Taaa Daaaa! The dresser, revealed!

It's actually been over a week that the dresser has been sitting pretty in the basement, but life has a way of getting away from us, doesn't it? 

A quick recap: Here is the dresser in it's original state:

It's ugly, scratched, smelly, and doesn't work well. I did sort of like the wood detail in the middle drawers, but my daughter was liking the idea of white paint more than restaining them. 

I'll admit, I have a love/dislike thing going on with wood. Not just wood furniture, but also wood floors, wood on the walls, wood on the ceilings. Wood cabinets, etc. Hubby has a love/love affair going on with them, so I'm not allowed to paint much - but the house was built in the 80's, and it all has that sort of orange color cast to it. I love wood, but not the color orange. I'm working on getting some other shades into the house. For example, dark stained wood, which is what we chose for the top of this dresser - that way, I could still be saving some of the real wood, but also not have orange, and have it be something my daughter would love.

So here she is, in her (almost finished) glory! We think she is gorgeous now, a huge improvement over the sad little cabinet we had at the beginning of the summer! 

As you can see, we opted to leave the bling all the same shade of white, instead of going with the second shade. Somehow that still made it look dirty, even though I had decided not to use it as a glaze. I hit the drawer pulls with spray paint - they have a tiny little bit of sparkle to them now, and match the top of the dresser quite nicely.

I admitted above that the dresser is not quite finished - I still have to give her a couple of coats of polycrylic on the top, to ensure that it has a durable finish on it. My daughter plans to use this as a buffet, which means that things will likely end up being put on the top. Also, I want to spray the little feet on the legs with the same color that the drawer pulls are, but that involves moving furniture around so that I can access them better, and taping and papering to ensure that paint only goes where I want it...and I still have 3 months til Christmas! 

So now for a quick peek at what looks like it might be my next project, since it is also a Christmas present for a daughter, but she is moving at the end of October and needs to be able to take it with her - 

Nice details, right? It is different, because it is mdf wood covered in laminate, but I still like the details. I plan to break out my brand new paint sprayer for this one, and use the slightly darker shade of white I didn't use on the first dresser. I believe she will love it!

oooh, the dresser is almost done!!

I'm getting so excited to show this! I feel like it is taking me forever to do this, but I am leaving lots of time for the paint to completely cure and harden up so that no little bumps or handling with create scratches or dings. Today, getting ready for the final white coat on the drawer fronts and cabinet, I just couldn't wait anymore and had to try dry-brushing the darker shade of white onto the medallions and raised details to see what it would look like. 

I was envisioning something darker, and was afraid it would be too stark a difference. I've grown to really like the way the medallions look on the drawers in white. I wasn't sure whether they would have that subtle appeal if they were dark. Here's a reminder of what they look like all white: 

Remember, this still needs another coat of the white paint, which will really make it sparkle. I hit the raised bits with the other shade while I only had the first coat on because I wanted to be able to just paint over it without any risk.

I should have not been worried about how dark the second color was going to be, though. The lighting in my basement is really, really not good. It's really horrible, to be honest - I have one bare light bulb on the ceiling with a pull cord to turn it on, and a lamp balanced on one of the shelving units near where I am doing this work. The other section of the basement has much better lighting - fluorescent, but much brighter and more of it. This side was so dark I had a hard time really seeing the second color when I put it on the raised rib there. I dry brushed a bit of the color over the top of the medallions to see how I liked it. I had originally planned on glazing it and brushing it off, but that wouldn't put the color on the bumped out part, but on the nooks and crannies instead. Plus, I wasn't sure if it would make the drawer look dirty - that's why I really don't like some of the waxing that I've seen over chalk paint, because it really makes the pieces look like the owners couldn't be bothered to wash away the grime.

As I said, I just did this quickly to get a sense of the color difference. I started out using a natural bristled brush, but had to get rid of that quickly because it was leaving little hairs all over my project! 

So anyway, I have painted over this with the final coat of white paint. You will have to wait and see the final reveal of the project to see what we decided to go with. I plan to let this dry a couple of days and then do the polycrylic coating on the top. That will likely take a couple of coats...and then I'll put it all back together, put the hardware back on, take a couple of photos, cover it all up with a sheet or something and move on to the next project. I have several lined up to choose from!

No such thing as permanent

So while searching on Pinterest last year, I found a really cool example of DIY table setting decorations using a Sharpie marker - at least, that is what it said in the text accompanying the pictures. 

I read reviews of the process before attempting it myself. The reviews said not to use regular Sharpie, but instead use the oil-based kind, then put it in the cool oven, turn it to 350, bake it for 30 minutes and let it cool in the oven. 

I bought a mug at Savers, and used a gold oil-based Sharpie to write "Don't let the muggles get you down!" on the side. I baked as directed, and then proceeded to use it, wash it in the dishwasher, reheat it in the microwave to test how it would stand up. Turns out, not so well. 

