'Ello Guvna!

This little guy followed me home from the thrift store a long time ago.  

I finally got around to painting it and good news....

it's not aqua!  

I'm sure you're all shocked.

I had a quart of Benjamin Moore, Montpelier still on my shelf that I used on this dresser.   This is the Ben line of paint by Benjamin Moore.  I love using this paint, it goes on great and leaves a smooth finish.  It still went on great even though it's been sitting there for two years.

This chap got a British makeover since my husband is working on restoring a '77 Austin Mini and I can't resist picking up little British things when I come across them.  

I wish that makeover was as quick and cheap as this one was!  

Well then, cheerio!

Sharing at Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

Pair of Aqua Nightstands

This is a pair of nightstands I picked up from Kijiji for a great price.  They are old and solid but were a little beat up in places and needing a little work.  One corner was chipped off so I had to sand down all the other corners to match.  The back of one of them needed to be replaced since someone had once cut a wonky hole in it.   Another set back was the stain; it kept bleeding through my primer.  I bought a spray can of Zinsser BIN which covered everything no problem.

I'm still trying to finish up some old cans of paint I have around here.  I know you'll be completely shocked to see something painted aqua around here.  This isn't even that last of the aqua paint.  I have so much paint to go through before I even think about getting some new colours.  This particular colour is mostly Para's Rescue Me but lightened up with a bit of Benjamin Moore's Blue Bonnet.

I used my sprayer with these which was really helpful getting in between those little columns in the front.  I used some more pages from my Mosaic Memories scrapbook paper and mod podged the front of the drawers.  I also mod podged the inside of the drawers with some wallpaper I found at Goodwill a loooong time ago.  I protected the paint and paper with some polycrylic using my Purdy brush which does a great job of not leaving brush strokes.

These knobs were picked up at the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  Originally they were brass but I gave them a coat of primer and a coat of white.  I used some blue and gold craft paint to show off the details.

Bye Bye dull brown; bright and cheery now!

partying with:

Little Blue Table

This little table was a Kijiji find.  It's a lot easier to buy furniture online right now since I don't have to take the girls in and out of the car.  Also it's a for sure thing instead of trekking to Goodwill, finding nothing and walking away empty-handed.

I have to admit that I wasn't too sure that a coat of paint was going to save this table. It's kinda ugly, yes?  But it was nearby and the price was right.  Once again I used Benjamin Moore, Waterfall and sprayed the original hardware with Tremclad, Hammered Brown.

A little mod podge & paper to perk up the drawer fronts and drawer bottom. 

She's not so ugly anymore, huh?

sharing over at Cassie's:

Aqua Nightstand

With two little babes now I don't find it very easy to pack 'em both up and head to Goodwill and hope for good moods and patience from both of them.  However, I did get over there recently with just the littlest babe and picked up this cute little nightstand.

I really dig the cutesy, vintage shape.  Obviously it's perfect for a girl's room which I really enjoy doing pieces for.  Sorry little dudes out there!




Sand?   Check!
Prime?  Check!
Paint?  Check!

I'm using up a couple cans of paint I have before I buy anything new so you're going to be seeing some repeat colours.

This is the Benjamin Moore, Waterfall that I used to paint J's dresser.  I'm still in love with this colour!







Mod podge is still my favorite way to add something unique to pieces so I used some pages from the Mosaic Memories paper pad from Michaels.  Love this paper pad!

The drawer front received some fun, floral paper along with some coordinating striped paper for the drawer bottom.  I used some extra knobs from another piece and spray painted them with Tremclad's Hammered in brown.

The top, shelf and drawer front received a coat of polycrylic for some extra protection and c'est fini!

One baby and one year later...

Could we just pretend it hasn't been almost a year since my last post? No? Okay, that's fair but, in my defense, I was a little busy. I had another one of those babies everyone is always talking about. This one's pretty cute, too.



But she's getting a little older so it's time to get back to painting stuff.

I like painting stuff.

I miss painting stuff.

