Boring Oak Dresser Turned Dining Room Sideboard

Sorry, I don't have any before photos of this antique oak dresser that I found at a local thrift shop. But you can probably picture what it looked like. Just a plain ole
honey oak antique dresser missing it's once attached mirror. It was in great shape and the price was right so I snagged it for our basement in our previous home. I lived with it like that for almost eleven years.

When we moved into our current home, I had an empty wall in our dining room that just screamed for something. . .but what?. . .YES!–That homely little oak dresser, it would fit the width of the wall just perfect. But I couldn't put it in my beautiful new dining room the way it was, so I got my can of spray paint out and transformed the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

I sanded the piece down and masked off the top. I then sprayed RUSTOLEUM GREY PRIMER over everything but the top. Then I applied semi-gloss black Rustoleum spray paint over the primer. I created a star shaped stencil and used a copper glaze to paint in the star design. After all was dry, I distressed portions of the legs and drawers, sanding over the stars to make them look old and worn. Then I unmasked the top and gave it and the exposed distressed areas a coat of walnut stain. To finish it off I changed out a couple of the drawer pulls and used the copper glaze around the edge of the top.

Happy Birthday My One And Only

A SHOUT OUT to Taylor, my beautiful daughter.

Happy 18th Birthday!

I love you all the world. . .

Stripe it Rich

Z Gallerie's Zebra print

My knock off of ZGallerie's zebra print.

Here is a close up of the zebra canvas's I painted. (is that plurally correct?)

No, it is not. I just Googled it and it is canvases. . .but I am going to leave my grammatical error in here just in case someone else was not aware of the plural form of canvas).

Anyway, my point was supposed to be that you can purchase stretched canvas-ES at Hobby Lobby very cheap, especially when they are running 50% OFF in the artist supply section. Like I said in my Taylor's Room blog, I did a knock off of a zebra print I saw at ZGallerie. The one at ZGallerie was obviously massed produced, printed on a single canvas and over $300. I decided to hand paint mine on two canvases and invest only $27.00. (BTW, I used acrylics). You don't need to be a brilliant artist to paint a zebra. The stripes are so random, you can't go wrong. The most detailed part would be the eye(s). I encourage anyone to try. . .but if you don't feel comfortable, any bold, organic graphic would look spectacular painted over two separate canvases.

Why?

Because -
1) It adds interest to divide an image into multiples;
2) It makes an awesome, cost-effective, bold statement on your wall;
3) When you tire of it, you can paint something else right on over it.

Bling on the Wall

Okay, so this has nothing to do with spray paint. . .or any kind of refinishing, but I think it is a really cool idea and definitely adds GLAM to a room.
Collect some old broaches; I went with a bug theme; and frame them in a shadow box display. I have mine hanging in a powder room.

They really twinkle while you're taking a tinkle. . . sorry.

Taylor's Room: Inspired by the silver dresser

  My girl's room set out to be contemporary, but with the addition of the silver dresser, I thunk it more Hollywood Glam. . .or perhaps a combination of the two.

I painted an organic graphic out of metallic paint on opposite sides of the room. The end of the room with the entrance doorway, bath doorway and closet, I painted chocolate. The other 3/4 of the room I painted a non-metallic platinum. Love zebra print, so I did my own knock off of a ZGallerie painting and found the subdued grey zebra bedding at West Elm.

I found the glamorous chandelier at a local lighting store (not cheap because I endend up having it converted to a plug in fixture rather than hard wire - - $100 extra) and hung it just the right height to reflect in a cheap cheap Ikea mirror (likey the cheap cheap).

I found a free chair on Craigslist for this room that I am having recovered in a linen look zebra fabric. It is one of those 70's french provincial numbers that were all over the place back then. Darn it all, I forgot to take a Before picture, but I will be sure to post an After picture when it is done. Guess what color I spray painted the framework of the chair? . . .wait for it. . . . . .

- - - silver.
And, yes, I made sure I covered it plenty with grey Rustoleum primer first ;)
Have I mentioned how important primer is?
I thought so.

Drab To Fab Dresser: Before and After

Purchased this dresser from a local thrift store and had a vision.
I love all the mirrored furniture that is so popular right now, but it is all so expensive.
Why can't I make my own?

I can. . . I did. . . you can too.



. . .and this is the after. See what a little spray paint (GLAM in a CAN) and elbow grease can do? A local glass shop cut the mirrors for the upper drawers and I had the crystal knobs from another project. I used Rustoleum brand spray paint. The key to the nice finish was to rough sand and use primer (I use Rustoleum grey primer) I made sure I gave it a good couple coats of primer. The primer is a really important step. . .did I mention how important it is to use primer?
Cause it is. . .really important. . .to use primer.

This piece pretty much inspired the rest of my daughter's room.
I will post photos later.

Revisit

My sister-in-law recently opened a resale and reclaimed furnishings shop. The name of the shop is Revisit and it is located in North Liberty, Iowa. OH HAPPY DAY! I got to design her signage and she is also providing me a creative outlet by supplying me with stuff to paint. Who needs Prozac when you’ve got a orbital sander and a can of spray paint?

This is one of my Revisit projects:
The dark green chair is the before, the poppy chair is the after.
My husband says the poppy thing doesn't really do much for him. . .
I don't remember asking.

You Either Have One OR Have Seen One - End Table Before & After

Okay, if you don't have one, you've seen one. These tables must have been very popular in, I want to say the 90's? Nice because they are solid pine, so they are good for sanding; and small, so they make an easy, quick project.
Ah, I can see endless possibilities.

AFTER:

I love the look of old wine crates and thought the middle portion of the table resembled the end of a wooden crate. So I masked out the middle of the table and spray painted the rest black. I created my design on the computer, which in this case is the name my husband and I have given our 3rd basement bar area.
No, we don't currently have 3 basements, we have lived in 3 different houses, all of which we built bars in the basements. I used carbon paper to trace it onto the table and then used an acrylic paint pen to fill in the design.
After letting it dry, I took sand paper over the design and distressed the legs and edges of the table to make it look old and worn. My last step was to stain the middle and distressed areas.

Loved the way it turned out so much, I decided to save myself from the ongoing need to remind my peeps to use a coaster. I had a piece of glass cut for the top.
Gotta keep ahead of the game. Speaking of games, couldn't you just see a checker board painted in the middle? . . .hmmmmm. . .