I returned to the internet to see what else I could use, since I'd already purchased sets I wanted to do up for the girls Christmas presents. I found paint markers specifically designed for using on glass and ceramic, and followed the directions - which are, unsurprisingly, the same as the ones I'd followed for the Sharpie mug.

This one was for the left-handed daughter - it has the names of the songs from One Direction around the border of the plate.  

This one is for the right-handed daughter, and has the names of the songs from Twenty-one Pilots around the border of the plate.















I delivered the presents last December, but based on the condition of the Sharpie mug, I recommended hand washing instead of putting them into the dishwasher. The girls decided to begin using the mugs shortly after receiving them, and they were very good about hand washing...for a while. It has now been 8 months. The plates are still pristine, because they have not used them yet. The cups - the cups are another story.

Sufficient to say that even paint marketed for glass and ceramic is not necessarily permanent. Lesson learned.

making progress!

 We had a lovely time at the fair, and then yesterday got together with hubby's cousins and their families at the beach. It was also a lovely time, although it was NOT beach weather - everyone was dragging out sweatshirts and shivering in the breeze, and the fog that rolled in around suppertime was as thick as the soup that descended on the town in The Mist, though if there were any aliens in it we happily departed before they made land.

Today I dedicated several hours to progressing on the dresser. First, I used a brush to put on the primer coat on the drawers. One problem with this primer is this: it's oil-based white primer. Ok, I tried to cover two problems with one phrase - it's oil-based, which means that it needs oil-base clean-up. I have "smarter paint thinner" which is white - which means that I cannot tell if I have the paint out of the brush or not! If it was latex, it would not require that level of clean-up - but it would not be as good a product, either.

This is the drawer with a layer of primer on it. I'm beginning to see what I was going for! 

































I wasn't too fussed about getting the primer on perfectly, since I'm planning on two coats of paint. I was wondering about sanding after the primer and before the paint, but daughter 2 said I shouldn't need it, and I really wanted to get on with the painting. Not that she is an expert, but as I said, I really wanted to get on with the painting...she was just the sort of agreement I needed! =)

Also a question was whether I should paint the back or not. Hubby said yes, but when I posed the question on Hometalk, one response was that I should be careful of how wet I get the back, so not to warp it, as it is not real wood. 

I ended up talking myself into it. Daughter 2 noted that they want to use the dresser/buffet as an island to separate the living room from the kitchen, so the back will be seen. I hit it with one coat of paint, and will leave it at that.

One thing I learned after I started painting with my lovely, sort of expensive, brush, is that you shouldn't use a brush you used with oil-based paint with latex paint. So, I went off to the store to get plain mineral spirits so that clean-up will be easier, and a new brush to use with the hybrid paint. I have labeled the first brush after cleaning it, and we will keep that one for the primer. Oh, and I also need to find some glass jar to keep the cleaning solution in, because the plastic cup I had it sitting in for an hour was distinctly melted looking, though I did catch the issue before it proceeded to leak all over the place!

While I was working on that, the drawers were drying. I was able to give the whole thing a coat of paint with the hybrid paint I picked out - it's Benjamin Moore paint, it cleans up like a latex but hardens like an oil-based paint. Because it's a hybrid, you can't mix anything like Floetrol in to help reduce brush lines. I'm hoping that it is flow-able enough to not need help. This is the first coat. I used a roller to put this on - my plan is to lightly sand it before doing the second coat, which will be with a brush. Rollers leave a lot of little air bubble marks, although they did smooth out quite a bit from what they looked like when I first rolled the paint on.

 I have also moved some of the stuff around in the basement to make some more room, while I was waiting for paint to dry. See that I moved the air conditioners out of the way? They were on the floor at the end of the dresser. I put them up on the table, where they belong. =) Slowly but surely...slowly but surely.

So I think there will be no more step by step pictures of the dresser unless something goes wrong and I think it will help someone to mention it. Next post on the dresser should be a big reveal of the completed project!

those medallions

To be completely honest, I wasn't crazy about those medallions or whatever you want to call them on the drawer fronts. They just looked too crispy, too foreign on there. However, I was pretty sure I could make this work. I showed hubby, who assured me that they were going to flake right off as soon as I hit them with sandpaper. I pooh-poohed his nay-saying, and started trying to reign them in this morning.

As you can see, the spackle had dried in very definite lines - which is okay, if that's what you are looking for, but I wanted something a little more subtle. I was not as pessimistic as hubby. I believed I could use foam-mounted sandpaper to very softly and subtly make this more pleasing to my eye.

I started out slowly to get a feel for what the material could take. It definitely didn't flake off, although it didn't take much to make it more like what I was thinking. 

After figuring out how hard to press and how much I could do with taking the edges down, I went to town on the rest. They look like I decimated them, but I didn't. They were much more to my liking once I took that extra dust and powder off!

