Mini Projects

Lately I have been going through my "piles" and knocking out some smaller projects. Here is a look:

UPDATE:

ALL SOLD!!

Lessons of the China Cabinet

The china cabinet & the lessons I learned...

I fell in love with the style of this china cabinet when I saw it on Craigslist. But boy did I learn some major lessons with it and I felt I need to share.

#1 Before you buy, no matter how much you love it, get a feel for how many layers of paint it has. This one must of had 50 layers of whites & tans.

#2 Look at the detail work and decide if you will be able to sand those areas

#3 NEVER EVER use stripper!!Big mistake! I am all for making things easier but I have NEVER had any luck with it.

#4 Don't work on anything glass outside on a windy day. That stuff will break if the wind blows it over!

#5 Learn when to give up (I refused to give up on this one even though it cost me more than what I will probably sell it for)

#6 Sometimes you have to just set it aside and come back to it when the time is right again. Once you loose inspiration it is hard to keep going....

So just breathe, put it aside and come back!

Okay, so enough about the lessons I learned on this project.

Since I had so many problems with the stripper, it just chipped and refused to evenly sand, I decided to go with the aged "chippy" look. I even went as far as to age the fabric on the bottom. 

Okay, confession...I accidentally got stain on the fabric, but I think it worked. 

You tell me:

BEFORE

AFTER:

 See the stain, aka "aged" look?

Here is where the glass was. After another episode of "take this damn thing to the curb" I decided to take a trip to the hardware store and replace it with a wire mesh material. Problem solved.

I think it was this fabric that held this project together for me. 

I really wanted to use it on a china cabinet.

The "Leftover" Desk

The Garage Sale 

"Leftover" 

Desk

Most days you will find me in the garage painting or outside sanding. My neighbors have come to know me for this. Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes not.

Well last Sunday was one of those good things. Our neighbor was was collecting her sign at the end of the street from her garage sale and stopped to ask if we wanted her
"leftover" furniture. 5 bucks, everything she had she wanted only 5 bucks! How could I pass that up??

And this is what I got:

How could she not sell this???

Was I the only one who could see the potential?

Apparently so!

I am so thankful she thought of me, someone who could turn her leftovers into something new.

Here is how she turned out:

I knew she needed a matching chair.

I purchased two matching chairs at an auction a while back and thought with some new fabric it would be a perfect match.
The chair alone cost four times what I paid for the desk!!

Here is a Before & After of the chair:

 And how they all came together

(the fabric is a sneek peek of the China Cabinet I am almost finished with)

I think it was well worth the buy!

UPDATE:
SOLD

Antique Chifferobe

Antique Chifferobe

I love how this turned out!

This baby has been through a LOT. 

It originally was wider with a "wardrobe" on the side.

That side was so damaged that the hubby, in all his awesome crafty-ness, cut it off and and pieced it back together.

He then re-stained it and we used it in our kitchen for extra storage. Since we just purchased a house and don't need it anymore I decided it was time for a makeover.

Here she is all finished:

This is how she started:

All of the "after" pictures:

Which do you like better??

UPDATE:
SOLD

"Curb Alert" Chest of Drawers

My First "Curb Alert" Project

I saw a posting on Craigslist that said "curb alert" with tons of pictures of furniture. I figured why not, lets take a drive and see what we can find. WOW, did this stuff go fast!! 45 minutes after the ad was posted everything was gone...except this one lonely dresser. Since I love "junk" I knew I had to have it. 

Here is what this poor soul looked like when we rescued it:

And here is how it turned out:

I wanted to try the Chalk Paint look and heavily distress it.

It had so many blemishes it seemed the only way to go.

What do you think???

UPDATE:
SOLD