Shabby to Chic

Another French Provincial project!  I picked up this desk along with these side tables a couple of years ago.  

 

I think they were actually a few of the very first pieces of furniture I bought when I decided to start painting –  so, I’ve probably had them at least 3.5 years (but who’s counting) and planned to refinish them for our daughter's room.  At that time I’d done a little research on painting, but wasn’t aware of the necessity of adding a protective coat over the paint.  I think after the primer, I actually painted the desk in an eggshell latex paint and left it at that!  The desk sat in my daughters room for probably 2 years and was sadly looking pretty shabby...and not in a chic way!  I finally decided to drag it back down to the garage and refinish it properly!  

The desk didn’t come with a chair, but I had a small one tucked away that I knew would work well with it.  I lovingly refer to it as my “painting chair” because I would sit on it when I used to paint my furniture by hand.  

Now that I’ve upgraded to a paint sprayer, the chair wasn’t necessary anymore.  I’d painted it last year with a DIY chalk paint in a deep red to use as part of our Fall decor on our front porch.   

I knew it was time to give it another little makeover.  I had some leftover DIY chalk paint from another project and so I decided to use that.  It’s a beautiful soft “green/blue” color.  If you’re familiar with Annie Sloan chalk paint, it’s almost identical to her “Duck Egg” paint color.  You’ll likely be seeing this color a bit more over the next little while – I just love it!  

 

To refinish the desk, I lightly sanded it, sprayed it with a fresh coat of primer, a couple coats of crisp white paint and then a couple clear coats.  

I chose to remove the decorative accents that were originally on the top drawers.  They were plastic and already loose, so they had to go.  I decided to use the original hardware on the bottom drawers but updated them by spraying them with a metal primer and then a couple coats of glossy white.  

The desk was missing one of the original top drawer pulls, so I replaced them all with some pretty glass ones.  

I decided to line the bottom of each drawer with a soft green vinyl sheet to freshen them up and make them pretty.

And a few more pic's just because I can.  *wink*

And that pretty pillow?  I picked up some soft linen-like fabric last night and whipped up the pillow this morning!  I love the simple look of the single flower.

I added a single "cracked glass-look" bead to the center for a little extra sparkle.

It is now ready for its new home and is listed in my shop.

Thanks for stopping by!

French Provincial Desk to Table

I picked up this little table last year and tucked it away until I had some free time to work on it.  This picture is from the original online ad.    

I think it was a corner desk, but it just seemed like such an awkward size that I decided to convert it into a small side table.

I started by tossing the top and then removing the legs and cutting them down a few inches.  I also removed the back (someone had previously cut a portion out of it already) and shortened the sides so it wasn’t quite as long.   

I built a new top the same way I did on this little dresser.  I couldn't trim it out the same way though, but still wanted to add a little something to the edges, so I decided it was time to teach myself how to use our router.  The router has always made me a little nervous, but after reading a number of how-to articles and watching a few YouTube  videos, I knew I could do it.  It was actually a LOT easier than I thought!  I chose to use a Roman Ogee bit for the decorative profile and decided to router the bottom edge instead of the top.  

  

I finished it with a couple coats of a dark stain followed with a few coats of glossy polyurethane.

I set the top aside and started working on the table base.  After adding a couple new supports to the back and reattaching the shorter legs, it got a coat of primer, a couple coats of soft creamy white paint, some light distressing and was finished with a glossy clear coat.

I had wanted to try something a little different and painted the drawer front with a soft green diy chalk paint.  It didn’t look anything like I’d envisioned though!  SO, I sanded it off, primed it, and painted it the same creamy white as the rest of the table.  To finish it off, I replaced the original hardware with two new glass drawer pulls for a little sparkle.

This little side table is almost ready for a new home and will be available in my shop shortly .

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Sweet Dreams

As much as I enjoy refinishing or freshening up a piece of furniture, there is a satisfaction that comes with actually building a piece from scratch!  I was fortunate to grow up in a home where my dad enjoyed woodworking and was more than happy to teach me and let me try my hand at it. 

I’d recently decided I wanted to pick it up again and have slowly started building our tool collection.  After my recent headboard project for our master bedroom, I decided to build a doll bed for our daughter using some scrap lumber I had in the garage.   

 

I decided to paint it the same soft cream I used on this dresser and sewed a little flannel fitted sheet, pillows and coordinating quilt using some leftover fabric I had in my stash from another project! 

 

  

The "mattress" is just a piece of thick batting leftover from my headboard project, but I plan to replace it with a firmer piece of 2" foam. 

 

Here's a quick pic next to my daughters crib - it's definitely a good size doll bed!

 

I’m happy with the way it turned out and hope it will be enjoyed for years!

Thanks for stopping by!