The "Cisco" Kid

Sometimes I run across a piece that is so special and unique that I fall head over heels in love with it. That's what happened when I saw this antique dresser. The person I bought this from said she found it when she was living in San Francisco. And so, I named it the "Cisco Kid" after one of my favorite cities.

It was old, really old. That's all I know....the dovetail joints looked like they were hand cut, and there was evidence of hand cut planks in the structure. The mirror was beautiful beveled glass. So I'm just guessing about its age....any ideas?

Aside from being REALLY dirty, like wear-a-mask-kind-of-dirty, the Kid just needed some light sanding to remove the dirt and grime. There were all sorts of nicks in this piece, but instead of repairing them, I left them alone and decided to embrace their charm. I painted it in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite, distressed the edges, and waxed in clear and dark waxes.

Check out these cool feet!

And as my mind usually wanders while I'm in my Zen moment painting, I wondered what sort of life this dresser had led.

Did it come from the Haight-Ashbury district and go through some wild times in the 1960's?

Was it around when the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937?

It almost certainly was around when Alcatraz was opened in 1936.

And maybe it survived the great quake and fire in 1906.

Anyways, I'm sure it led an interesting life and it was fun to refresh it and give it a great new home!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!





I'm sharing at:

Funky Junk Interiors
The Interior Frugalista - DIY Sunday Showcase
Silver Pennies Sundays
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Amaze Me Monday
Metamorphosis Monday
Boogie Board Cottage
Inspire Me Monday
Inspire Me Tuesday
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Twirl & Take a Bow Party
Elizabeth & Co. - Be Inspired
Wow Us Wednesdays
The Handmade Hangout
Furniture Feature Friday

Side Table Jackpot

A few months ago, I hit the "sides" jackpot while treasure hunting. I scored four side tables! They were all in various states of neglect and/or disrepair. It was a fun week because I usually work on just one or two pieces at a time. I had an assembly line going in the shop!

The first piece was a 1970's French Provincial side table. It wasn't a high quality piece because the facade on the front was made in plastic, but structurally it was in good condition so it didn't need any repairs.

I wanted to experiment to see how chalk paint adhered to the plastic without priming so I painted it in a mix of ASCP Old Violet and Old White, with Old White as a contrasting color. I wasn't disappointed! I let it cure for a couple of weeks before I listed it just to be sure it passed the fingernail test.

The following table was a road kill rescue my dad found for me!  Gotta love FREE!  She was a little worse for the wear. My dad had to come over for Fix It Monday and help me with new knobs. The original knobs (which were missing) must have been threaded and so current knobs wouldn't fit. He made new new plugs and we put new wooden knobs on to fit snugly. There were some missing pieces in the beautiful little wood detailing on the front, but I just went with the "shabby" look for this table.

Before

I sprayed this with shellac twice (just had a feeling about this one), and painted in Annie Sloan Old White, distressed and waxed. Since I got this piece for free, I was able to pass along the cost savings to a lovely young lady who bought this piece.

I picked up this next side table/small chest of drawers at an estate sale. It was in lovely condition, and just needed some light sanding, a vacuum and a bath.

Before

I painted it in General Finishes Lamp Black, and waxed and buffed and buffed and buffed. My photographer was at school and I unknowingly shot this with the wrong lens! So it was much prettier than the picture actually shows.

Last, but not least, is this great little table that had great bones but just needed a little bit of TLC. The veneer was chipped on the top and was easily repaired with wood filler. Again, I worried about bleed through, so I sprayed it with shellac after I prepped.

Before

I painted it in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg. Pretty little crystal knobs completed her transformation.

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So that was my week of the side tables.  Which one is your favorite? It was fun having so many projects in the hopper at once and meeting wonderful people who love incorporating vintage and antique furniture in their decor.

Have a fantastic week and thanks for stopping by!





