New Life for Twin Dressers Part 2

and the project continues...

So the little dressers start out dull and boring....  as a reminder:

I decided on white.  Now, what white you ask.. and that would be a fair question, except, I don't know. Just like many furniture painters, I swoop up paint samples when they go on sale for a dollar! Wheeeeee  new paint!  This was one such find. Then I make them into chalk paint using a mixture which I will share on another post. Suffice it to say that it's as close to 'plain white' as you can get.
 
I began by sanding the finish off the top of the dresser using my brand new, handy dandy drill master palm sander!  That.. my hubby bought me : )  Now that's love 💙 I started with 80 grit, and finished with hand sanding using 320 grit. I simply 'scuffed' the rest of the dresser , as chalk paint does not need the finish removed. Then I began painting, staining, distressing and waxing. I also added, using some stencil's I had on hand, the 'his' and 'hers' motif on the bottom of each dresser in black. ** Note: If you are using White over a darker color/stain , you will most likely need more than 2 coats of paint.  I did three coats, then sanded lightly with 320 grit sandpaper (this gives a smoother less brushy finish) and then added one more coat of white. 


I used clear wax first, and knowing I wanted a darker wax, I also mixed dark grey chalk paint with clear wax to make a grey wax, which is shown in these pictures. However..............I soon discovered BLACK wax!
I met a friend of mine up town in Chelsea (MI) and went into a store called La Maison... where they had Annie Sloan chalk paint and *sigh* black wax.  Of course I had to buy it and try it. (I also got the white wax... not used yet...). For those of you nearby wanting your very own:
you can get it here: La Maison or online direct from Annie Sloan :Annie Sloan Wax 
Can I just say.. LOVE it. 
I stained the top with a combo of Minwax Ebony and Rustoleum Espresso (I mixed the two colors for a deeper brown).















Once I stained the top I cleared it with polycrylic, waited for it to dry. Sanded with a 3m scuff pad, another coat of polycrylic and let it dry then sanded again. My poly was not satin and I wanted a duller and smoother sheen , so I then coated it with Wipe on Poly by Minwax. Added the new pulls..

And...............the final results!!

I'm so in LOVE 💕💕💕

Much brighter and more interesting and the bed is now a focal point in our room :)


Before and After:

Things I used for this project:
Hand sander
80 to 320 grit sandpaper
Minwax Ebony and Rustoleum Espresso stain
White homemade chalk paint
Clear Wax
Black wax
Black Fusion chalk paint and Martha Stewart stencils
3M scuff pads
Polycrylic
Wipe on Poly
Black drawer pulls and cup pulls (D. LAWLESS HARDWARE)

Hope you enjoyed my makeover!  Feel free to comment below and follow me!

New Life for Twin Dressers- Part 1

(aka my life and a bedroom dresser makeover) PART 1

Wow.. so I'm looking around my home last night and realize just how many little projects I've done... I ... am ... everywhere, and I love it.  Little pieces of my personality all over my home.. much to my husbands chagrin!  I just read (on someone else's post) that she is a self described "obsessive decorator".. I like that.  That definitely describes me (husband nods his head).  It is said in my household that "she is never happy"  , meaning with the décor not life in general (this from said husband and my mom, who lives with us).  But, so not true! The issue is really (of course not an issue...) that I am happiest when I am 'creating'!  So my house is in a constant change mode.. sometimes very small and sometimes large.. which leads me to todays makeover : )

So, as mentioned in my previous post, when my grandmother passed from our world to the great beyond , my mother, who was her only child, inherited all of her belongings.  My sister and brother got the things they wanted, but that left me with the bulk of her stuff(because my mom lives with me). Two of the items where a matching set of small three drawer dressers.  At first I just put them in our room as side tables to the bed. Then we moved our bed, and they no longer fit. But , we used them, so they had to go somewhere.  We had gotten a new bedroom set (cherry sleigh bed, ooh la la) and so I refinished them in cherry stain to match and stuck them on a wall, whatever wall was not occupied when I rearranged the furniture... and so it went for the next 10 or so years.  Segue to much more recently, like two weeks ago.  We have changed many things in the house (story for another day), and with all the cherry and grey in our bedroom it was beginning to look very dark. I needed a 'pop' and a 'focal point' in that room.  I picked on the little dressers that were beginning to look tired and worn. 

The little dressers began life as a mapley colored wood with wooden pulls.  I refinished them in cherry and added brass pulls.. like this:

We needed something bright, and I decided that a nice espresso top, with white distressed cabinet and drawers was in order. I also decided that I wanted black knobs and single cup pulls on the two bottom drawers... "oh honey!!  can you drill some holes for me ?? pretty please <sweet smile and batting eyes>" ....TO BE CONTINUTED....

You can see the rest of this project <HERE>

💗 Hi everyone !  Well this is my first blog post........ever.  Not sure how this is going to go : )  I get a lot of questions on the many projects that I have done or are currently in the process of doing .. so I thought I'd just start a blog and put some of them down in writing!! So without further ado , today I'd just like to feature a small project that I just completed .

First up 'Kitties in a Basket". 
Pretty much all of my family is grown.  Because of this, for our Birthdays it is a required phone call, text or email to wish one another happy birthday, often accompanied by very bad singing (part of the charm).  It is a special occasion if someone actually gets a card or gift.  This was not a special occasion, it's just that I wanted to try and make these and I knew my niece would appreciate them. Because what self deserving Princess would not love Kitties in a Basket!?  and of course as with all Princess's , one, at least ,must be pink (I think it's a rule...).

I don't know about you , but I LOVE Pinterest, and do actually try A LOT of the items that I pin for DIYing.  On one of my many pinning days I found this cute DIY reversible fabric storage idea  on "Habadashery Fun's" board:
http://haberdasheryfun.com/fabric/diy-reversible-fabric-storage-bin

Using her instructions I cut it out and sewed it together! Pretty spiffy. *I did add a fabric covered cardboard bottom for stability.

 

• For the basket I just used some cotton blend fabric I had on hand.

Then  I found this adorable Cat pattern on the "By Your Hands" blog http://byyourhands.blogspot.com/2014/07/jacquies-up-cycle-nation-purrrfect.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+ByYourHands+(By+Your+Hands)

She used old sweaters and wool, but my family tends to be allergic to wool, so I used some felt and an old towel! 😏😏
For the cats I used the following materials:

• Pink felt for the big cat  (found it's way to me when my grandmother passed :( this felt is definitely vintage!)
• Old towel (unused...) for the little cat
• White felt for eyes
• Four  black beads for eyes
• White, green and orange felt for the hearts
• Embroidery floss for the nose and mouth , and around the hearts
• Silver , wired ribbon for the bow (big cat)
• Top band of an old sock (folded) , button and twine (little cat)

I cut out my cats, eyes, and hearts all free hand, I didn't make any patterns. This is the little cat waiting to be put together:



And here is the big Kitty all done!

 

 

 

Then I just placed them in the basket with a little fake grass and Voila! Kitties in a Basket!

Aren't they just adorable??!!  I may have to make a few more............


Hope you enjoyed my very first blog post.. and I'm hoping its the start of many more...💗