Henry the Desk

 Ugh. Scraping off adhesive residue is probably one of my least favorite things to do. It probably took me 45 minutes to get it off the fold-down portion.

 Bye-bye paper. :( It's pretty and it has velvet embellishments but it was peeling and brittle. It took even longer to get it off and then get started on THAT adhesive. Interestingly enough, there was a tiny scrap of newspaper stuck under the paper - May 31, 1969! So at least I now have some idea when this desk was originally purchased. Hooray!

Frank and George

I should have numbered my projects to make it easier to title these entries. I may go back and do that after today. Or I should have just named the projects so I could say things like "Frank has had a second coat and George is currently drying his first."

This would be George.

 I had thought originally to paint the drawers in a contrasting tone but now I'm thinking to keep it monotone and let the hardware do the "talking." Look in the Attic has some really sweet glass pulls that I just want to hoard right now.

This would be Frank. 

 The second coat of Pins and Needles went on this morning while the girls ate breakfast and I'm really loving this color. I could have gone a shade or two darker and been happy but this is really a neat tone. The groove around the top would look awesome with a dark wax in it .

Frank's drawer.

I picked up an 'oops' paint the other day - it was supposed to be Hot Chocolate but it looks more like day-old Ovaltine. It's pretty, tho, and I think it works well with the Pins and Needles.

I don't think I want to reuse the original hardware that came with this because it's bowed funny. So I've filled a small hole that a little knob on the underside of the hardware fit in to... for orientation, maybe? I dunno. It looked pointless because the hardware was turned the wrong way anyhow. After I sand the filler, I'll do another coat or two of paint and see how it strikes me. The front of this drawer is actually plastic or melamine or something like that. Briefly considered prying it off and putting a new front on but we'll see how this turns out.

Update on George:

Table progress

Yep. That's gum that had to be chiseled out of the underside of the table. My guess is that this gum does indeed lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight. 

DE-lightful. It was literally so hard it rattled like a rock when it hit the wood. Yuck.

 Primed with two coats and painted with "Pins and Needles" from Olympic. Having used oil-based primer, painting with latex was so nice... it goes on so much more smoothly. I just wanted to paint and paint and paint...

It's not dry yet but I'll get more pictures in the morning to show the true color. Thinking about using stain and/or dark wax to accent this table. 

Newcomers!

I really like the lines on this one. Thinking about trying out some  Annie Sloan chalk paint on this for a really vintage look. 

I can't help it. This one looks like it has really bad cankles or something but I'm hoping that a change in color will bring things in line. It's gonna be a pain to sand, I can already tell. Maybe I should just go ahead and use a stripper?

Gazing at glazing

It's that time again: the napping/painting hour! I was patiently waiting to get to this part and decided to treat myself and paint IN the house today. No more kneeling on cold garage concrete. 

One last "before" picture. Don't you love the Valentine Snoopy in the background? 

I will admit, even after re-watching glazing how-to videos from this gal, I was a little worried about just slapping the glazing on this night stand. What if it didn't come out right? What if it looks better all nice and clean? What if I bought the WRONG GLAZING?

Well.... not the wrong glazing. But definitely harder to leave the glazing in the right nooks and crannies than I had anticipated. Maybe a sponge would have worked better than a rag?

The drawer isn't all the way in... the paint all feels dry but I don't want to risk it sticking and leaving weird marks. Patience is a virtue and I'm determined to practice till it comes naturally. haha

So? What do you think? Thinking about painting the old hardware but it might look just fine the way it is. 

Nearly done!

What looked nearly perfect last night did NOT look nearly perfect today. Second coat of Crisp Linen is on and  now it's just a matter of waiting till I can wax it or coat it with polycrylic so that it can hold up to the girls'  usage.

Next project will probably be this one:

I can safely say that I am NOT looking forward to sanding this one. Thankfully, I just have to rough up the veneer a little to hold paint better. But still... yikes. 

Chocolate top

 I hadn't planned to paint today because this morning started off so dreary and damp. But after a trek to the mall, the sun came out and made it a perfect day for some creativity.

The lighting in the garage is not awesome but the following pictures give some idea of how the night stand is going to turn out. First coat on the top/drawer was several hours ago so at about 9:15 tonight, the second coat was started and the first/only? coat on the body was done.

I meant to take a picture of it with just primer but I forgot so this shows a little of the brown I 'd already painted on the bottom lip of the top. 

First coat! Looks almost purple, doesn't it? 

Second coat is much richer. I love it. 

I kind of hope I don't have to do a second coat of the Crisp Linen. It was a real pain to get it in all the little grooves on the leg turnings. Makes me wish I could have found the color I liked in a spray instead! I'm sure it'll be worth it, though, when all is said and done. If I end up glazing the piece, any sketchy coverage should blend in well.

Plan-less pieces

The other pieces I have sitting in the garage, waiting to be pretty again:

I'm not sure what this started out as but for $19.97 at a local CCA shop, I wasn't about to pass it up. Obviously, holes were cut to allow for cords/pc venting and a pull-out keyboard tray was installed.  

I don't find any sign of a shelf ever being in this sideboard(?) but I would love to put one in and see it used for linen storage or something. 

I think this is a magazine/lamp table? I'm not sure if that's the proper name for it. I love the lines on it and can't wait to see it glazed. 

In case you can't tell, that tag says $9.97. Pretty sweet!

The behemoth. Our son (B) needs a new dresser/tv stand/knick knack surface so I picked this up off Craigslist.  Currently planning to paint it a kind of burnt orange for a base coat and then a cream over it to distress. 

I wish the former  owner had said a few things - that this is veneered, slightly water damaged and has a messed up drawer. But I don't think any of those things render it unusable so... yeah. We'll see.  

First project: Night stand

Hi there! My name is Carey and after months of lusting after fun vintage pieces of furniture, I've decided to try my hand at a few pieces. Some were already 'in-house' and at my disposal and some I've picked up in the last week or two from resale shops. Nothing really fancy is going to go under the brush any time soon but I have high hopes for what is waiting in my garage.

My first project is a nightstand my mother-in-law generously allowed me to keep.

I should have taken a real "before" shot but this is after some sanding to take off  peeling varnish and some stain.  

My plan thus far is to paint the bottom with Sherwin Williams' "Crisp Linen":

and the top with a Sherwin Williams-matched-to-a-Gliddan color called "French Dark Chocolate" that looks  a lot like this: 

There isn't a lot of detail work on this piece but I'm considering glazing the edges of the top and the legs to see how much color will settle in the nooks and crannies.

All I have to wait for is a less windy day and some more unseasonably warm weather. Surely Texas can be counted on for THAT at least.