I like to party:

Sweet and Stencilled

I went to pick up a pair of nightstands that I bought on Kijiji (for anyone not familiar it's pronounced key-jee-jee; Swahili for village, and it's like Craigslist)and the woman also had a little dresser for sale for $10. I asked her if she would take $5 for it and she said yes.



I think this dresser is homemade by someone (and that person was not a carpenter). It's pretty simple and it's actually made of plywood. But other than the $5 (and a little time) it hasn't cost me anything since I reused the knobs and used the paint I had on hand.



It's pretty small so I thought I'd just do some simple numbers since it would work nice for a kids bedroom. I also used sage green paint since a lot people use that for their nurseries. For the numbers, I just used stencils and a little brush and painted with acrylic paint. Last time we visited the inlaws, my mother-in-law gave me a whole tote box full of acrylic paints. SCORE!



I wasn't sure about it because of the construction of it, but it turned out pretty sweet looking, if I do say so myself!

'Cause I like to party:

It Ain't Easy Being Green

I had been eyeing this little green dresser for sale on Kijiji for a little while. It was originally listed for $30 bucks but I waited it out and it eventually dropped to $20. That was a little more my price range since it would need new hardware and probably a strip down. I was willing to do a little stripping (no, not that kind!) since I had such an easy time with this dresser. When I picked it up the drawers were a little sticky so I decided to take the paint off.



This time it did not go as well. Even though that first dresser had three coats of paint on it all came off easy. This green dresser had a layer of primer underneath which made it a little harder. Putting on a layer of stripper took off the green no problem, it was the primer that was giving me trouble. After the green was off I kept trying to put on stripper to get the primer off but it wouldn't bubble up. I was doing a combo of scraping and sanding to get it off. Of course, now that I think about it, why was I so intent on getting the primer off when I was just going to put more back on? I think I'm a little OCD.

Anyway, I finally figured out that after the paint was off I could just put the stripper on the primer, let it sit a little, then kinda swirl it around with the brush and then wipe it off with a wet cloth. I was almost done when I found this "technique".



I love these keyholes! Has anyone had any luck trying to lock and unlock these with a bobbypin or something?



Painting around the keyhole presented a problem since I use a paint sprayer, so I covered it with tape while painting. However some paint came off when I took off the tape. I had to sand it a bit then paint with a modified makeup brush. I really need to buy some small brushes!





The dresser also came with a mirror that had not been painted green (whew!). Although, one side of the mirror frame had broken off at the bottom so I hacked off the other side so it would be even. I picked up some antique brass pulls to match the keyhole.



The "oops" can of paint that I picked up for this said the colour was "pale yellow" but it's more of a creamy white. I think it's perfect for this piece. I love this dresser, it turned out so pretty!




Because I like to party;