Stormy Sky Chest of Drawers

(Before)

Talk about a plain and ugly dresser!  This baby was THAT!  It had gross stuff that appeared to have been spattered on it, like a coffee-colored syrup or something. GROSS!  This dresser was painted a strange light green color from the '60s as well!  I had gotten it from the same estate sale as this end table.

 (There was a brown paint under the green)

(The rusty original legs)

(Used wood filler to fix some damage on the top)

I started by removing the hardware and stripping off the paint.  What I found under the paint was intriguing.  I actually loved it stripped bare!  It gave me an industrial vibe and I knew it would be super cool if I just applied some stain and poly!  I have no idea where the black tones came from but I loved that burnt wood feel it was giving me!  If I had had anything in my house to compliment it, I would have left it this way and worked it in somewhere, but that isn't my theme.  I felt like it would make a great TV console under a wall-mounted flat screen!  I can just really appreciate unique pieces.  THIS TIME, however, I was not going to create a whole room around a single piece that nabbed my heart. So chalk paint it I did!

(I feel this would've looked GREAT with some stain and poly at this stage!)

 

Would you have stopped here with just a stain and poly coat?

Anyway, my daughter's room was shabby chic gray tones but she was getting tired of the shabby cuteness vibe and wanting something a little more edgy, so I went with a stormy sky vibe accented with angel wing drawer knobs to match angel wing wall decoration she had from Hobby Lobby made of rusty-accented silver and black steel angel wings. She needed a dresser so as much as I wanted to TV console this, I didn't.

(Still a work in progress)

I used all Annie Sloan paints and custom mixed a light blue color with a Pure White and Aubusson blue that came out to a lovely sky blue color.  I used Paris Gray, worked in some of the Pure White and even some Graphite that I also custom mixed with Pure White here and there.  I also chose to spray water on the piece as the paint dried to get a rainy, drippy look.  It .is called a Stormy Sky dresser!    I also used black wax to ombre/darken around the edges of the top of the dresser and used some Annie Sloan silver gilding wax as well.  I love that stuff and can't wait to use it more!

Finished!  What do you think?  It changes color in different lighting!

 (silver gilding wax)

 (the side)

 (black wax and silver wax visible here)

Antique 4-Drawer Vanity-Dressing Table Refinish

I was just driving down the road minding my own business coming back from getting strawberries from a strawberry farm when I saw this piece sitting outside in someone's dirt driveway.  I did a double take and decided to pull on in!  As I pulled in a man came around to the front and I asked him if it was for sale!  I got it for $85!!

It needed a lot of work and attention.  It had what appeared to be a suede-type finish on the drawer fronts and they were so dried out and shriveled that I knew it just had to be painted to salvage it. The top hadn't been well tended to either over time as you can see above.  It had missing laminate in some spots and a broken applique.

I started with a good washing and then sanding.  This little fella decided to pop out of the deepest and darkest crevice of the drawer cavities at one point.

I primed this piece due to the dark finish it already had to try to prevent color bleeding through and then I painted it a Duck Egg blue, Old White, and Paris Grey from the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint line.  I decided to accentuate certain features, as well as the legs, with the white and gray colors.  Chalk paint is not easy when trying to apply carefully, as it is designed to be applied haphazardly so if you are wanting to detail a piece, be prepared to become part contortionist and for lying on your back on floors after lying pieces down on their backs. I went with the Paris Grey around the mirror as well.

I decided to put new drawer pulls on this piece that I had bought at Hobby Lobby that were too white initially, so I slapped on some Old White to better match this piece and painted the insides of the drawers the Paris Grey.  I finished it all with a clear wax after some very light distressing. 

The mirror also had some minor desilvering marks due to it's age.  

(Mirror desilvering)

Here is the finished piece!