Saturday, September 22, 2012

Project Interruption - Butterflies and Dots

I know I said I would post a picture of the dresser in its sanded stage, but I had to change gears (the dresser project is going to be so large). I found a smaller piece at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago that I had started on before I found my dresser, and tonight I sort of finished it (? not sure if I consider it done yet). Anyways, here is the original piece.


I found it to be unusual - a wall hanging tissue box holder thingy.  Or something like that. It was copyrighted on the back in 1993 - and it looks like art work from 1993. When I bought it, I thought it would be a good piece to "practice" with. 

Here are a couple of other angles:


I suppose the artwork would work for some decors, but just not my taste. So off to sanding I went......


And the finished product....




I like "whimsy" - Mary Engelbreit was great in her day. Her designs always made me happy to look at. This piece does have some structural issues (pretty crooked here and there), but a fun piece nevertheless. I thought it would be cute for a girl's room or someone who just finds this "cute".  Rarely will you see "cute" come from me, but I felt this piece commanded cuteness. Agree?  Afterall, who wants blowing their nose to be serious? lol 

As I said earlier, I'm not sure this is complete. It seems to still need "something" but I don't know what yet. I'll give it another look tomorrow to see what comes to me.



I'm still trying to figure out what the two sections on the bottom would be used for.  I told you this was unusual!  Your comments are ALWAYS welcome!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

As Promised....

I told you yesterday that I would be adding my newest project piece today. So, without further ado, here it is.........



I spent 7 hours today to get the top, and the 3 drawer fronts stripped. My hand is killing me!!! I used an entire can of paint stripper, a scraper, and about 30 sheets of sandpaper. That was a lot more work than I expected. I still have the sides and legs to strip. The drawers are going to need some makeover as the bottoms are pulled away from the frame - I'll have to reinforce them by possibly rebuilding them. I'm going to try some glue and nails first to see if it's enough. These need to be strong for what I have in mind. As for the color scheme, it presented itself to me after I was done sanding for the day. Any ideas on what it's going to be???

I just love this piece. I especially liked the molding, legs and wheels on the bottom:



I promise I'll post pictures this time of what the sanded unit looks like - tomorrow. Have a great night.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Good "Intentions"

A trip to Goodwill landed me in the furniture department. I have a specific piece of furniture I'm looking for with a specific intention in mind. I'm a firm believer in sending "intentions" out to the Universe and then waiting for the results to be discovered.  I actually found this very specific piece of furniture at Goodwill (about 5 days after I sent out my desire), and I can't wait to show you what it looks like - and you'll never believe what it's going to be...... check back tomorrow for the "before".

Thursday, September 13, 2012

The "Coffee Center" Table

In a previous blog, I gave you a picture of a nightstand I was about to re-purpose. It looked like this:


After about four weeks of sanding, planning, designing and painting it now looks like this:




I wanted to give it a new meaning - not just a nightstand. You can place your coffee maker on top of the faux doily and the drawers can now be used to store coffee, filters, condiments, cups, etc.(or you can still put your socks and undies in there if you wish!) . The drawers are lined with a cute coffee motif fabric as well. The doily on the top is, of course, painted on and all the incredible detail shows through.

 This graphic was adapted from a vintage coffee sign


This coffee bean bag is made from burlap and has room to store towels or a couple of magazines (yes, those are coffee beans painted on there)





Here, you can see the detail in the doily - it came out exactly as I hoped it would!


I thought this fabric was super cute and definitely belongs in this piece!


I'm really proud of how this turned out and really like it's new purpose. It still needs some touch-up and a coat of clear sealer. I hope you enjoyed this makeover. This piece is available for purchase. www.etsy.com/shop/Dianasgrl