Dresser Morphs into TV Cabinet

 Here is a piece we bought on our picking trip. Below is what it looked like when we got it.....

yup it was missing the doors in front of those two center drawers, It also had a hutch top which we left there.  I had plans for this baby...

We took out the center drawers and their slides to  make a "floor" so to speak where those drawers were. We added a board to level out the space so your Cable box or Direct Tv box would sit in there.  Then we cut a small rectangle in the back of each shelf of the dresser for all those cables to go out of and hook to the HUGE screen TV that would fit on top of it.  Then the inside of the spaces were sprayed black.  I painted the outside black and distressed it.  Being that it was pine it distressed really well. and I used dark wax on it which brings the wood that is showing to a nice copper color.  It was all very pretty.  I used the original hardware and painted it Oil Rubbed Bronze.

Took this beauty to the shop and it sold in a couple of days.  A nice piece of work all in all.

Have a great week!

Hide the Wastebasket!

Here is the first item from our "picking" trip to Florida.

A wastebasket hider... I am sure that is a word.....

It needed some work, Mr. Sensible was on it,  fixed up the hinges replaced the handle connected the inside chain that had come off, re glued.  All the prerequisite jobs for an old piece. He also sanded the top so I could stain it.

I painted it Anne Sloanes Chalk Paint French Linen, then stenciled a brocade stencil over that with ASCP in Old White. 

After that dried I sanded to distress it some and make the stencil softer, then I used a clear wax and the dark wax.

It is off to the store,  hope you all have a great week!

Our Little "Picking" Trip

Our story begins with when the Mr. and I  wanted to take a vacation to the Florida Panhandle in November.  It is only  6 hours from us here in Atlanta. Mr. Sensible had an idea! (I swear it was his) We could take the trailer and go through all the little towns along the way and stop at Goodwill's and thrift stores looking for furniture.

Thinking that in the smaller towns we might have better luck finding interesting pieces and better prices. What we really found is that its not so much where you look, but being in the right place at the right time. AND the prices are pretty much the same all over.

So instead of taking 6 hours to get there it took 2 days.  It was fun and let me tell you that new iphone 4s came in handy as a navigator, and in finding thrift stores in the towns we went through.  I thought I had done my homework on the internet before we left and had quite a list of places to stop at, but some had closed or moved so we needed alternates.

This is what we looked like traveling down the highways and byways.  Let me tell you that 16' trailer was no picnic in those small towns and their narrow streets. Remember that it was HIS idea.

We rented a house on St. George Island so we had a place to park the trailer and go out without it once we got there.

Cause we had to go out while we were there.  Let me tell you Panama City has a great little map and all 5 of the Goodwill's in town are listed on it!!

We did really well in Panama City!

Thus begins my next few blogs about what we found and how I painted them.

And just so you don't think picking is all we did on vacation here are a couple of other pictures.

Fun times ;)

I Have a New Tip!

I have a great tip I have not seen in Blogland.

I revolves around my next project.  You will see a glimpse of it here.

I have these chairs.....

As you can see one needed some glueing.  A couple of them had holes in the Caning....That would not do so I was going to do what Miss Mustard Seed did here.

BUT I got to thinking that was going to be a lot of work and material.....Could I do anything else?   hmm 
Then I thought of the way I redid these chairs.

If I could get my new chairs from this:

To looking like this all open and happy and free....

I could then Upholster them with a lot less material and I think,  work....

Well while I was pondering this Mr. Sensible was as well. We both came up with the same idea if we could get the caning out we would be where we wanted to be.  First we tried to pry the reed out of the channel that holds the caning.  That didn't work, it was wedged in there REALLY well. Then we thought if we could cut off the caning  using a razor blade knife and sand down the reed that might work. 

THEN we thought of this baby.....

the tool we got for Christmas last year.  (I believe a few bloggers have been giving this away and I must say it is so worth getting.)  I have not been compensated by Dremel for this blog, but let me say its handy!

Our Dremel with the really thin blade...  Have you guessed what we did yet?

We put that chair up on the work bench, got out the Dremel and .....

Went to town on that chair....We cut down both sides of the reed.  It cut really well.  Although you did have to use a bit of pressure,  that is why Mr. Sensible is doing it instead of me, plus he does not exactly trust me with power tools I have no idea why?  (can you say cut electrical cords?  But that is mostly with the outdoor hedge trimmer ;)

Notice the picture is blurry he never stops not even for a picture :)

Then we popped that reed right out, where we could, cut it down level with the chair where it wouldn't come out. Took the caning out for sure.

Then sanded off the rough parts.  There is a channel left but when the fabric gets stapled on it will cover it quite nicely and you won't see it.

 Here it is finished.. notice the caning in the background?  I will use that for a pattern for my fabric.

Now I can move forward with this project... Stay tuned.


Have a great week.



 

My Stab at Annie Sloans Paris Grey

Hello Everyone, and Happy New Year 2012!!

I know I have been missing in action for a few 6 weeks.  We have been very busy here in Atlanta.  My mom who had been living with us decided we were a little too boring, and after staying in an independent living place while the Mr. and I went on a scavenger hunt vacation to Florida she decided to stay!  That was the week before Thanksgiving and she was moved in by Dec. 2!  Did I mention she is 94,  she is loving her new space, and activities and people to interact with.

Then it was Christmas and the time just seemed to fly by.  Although I was not idle those weeks.  We painted almost all the furniture we brought back from our trip and you will be seeing those pieces in the near future.

Mean while here is one I finished a while back.

I got a shipment of Annie Sloans Paint.  This one has Paris Grey in it.  I found a bookcase at the thrift store that I thought would be a good item to try the Paris Grey on.  I unfortunately don’t have a before picture.  I am always so eager to start a project I completely forget to take picture.  Another excuse reason is my camera is acting up and most of the pictures are not that great.  (Thats my story and I'm sticking to it!) 

Her is the after of my bookcase. 



Did I mention my camera sucks….. I am beginning to believe all of Annie Sloans paints have a blue base.  All of my projects seem to come out looking rather blue…( I have since found some new colors that are really nice and do not have a blue cast to them.... guess it just takes some trial and error.

 
This piece again was rather blue so I added some dark wax over it.  Then distressed it as well.  Its a rather beachy look and does. not. sell.  where I am located in Atlanta…hmm no one wants the blue grey yet.   Although I am told by my local Antique Mall that it sells quite well there.

I will be working on the camera issue for future posts,  that does not mean that I  will remeber to  jump up and take those before pictures though.  They should make a camera that screams at me before I start a project "you forgot to use ME!!". They have not developed a camera like that, although it probably isn’t that far off.. I mean Siri does talk to me,  perhaps I could convince her to keep an eye on me.  Probably not, we are in a love hate relationship right now..;)

Have a Great week!