{Before and After} - Dresser

Hey friends! Do you remember the photo below I shared with you last week? This dresser belonged to my husband's grandmother. It is a great piece of furniture with 9 drawers (plenty of storage!) but, oh did it need some loving!  Not only was it beat up from just being plain old, but it also stuck out like a sore thumb in our bedroom, which is pretty much decorated with all white furniture!

I am so bad about taking before pictures - clearly I remembered to take one after we had already taken most of the drawers out!

Again, another "before" picture, right before I began sanding away!

Midway through the project - primed and stained!

For the hardware, I knew it needed to be spruced up a bit. In my last post I told you about my new fave obsession for projects now - Rub n' Buff! This was my first trial run, and it turned out great!

Hardware before ...

Close up of Rub n' Buff - I used Gold Leaf 

Easy peasy! All you have to do is rub it on with your finger, and it sticks! Very simple!

And finally ....

The after picture! 

I am so pleased with how it turned out! I think it looks great in our room and works with our color scheme.  And my husband is the sweetest - he said that his Grandmother would be so proud! 

{I Heart Spray Paint} - Guest Bedroom Chairs

This pair of chairs came from Goodwill for about $10 a piece. Not bad, right? But also not very pretty! Not to worry, my spray paint bottle was ready to tackle these bad boys! 

First and foremost - cleaning the chairs. It is very important to give your piece a good wipe down before painting or staining. My go to product is Krud Kutter. This stuff works really well!

Proven by the disgusting paper towels after cleaning - who knows where the chairs had been!

Here are the chairs after two coats of spray paint. They look brand new!

I don't have any pictures from recovering the seat cushions, but I used a burlap type fabric in a natural color that would work well in our guest bedroom.

Here are the after pictures! Now we have two cute chairs for our guests, and they also work well for extra desk space! 

{Painted Furniture} - Buffet

Hello everyone! I want to share with you my latest project. It has definitely been a long process to finish this buffet, but I learned some new techniques along the way!

Here is the buffet when I bought it. It definitely looks good in this picture, but up close it had a lot of imperfections!

I didn't take too many pictures throughout the process, but here it is midway through when I had stripped the top of the piece down to the bare wood. I already had my first coat of paint, too! 

Here is a picture of the first coat of stain (Minwax Dark Walnut) - I love this deep tone compared to the original red tone that the piece used to be. 

 And here is the finished product! 

 I ended up doing two coats of stain, then two coats of fast drying polyurethane. 

The color is Old White Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan - this was my first experience with Chalk Paint, and I love it! No priming before hand, and the distressing at the end is very easy!

I also used the original hardware which really pops now against the light color. 

 Look how shiny and pretty the top is! I am so proud :)

 This piece is on display and for sale at 1610 Antiques. Stop by and check it out!

I am linking up to these parties!

{Painted Furniture} - Vanity

A few weeks ago I got a call from my mom letting me know she had found an antique vanity at a little antique shop. She said that it had good bones, but that it would definitely need some work! But the best part is that it was only $30! Well, you all know I like a challenge and a good deal! Here is a before picture:

The piece definitely had good bones, but oh my - was it dirty! I think it had been sitting in someone's back shed for about 30+ years because it was covered in spider webs and dirt. Oh wait - not only spider webs, but some live spiders too - that was not a pleasant experience to discover!

So I gave it a good scrub down and a light sanding. I had a hard time determining what color to paint this piece - black with gold accents, blue with some light distressing ... but ultimately I decided on good ole' white! I decided this because of the pretty lines and curves on the front. When the vanity was dark wood, the lines and curves didn't pop, but with some light distressing, they really show up!

After two coats of primer and two coats of white satin paint, here is the final result! I am really pleased with how it turned out.

 The lines and curves are slightly distressed - enough to make out the design, but not overly done. 

 And with some new hardware, this piece has a new life! I hope that someone will enjoy this in their home!