Yay Pinterest!

I've had a project idea saved on Pinterest for-ev-er. Finally this week I found the perfect piece to work on to do a 1/2 painted-1/2 stained dresser. 

I bought this piece at a thrift store:

 

I really liked the lines and the curved top but before I got at it I wasn't sure how well it would strip down. So I started to sand it. The dresser itself sanded fairly well. Easily enough to paint nicely. But the drawer fronts took one look at my orbital sander and whatever finish was in them practically fled in fear LOL. They sanded right down to raw wood in one pass. Not just raw boring wood though. But raw with a gorgeous diagonal grain running through them. As soon as I saw this I knew they needed stain and not paint. 

The dresser itself got a couple coats of an antique white...

And I added in these great white porcelain knobs that I also found at the thrift store for $0.10 each.

And this is what the final product looks like. 

Pretty cute eh? 

I think this might be my favourite dresser so far....in part because for a change I didn't just pin something and leave it there as inspiration...I actually did it!! 

Let the painting begin...

I'm an EA during the school year which is perfect hours for me as a single Mom but. The one downside is that there's not actually a pay cheque during the summer months then :(  So, for the second year in a row I'm diving into another hobby/job to try to supplement my EI:  painting furniture. I had so much fun doing it last year and I have had a garage full of furniture just waiting for summer to get here. 

After getting the first clean-up week of summer out of the way and cleaning house with a very lucrative garage sale, today I started painting. 

I got these 2 pieces done. They're both for sale by the way but listed on a couple local buy-and-sell sites so if you contact me about them, please know that I'll be looking at time stamps for first/second in line 

#1:

This piece is not a fancy piece but its extremely functional due to the number of shallow drawers. I think it would make a great craft/scrapbookers cupboard because the inside of the drawers measures 13.5" x 20" (perfect for 12x12 paper). Or, maybe additional kitchen storage so your spices could be easily seen.  $50 if you're local and interested. 

#2

(first, a before shot: don't ask me what that metallic cream coloured stuff is-its not magnetic or anything. Just weird)

And after:

This wooden dresser has seen several children and now that we're done with it, I gave it a tune up and painted it out in a beautiful baby blue. I also dug out a set of vintage ceramic drawer pulls that I'd been saving for something special. Wouldn't this make a great addition to a baby boys room. It's also the perfect height to be a change table. 

$100 if you're local and interested. 

You can email me at:

cathyschellenberg@gmail.com