Perfectly distressed

I've done my share of distressing. I like when details pop out at you when you uncover them slightly with the wave of sandpaper. But in the back of my mind I always have that little voice (sounds like my husbands voice but that's another story..lol) that says to not distress to much. 

I've seen some amazing pieces on other blogs where the person goes nuts and really distresses their pieces. I love love the look. 

Sadly I've been to shy to do it myself.........until now! 

Last week I picked up this wonderful dresser. 

 I fell in love at first sight. It was/is in great shape! Always a bonus when you are redoing something. No drawers to fix, no veneer to fix/replace.

 Wonderful legs.

 All original hardware and just enough detailing to make it amazing :)

ok..so it was a bit dirty, but that is no big deal. Cleaning is all part of the process :) 

I took her into my workshop and stripped her down, re stained it so that when I did do the distressing there would be lots of wonderful dark showing through. 

I discovered the top to be solid walnut...I just love walnut :) 

Then covered in a coat of white primer and oops paint. 

This is how she came out. 

 Just look at all that yummy detailing.

 The whole thing just pops :)

 Ahhhh legs, I just can't get enough of the wonder of them.

 And check out that awesome walnut top!

 I kept most of the original hardware, but did replace the top drawer ones with these ruby glass ones.

 It may look rough..but it's sooooooo smooth you can slide your hands over it like butter. I love that!

Hope you are all having a wonderful week! :) 

Sharing here:
A Diamond in the Stuff
Coastal Charm 
Elizabeth & Co.
the Ironstone Nest 
The Rustic Pig 
The Dedicated House
Savvy Southern Style  
The Shabby Creek Cottage 
Beyond the Picket Fence 
French Country Cottage 
Common Ground
Miss Mustard Seed  
  

Poke ball

I had an old dresser that was falling apart. Seriously it was in such rough shape that it kinda just sat out in the hall because I was afraid that if I moved it, it would fall apart and I wouldn't know how to get it back together.

Finally my wonderful hunk of a man (husband) helped me move it into my workshop and together we pieced it back together. 

This is what it looked like after we made it sturdy again. The legs and top and sides had all come apart. 

Since this wasn't going to be a dresser again really we decided to lay new wood where the top two drawers used to be to make it into an entertainment unit. Then added a bit of trim in order to make the edge softer. 

I didn't post a picture but did mention it on my fb page in case anyone wanted to have it customized. I had a lot of interest! 

So the first person to contact me got it and got to customize it for her son who not only one of the cutest little boys I know...but he's totally obsessed with pokemon. 

At first the mom (who is a friend of mine) tried telling me what she wanted. I was really confused till I looked up a "poke ball" 

poke ball

THEN I finally understood what she was asking me to do. 

So I came up with this :)

 I ended up touching up the circle and not distressing anything since I wanted clean clear lines.

He's super happy with his new entertainment unit, and it now sits proudly in his room for his TV and vid games to sit on. 

Happy Valentines day Myles :) 

Partying here:
The 36th Avenue 
Shabby Creek Cottage
Beyond the Picket Fence
Miss Mustard Seed 
French Country Cottage 

  
 

The story of two buffets

I am terrible. Seriously I need to start carrying my camera around with me so that I can take pictures the min I get pieces. 

But in my defense I really WANTED to take before pictures of both of these. 

Let me start by sharing the story of the first buffet. 

I picked this up a year ago. Thats right, I said a year ago. I wanted something to sit in my office to hold all my stuff. 

You see I have all my stuff in several different cabinets and shelves and just places all over my office. I thought that by buying one unit I would be able to have everything in order and in place...so my search began. 

I found this girl. 

No glass to deal with, I could hide what I wanted to, and display what I wanted to. Lots of storage and just perfect for me. 

 I mean really, how many times do you find a unit this big with 4 doors instead of two?

 Double shelves on top along with all those little drawers?

 And drawers all the way across...I was in heaven!

And I picked a colour that would match my desk. 

Everything was planned out perfectly...........till my husbands cousins wife came for a visit. You see I was showing her some of my projects and she fell in love with this. I had gotten the top finished but the bottom was "au natural" at that point. She and her husband (my husbands cousin, I'm sure I mentioned that) were/are in the process of building their dream cottage. So when she fell in love with this and told me how perfect it would be in their cottage and how....well you get the idea. 

What was I supposed to do? It was her dream piece right? So no rush...and when there is no rush, I tend to put it off. 

Well I got sick of looking at it half done..I finished it. It's still going to sit here for another month or so till they are ready for it to be moved. 

So sadly I will have to continue my search for my piece. Wish me luck. :) 

Now on to my darker side. 

My husband found this one for me at the Re-store. 

She was in perfect condition, but dated with wire backing to all her windows. But he knew I would love the curves. 

He was right :) 

 She came to me all brown...which of course is something that can easily be changed. I had so many ideas on what to do with her...but black just seemed to scream out at me. 

 I did keep most of her hardware, but the actual knobs just didn't do it for me..so glass it is. The rest received a good coat of spray paint (I used one meant for cars...yes you hear right) You have to go with what works right? :)

 I went hunting for some wonderful damask wallpaper..and finally found this. It was perfect, exactly matching the picture in my mind :)

 I distressed it only on the sharp edges...and rebuilt her.

 Details get me every time :)

 My husband was so impressed he thought he might like to keep her, but I smacked him out of it...lol

Sometimes you just have to offer the best to someone that is going to love looking at her as much as I loved bringing her back to life. :) 

Have a great weekend everyone, and I seriously hope you manage to find your way out of the snow! 

Partying here:
Coastal Charm 
Not Just a Housewife
The 36th Avenue
The Shabby Creek Cottage 
Beyond the Picket Fence 
Miss Mustard Seed 
French Country Cottage
Knick of time   
  

Swwwweeeeeeet Dreams!

Unfortunately the sweet dreams are not for me. 

I've seen this kind of bed on other blogs and have always wanted to get one. 

I know the picture kinda sucks....but bare with me please. 

I was just glancing through our local kijiji when I came across it. It came with everything. Two dressers, a mirror and this bed. 

The price was a bit more than I normally pay for something, but I just had to have that bed! 

After talking to the owner for a bit we came to a price we could both live with. For some reason she thought the bed was going to be the hardest part to sell! She did have offers for the dressers but nothing for the bed, and I think she picked me because I wanted everything :) 

This is the headboard that came with it. 

Now as pretty as this is..I wasn't thrilled with it. I have another project in mind for this one. 

BUT I just happened to have another head board that fit perfectly with this set that I thought would suit the time period perfectly. I already knew this wasn't the original headboard so I felt no guilt in switching it out. 

 This was after the first coat of primer. Sorry about that...but you know when you get excited about a project you just dive right in....right? Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this. 

I posted a pic of the set on my facebook page as soon as I got home. I had several inquiries pretty much right away, and sold it before I even started to redo it. This is great because the person who bought it was able to share her ideas on what she wanted for colour etc. 

So this is how it looks now. Ready for her new owner to come and get her tomorrow :) 

 Isn't it sweeeeet?

 I just love the hint of age on this set now.

It's just sooooo perfect. 

If only this bed had been a king size..I would have so kept it for myself. 

But you know how it goes...the search will continue till I find my own perfect set. Either that or I manage to talk my husband into letting me paint what we have ;) 

Sweet dreams everyone :)

Linking up:
The 36th Avenue
Tattertots & Jello
House of Hepworths 
Six Sisters Stuff 
The Shabby Nest 
DIY Show off 
Domestically Speaking 
Miss Mustard Seed 
Knick of Time