I'm sharing at:

Best of DIY Link Party
Funky Junk Interiors
DIY Sunday Showcase Party
Silver Pennies Sundays
Amaze Me Monday
Metamorphosis Monday
The Scoop
Inspire Me Tuesday
Twirl & Take a Bow Party
Elizabeth & Co. - Be Inspired Party
Wow Us Wednesdays
Power of Paint Party
My Repurposed Life
Furniture Feature Friday
Chic California

I Hate Stripping......Furniture

I hate stripping.

Furniture, that is. This is a G-rated blog after all.

I'm not afraid of a furniture challenge. Sometimes the more work it requires gives me a greater sense of personal satisfaction refinishing it. I can pick up a piece for a really great deal, and then I can pass along the cost savings to my clients.

This dresser was at an estate sale hidden away in a garage being used as a tool box!  Poor baby! It was painted white but was pretty beat up. Upon further inspection, I decided it needed to be stripped, because there were so many layers of dirty paint with paint drips and a really bad glazing job. The lovely wood detail had been lost in so many layers of paint. Once again, in my haste to start working on her, I forgot to take "before" pictures.

I used a whole bottle of Citistrip Orange Gel on this baby. And discovered ten, yes TEN, layers of paint. It was like a scavenger hunt....white, blue, yellow, green, white, etc. and then original acrylic paint on the pine furniture.

I wanted to try Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg for this project. I had a can in my garage waiting for the perfect piece. Such a pretty color blue - with hints of green undertones! I spruced up the original hardware with spray paint and sealer, and gave it a nice wax. Here she is...freshened up ...and no longer a tool box!

Have a great week!



I'm sharing at:

Silver Pennies Sundays
DIY Sunday Showcase
Funky Junk Interiors
Amaze Me Monday
Metamorphosis Monday
Inspire Me Monday
The Scoop
Inspire Me Tuesday
Twirl & Take a Bow Party
Power of Paint Party
Elizabeth & Co. - Be Inspired
Wow us Wednesdays
Furniture Feature Friday
The Dedicated House - Anything Blue Friday

The Vanity That Was Almost a Movie Star

This was one of my most ambitious projects to date. The before and afters are amazing. I picked up this antique Victorian vanity from my friend. She was about to take it to the dump....well, we all know how I feel about that! So I rescued it and brought it home.

This is what I was dealing with:

Go ahead, pin it, I dare you!

In addition to it being used a tool repository by me, it was in really bad shape. The vanity was missing its mirror, the shelf on the top had missing drawers, there were only two out of eight casters that were intact, and it was really, really, grungy. Don't even get me started on the insides of the drawers. Yuck!

The veneer on the top was in such bad shape that it was beyond repair. My son helped me steam off the veneer, which was a very tedious, time-consuming process.  Some pieces came off easily, and some needed extra steam and elbow grease, but the wood underneath was in pretty good condition. I painted the body in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antoinette. Yummy pink!

I usually don't paint the insides of drawers, but after I couldn't get the really gross stains out, I primed and painted the drawers in Pure White. Then I spray-painted and sealed the original hardware and added little crystal knobs.

The mirror was mine from a dresser that I bought when I was a teenager. We currently use the dresser without the mirror, so I was happy to be able to repurpose the mirror!

I found a little stool and spray-painted it white and then covered the seat with ballet slipper pink silk. I used white tulle to make a tutu.

I was babysitting my parents' dog, Roxy, that week and she was not digging the ballerina/princess theme!

The interesting story is that I was contacted by an Indy film producer to use this vanity as a prop in a documentary about ballet dancers. I was really honored, but declined because (1) I'm not in the prop rental business and (2) the vanity had a 7:00 am casting call in LA and she didn't want to get up that early!

Have a great week!




I'm sharing at:

DIY Sunday Showcase
Funky Junk Interiors
Amaze Me Monday
Metamorphosis Monday
Inspire Me Monday
The Scoop
Inspire Me Tuesday
Twirl and Take a Bow Party
Wow us Wednesdays
Power of Paint
Furniture Feature Friday
Best of DIY Link Party