My roadside find...almost finished.

Last week I went to a town wide sale. (gotta love those town wides) 

But shortly after leaving and grabbing my coffee I saw this sad sad dresser on the side of the road with a big ole sign that said FREE!

Of course I had to stop! 

The Veneer was lifting on the top and one side, it was totally missing on the other side. The front and top had been painted, and part of the far side. 

BUT it was solid. So I removed the drawers and started dragging it towards my truck. 

I'm pretty good at hauling stuff, but this sucker was heavy! And I was struggling. 

Thankfully a really nice man drove by, turned around and helped me out. Apparently he's used to it, since he father was a picker! How cool is that? 

It took up so much room and since I was closer to home than to the town wide, I decided to drop it off first. 

Hubby took one look at it and just shook his head. 

Silly man, he needs to stop that, he knows I can do "something" with it. 

And I did. 

Took all the veneer off, stripped what was left of the paint, tightened the top and sides, sanded it to within an inch of it's life then stained it. 

I wanted something unusual. 

So I took the drawers, laid them close together and laid an old lace table cloth over it. 

I've done this before and had a harsh time keeping the lace in place, so I wrapped tape around the table cloth and on the drawers. Then gently sprayed it directly from the top. 

I then painted the dresser body. Sanded it...and put a coat of stain over the whole thing again. 

She is one sweet piece now. 

Will update once I get home again (at the cottage now) There is some very sweet detailing between the legs. (that sounds bad doesn't it?) 

Super happy with how it is turning out. :) 

What have you found lately? 

Sharing:
Miss Mustard Seed 
 

Old stereo redo.

Remember all those old stereo's?

You know, the long ones that sat in everyones living rooms?

This obviously is not the one I picked up...but you get the idea. 

Most are no longer working, and if they were, who still has 8 track tapes or records? 

So I never feel bad about taking them apart and redo'ing them. 

I took mine apart, ripped out the guts and did this. 

 I always (almost always) love the details that were put into these pieces. They really were meant to be fine furniture in the home.

 And now this pretty is going to be a part of someone else home. 

The top even slides out for storage. What a great place to put all those winter things, or shoes or whatever. 

I love when a plan comes together in such a pretty way. :) 

Sharing:
Elizabeth & Co.
The 36th Avenue
Miss Mustard Seed  
  

Dancing on the furniture!

I love this time of year for yard sales.

And all the things you find on the side of the road. 

Town wide yard sales are the best. Everyone is out and trying to get rid of their things. 

I'm getting much better at doing the whole drive by thing. You know, where you see a yard sale but it's all toys or kids clothes. 

Yes I know, sometimes they have something really good in them, but it's not what I'm looking for. I'm past that stage in my life. 

I started out grabbing a coffee at my local Timmies yesterday, then headed off. 

On my way, I found this

Of course I had to pull over. The picture makes it look pretty good. But the veneer is coming off all of it. The top and front have been painted. But what you can't see is why I nabbed it. The detail on the bottom and the fact that this baby is solid walnut under all that veneer. The top is loose as is one of the side. Thankfully I know how to fix that. Can't wait to start on it. 

Then off to a local town wide sale. 

Lots of clothes, lots of dishes..but only a bit of furniture. 

So I didn't get a whole lot, but what I did get was quality stuff. 

A few chairs. 

See the Eastlake one? That's a "ladies" chair, and thankfully I had already picked up the "gentleman's" Chair last year...so now I have a matching set. :) Yup....did a bit of a happy dance over that one :) 

Then my crazy wonderful find that nearly had me skipping and dancing on it. 

ok...I admit the colour is awful...but isn't she pretty? 

I had mentioned to hubby just the night before that I wanted to try my hand on this style. Almost like an extended wing back. I can't wait to get started on it. But it does need a bit of repair, and of course, new material. 

Hubby and I sat in front of the computer last night looking a fabric and design for this baby. 

But before all of that.......I have several other couches and chairs that need to be finished up. 

Better get to work. 

All of these are waiting on foam, but have been torn down, painted and ready to go!

My stapler and I are certainly going to get a workout this week :) 

What have you found lately?

My favorite chair

When I started this furniture journey I never considered upholstery. 

Painting was fun. 

Learning how to fix and rebuild and sand and stain and sand some more. 

That was all great. 

recovering a few chair seats here and there was great too. Loved looking at fabric and choosing something that I thought would really update a piece. 

Loved all of it. 

Upholstery? 

Scared the living daylights out of me. 

Doing my first couch.......terrifying!

I've done a few now. 

Not as terrifying as it used to be. 

So when I spotted this chair at one of my favorite picking spots I knew it had to come home with me. 

The material was in such good shape that I seriously considered leaving it alone. 

The only thing that stopped me was my evil brain. 

You see when I see a piece like this I can never stop wondering. 

Wondering what happened on that chair. Were there leaky diapers? A dog or cat that left something that may have been cleaned off the top but maybe soaked through? 

You just never know. 

So off it came. 

 I painted the wood

 New everything

 Different material for front and back

And a "new" chair was born. 

So what do you think? Would you have left it alone? 

Sharing:
Miss Mustard Seed
The 36th Avenue 
Elizabeth & Co.  

  

I thought it was unsavable

Last year I picked up a drop leaf table. 

I don't think I have any truly "before" pictures. 

It was really rough. See the light spot? 

I thought maybe I could save it...but that light spot is wood fill to fill in the burnt portion that I was "hoping" to sand out of it. 

Obviously that didn't work. 

That wasn't the only thing "wrong" with it. The legs actually had to be put back on. and the fold down side pieces were soaked and straightened. 

It was a long hard process...and I was so frustrated that I completely left it alone for the winter. I actually contemplated cutting my losses and tossing it on the burn pile at the cottage. 

Then I got my back up and told myself it didn't need to be "perfect" it needed to be saved. 

So I got back at it this week and saved it. 

 After painting it completely white to give it a base for a later treatment I almost left it completely red.

 Already it was looking so much better.

After letting it dry.....I started the fun work. 

 The top and edges got a really good sanding. Not only giving it a final smooth finish...but letting it really shine.

 I left the base without distressing.

 I thought those lovely legs could shine all on their own.

 Now normally I like tops and bottoms to be different colours, but this one just wanted to be the same.

Isn't she lovely? 

Sorry for the workshop pictures. 

But I do try to keep it all real :) 

Sharing:
Miss Mustard Seed