The other problem I was having was with the dresser top - my ebony stain was not coming out ebony. I am up to three coats, with a very light sanding between the second and third. We've agreed that it is acceptable. I have noticed that there are spots on the top where I had sanded it more than the rest, apparently, to get the stains out - they are taking more of the stain in. I must have gotten down to a little bit deeper layer of the wood. Weighing out my options of trying to take it all down to a deeper level and restaining, painting it instead of leaving it natural wood, or leaving it as is, we're going with leaving it as is. I think it will still be beautiful.

The other step I took today was to throw a coat of primer on the cabinet. I just really, really want to see how this is going to look! I didn't have time today to paint the drawer fronts, and I left the legs of the base unpainted even though they will also be white, because I didn't feel like being that close to the floor with my face, to see what I was doing under there, but I think you can agree this is showing promise!

I'm giving this a full day to dry, because we're heading to the fair tomorrow. It might get even more than a day, because we have a family reunion the following day - hope you enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

Dresser make-over

So I want to catalog my progress on my current project, in addition to highlighting some of the projects I've already completed, in order to try to keep up the momentum and stay on track. As I've already admitted, I tend to get distracted from projects and end up having them sitting around collecting dust instead of being the useful, beautiful objects I envision them as.

My daughter brought home this neglected dresser free from a yard sale at the beginning of the summer. The drawers didn't all slide nicely, it had a loose leg, a bit of a warp in the backing, and was sort of...eh.

Turns out they had some of the drawers in the wrong spots, because as I took a little time to try them in different areas, they seem to slide a little better. There was paint and marks on the top, though, and it just wasn't anything we wanted in our living area. It was something I wanted to try my hand at redoing, though.

The dresser has sat in the basement patiently waiting until I finished my schooling, and now offers me the pleasant distraction of taking my mind off of my test results by trying to figure out what to do with it. Daughter 1 didn't want it anymore; she hasn't room for it in her apartment. Daughter 3 said she would love it, but wants it for a buffet to use for dishes and linens - which goes perfect with what I have in mind. 

I spent a few days going through Pinterest and Hometalk, gathering ideas and inspiration. We decided on a creamy white, with a secondary accent of a slightly darker shade of white (and I know how odd that sounds, but the paint store has 141 shades of white!) I really did love some of that wood, though, so we decided to try to get the top to a place where I can stain it darker, and have the top stained but the rest of the cabinet with the two whites.

I brought out my beloved new hand sander and planned to simply go over the top, but ended up hitting the sides of the drawers so that they will slide better and the fronts, just to take off the finish.

We opted to go with ebony stain, but this is very hard wood and doesn't feel like taking up much of the stain. My plan is to go over it again once this bit has soaked in, to see if it will darken. I have since heard of Java Gel stain, but I'm trying not to keep buying materials, so that my *free* furniture project doesn't end up being my *million dollar* project.

  

See those three drawers the lamp is sitting on? We also had to decide how we want them to go in, because I wanted to try a neat idea I had seen on Pinterest - I wanted to add texture to them. Initially I wanted to adhere a textured wallpaper to the parts we wanted to highlight, but we couldn't find one we loved at Lowe's, and Home Depot had even less. I kept searching, and found an idea for stenciling with spackle, or joint compound, and then going on as thought the texture is part of the wood.

trying to decide which way to do the pattern.

This also took more time than planned, because I had a stencil we thought would be great, but turned out it is not a real stencil at all, but more for screen printing. It will still work quite well for paint, but not texture. Back to the store we went, and daughter 3 picked out a stencil she liked. 

Back in the basement, it turns out that this is much more work than it looks like it would be. The spackle I used (goes on pink, dries to white when it is dry) is slippery, and goopy, and the stencil wasn't taped on. I tried to tape the drawers together, then ended up stenciling over the tape. 

see where the tape came up and the stencil lifted?

I think that will work out, though, because I will be sanding bits of the stencil off here and there, in order to give it a rougher, more used sort of look. 

So it all sits with a fan on it, drying, at this point, because I have to run out and don't have time to start painting and still be clean for my meeting. Stay tuned, I'll have updates as the progress continues!

Put your feet up and stay a while

Another project from last summer is the footstool I made out of an old soda box I've had kicking around. I used a piece of board I had left over from a project I had some wood cut for and never finished, some cushion donated from a friend's old camper, and the remainder of the lovely fabric I used to redo the seat on my renovated chair. I love how it came out, although I have it filled with magazines at this point to keep the top at the right level. I plan to put a couple of pieces of wood on the inside to keep the top from sinking too low, but have yet to get around to that. I wanted to be able to take the top out so I can use this for storage, so it's important for me to not have it permanently attached. 

You can see it here with the chair I redid - although the one is painted and the other is not, the fabric ties them together well, I think. The height of the chair works better for me with this footrest than with the HP desk, too.