Sunday, December 2, 2012

The coke bottle side table

Bought: $5     Sold: $35
This piece was the start of me selling the furniture that I refinish.  I picked up this little gem at a garage sale for $5.  It was solid wood and super heavy, with yellow coke bottle glass on the sides.  I sanded it down and painted it that same Antique Silver as the bookshelf.  I then took sand paper and antiqued it.  I really loved how it turned out.  Sorry no before picture!

One thing I learned from this piece was about antiquing.  A little bit goes a long way, it is easy to get carried away with the sanding.  I would do a little and then step back and look at the whole thing.


The Picture

Bought: $5  Sold: Kept it!
At our old apartment Mike and I had a picture hanging on our wall that we got from DI.  It was one of those huge pictures of random landscapes.  We got it for $5.  Well when we moved to our new place it didn't match the decor of our bedroom, so I of course wanted to figure out a way to redo it.  I spray painted the frame black and hand painted the inside rim silver.  I painted the entire picture white to look like a mat for the picture.  I printed off one of my own pictures (I am also a photographer) it is the ceiling of the Jefferson Memorial in DC. I just got a poster print from Walmart and I spray glued it onto the frame.  I have these pictures for sale all the time, if you are interested just email me and we can talk details of what picture you would like and price.

One thing I learned from this piece was that you need two people to spray glue and lay down the poster print.  It was a little difficult doing it by myself.



The Black Dresser

Bought: $50    Sold: Kept it!

My husband tells me every time we do laundry that I have too many clothes and no where to put them. Not wanting to downsize my closet I bought a new dresser.  :) I got it for $50 at garage sale and it is the perfect size to go under the window in our bedroom.  Originally it was an unattractive wood color with brass handles.  So I lightly sanded it down and spray painted it black, and hand painted the handles silver.  Sorry no before picture!

One thing that I learned from this piece was spray painting.  I'm not a huge fan. I know a lot of people that love to spray paint everything, but I guess it's not for me.  I didn't like the texture that it gave the dresser and it just doesn't have that clean look that painting does.


One of my favorite pieces: The Bookshelf

Bought: $10   Sold: Kept it!

While at DI one Saturday with Mike I spotted the awesome bookshelf.  It was about 1ft wide and about  5ft long, it was a dark solid wood that was very worn.  Mike did not want to buy it, but I immediately fell in love.  I had to BEG for it, I mean it was only $10! Mike finally broke down and let me buy it, if I promised to redo it.  Because I loved this piece so much I wanted the perfect paint color for it.  I finally ended up with a paint color called Antique Silver, it's a light blue that I absolutely love.  This piece was the perfect one to go under my husband's new TV and to be the home of all my little trinkets.

One thing I learned from this piece was about the paint.  Because I didn't like the high gloss finish of the orange dresser I wanted something more subtle, so I went with a satin eggshell finish.  When I went to paint it I put too many coats of paint on there, so now it has a slight glossy finish to it.





The piece that started it all

Mike and I have a green desk that my mother gave us, I LOVE it! We put it in our second bedroom and I thought it would be fun to do the other furniture in the room to match.  So I took a dresser and sanded it down....by hand.....and then painted it orange.  I loved the orange color at the time, and still do, but I am getting bored with the bright orange. So keep an eye out for the remodel in the future!

Some things I learned from doing this particular piece were one, don't hand sand anything bigger than a side table.  It hurts your hands, there is more dust everywhere, and you go through more sheets of sand paper.  The second thing I learned was about paint; I used a high gloss paint on this dresser because it was meant for a kids room, so it could be easily wiped off.  I'm not a huge fan of the shiny-ness of the dresser, but I can definitely wipe markings off it! Also the paint brush I used was just the cheap one at Walmart.  I would HIGHLY discourage using that one! While I was painting the bristles were falling out and sticking to the dresser.  I recommend splurging for a nice paint brush that will last.

PICTURES COMING SOON!