Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Sideboard Dresser

I love to find great deals on Craigslist, but to find the good deals you have to be a stalker..or get lucky. Well, sometimes I'm both. In this particular case I was out of town visiting my sister (2 hours away) but checking Craigslist anyway. What did I think I was going to do if I found something? Call my mom and husband to go get it for me, that's what! So, what did I find? This beautiful sideboard dresser for...... $25! 
The pictures, not so good, sorry about that. I'm working on it.


So I sent my mom and hubs, as previously mentioned. I love my hubby, but he has no clue what to look for, mom on the other hand, well, she taught me so I had no worries. So the criteria...
  Do the drawers pull out nicely? (yep)
  Are the drawers dovetailed? (not a requirement but highly recommended! ....check!)
  Is the wood in good shape? (woo hoo)
  Is it from a clean, smoke free home? (Yes!)

Now, these things are not all required but make your life much, much easier and lets you know that your piece is going to hold up over time. I really wanted to try out the chippy blue look on this dresser. My inspiration comes from many places but particularly Miss Mustard Seed. She is a PRO at the chippy, aged look (& everything else interior decorating!!). If you haven't been to her blog before, you MUST check her out. Per her suggestion, I decided on milk paint which often does the bubbly, chippy thing on its own. So here are the products I used:
Old-Fashioned Milk Paint in Slate & Oyster White
Fiddes & Son Wax Polish in Light (clear) & Rugger Brown
I ordered all of these from John Millen Hardware.
So here is the final product (and the explanation follows).


See the difference the picture changes make in the color? The first two are 'pretty' but the last is
more of the actual color.
Now to the 'How To'- I started with the Slate milk paint (which comes in a powder & you mix yourself but it's really easy & directions are included!). I painted the whole thing with Slate & then went back and put a streak of the Oyster White here and there. No rhyme or reason, just what I thought would look good. Forwarning- it looks really stark and streaky which is a little alarming at first. I did go back with a little more Slate and covered some of the white. I went back and distressed the edges and corners with some mediucm grade sandpaper. 
Next is the key to make it look more natural- after letting it dry for 1-2 days I wiped on the Rugger Brown wax with a soft cloth. It goes on quite dark but the trick is to go back over it with the Light wax. Even if it is dry the dark wax will wipe off when you put the light wax on. Just play with it but in general, the more light wax you use, and the more you wipe it, the more dark comes off. It's up to you what you want the final look to be. Go with your gut!
 
The handles I spray painted with Oil Rubbed Bronze (ORB). After it dried I added just a tiny little dab of Rub 'n Buff in Antique Gold. Warning: a little bit goes A LONG way. Just do a little dab and immediately rub around/off. It gives the handles a little bit of an older look.
That's it! Hope you like it.


No comments:

Post a Comment