Do you want to see the stuff I painted?



These nightstands were listed on Kijiji for a steal. I took it as a sign to get started again. Nice little nightstands but heavy as all get out. I don't know what type of wood they are but they are solid!



I wanted to paint them more adult than the usually kid stuff I do. Plus, I figured that people are more likely to be buying a set of nightstands for an adult's bedroom.

I still have a ton of supplies so I just got to sanding and painting. Since it's been such nice weather I got to use my sprayer, yay! Love that thing.

Here they are!




The nightstands were painted with Benjamin Moore, Moon Rise. Which I had left over from painting our kitchen cabinets. The tops were stained with Minwax Red Oak.



I used some antique brass pulls that I've had forever. I bought six of them to use on another project but they didn't look right.



Now I need something to use the other four on. So check back in, I might have another project soon!



I haven't partied with Cassie in, like, FOREVAH !!!
:::waves hi to Cassie:::

Retro Nightstand

Since the warmer weather is taking it's own sweet time getting here, I've decided that little pieces of furniture are perfect for me while I'm still stuck inside painting. Where are you, Spring?!?!

I bought this little retro nightstand for $3.99 at Goodwill. I love when pieces are cheap because they're so ugly.



It needed a little work before I could start painting. It was missing a knob and I thought the surviving one was a little too small. I found another knob off a previous retro nightstand I did so I filled in the holes and drilled new ones. I sprayed the gold knob and the legs with a brown hammered spray paint. I also didn't like the recessed grid pattern on the drawer so I filled it in with wood filler and sanded smooth.



After that work I was ready to prime and paint. I'm trying to work through all the paint I have before buying any new mistints. I mixed together two whites I had and then added some red to make the pink for a stencil and the cubby hole.

After painting the nightstand white I made a stencil using contact paper. If you want to try this just remember you have to reverse your image before drawing it onto the back of the paper. If you press down on the contact paper really well (and not use a lot of paint) it will make a nice clean line. If there's any separate pieces of the stencil you can use a pin to peel up carefully.



I used Modpodge to line the drawer with a cute piece of scrapbook paper I had in my craft stash.



I loved how this little lady turned out. So cute, I love her sassy little legs!





Linking up:

Back in the Game

Some of you may recall that I used to paint furniture. In fact that's all I used to do until the cold weather hit. I haven't painted anything in a long time so I picked up something little to ease back into it.



I bought this solid wood nightstand at Goodwill. And let me tell you the pickings are slim in there. I only bought one thing at a time last year (so I didn't fill up the garage) but now I can see that I need to stock up the winter. I can't wait until people start their spring cleaning!

No real prep needed with this one, just a quick sand and a coat of primer. I did have a hard time picking the paint colour I wanted. I ended up using the aqua I used on the french provincial dresser since I had lots left over and I paid full price for that can, ouch!

I had picked up the knob at Michaels a loooong time ago and matched it to some scrapbook paper to line the drawer with. It's my dream that someday Michaels will have the knob selection that Hobby Lobby has. Or better yet, Hobby Lobby comes to Canada! Come on Hobby Lobby, we got Ketchup Chips and Poutine here! You know you love it!




So I'm left with an adorable little nightstand, nothing so special or original but I think it's cute!


Almost forgot! Partying with Cassie & Miss Mustard Seed:

Nightstand Revisited

I did this nightstand last month and it has been for sale for about three weeks with absolutely zero interest. So I took a step back and looked at it.



I decided it was nice but fairly boring. Actually super boring. So I whipped out my Amy Butler paper pack that I used on these nightstands.



I had multiple people interested in these nightstands when I posted them so I don't know why I didn't use the Amy Butler paper on this one right away.

I chose a new paper for the drawer front and a coordinating piece to line the inside. I hadn't lined the drawer previously because I didn't have any paper to match the striped piece I used on the front.






Much better! I like how the knobs blend into the flowers on the paper. Let's hope this does the trick!


Joining Piece of Work Wednesday at Primitive & Proper