free-to-me credenza

It isn't often that you get a message from a friend (on my facebook wall, of all places) that says this:  

"I FOUND this piece of furniture in my garage.  Do you want it?"

As my husband said "How do you just FIND something in your garage?"  Ha!

But I was happy that she did because I made out like a bandit :)  She also ended up giving me a table & 2 chairs in exchange for painting & recovering 2 chairs for her.  I think I got a good deal.

Here is the before, in it's "found in the garage" state:

Somehow I totally failed to take any pictures of the top, which I stripped & stained.  It might have been the easiest thing I've ever stripped.  The finish just brushed right off, it was crazy.  I chose English Chestnut for the stain, which is out of my comfort zone, but its always good to go a little out of your comfort zone, right?

I painted the piece in ASCP Old White, then a coat of Louis Blue, then distressed pretty heavily.  I wanted the white to show through but I also wanted some dark to show through, so I did a good bit of dark wax once the clear wax was dry.

I also added some wood accents where the hardware used to be.  I attached them with gorilla glue, but since I didn't have any clamps big enough, I just sat full cans of Chalk Paint on them overnight to get them to dry.  I did stain the accents first, since as I said I wanted them to show dark when I distressed them.

During:

Why didn't I paint them before I attached them?  In a hurry, I guess.  I'm not a very patient person.  Of course, then my dad came over & had to add "You should have left those dark.  They looked better dark, before you painted them".  Thanks, dad!  Gotta love the honesty :)

Almost done here.  Still need to drill holes & choose new hardware.

After:

I hate that I didn't get any good, staged pictures of it, but it only had a chance to be in my kitchen for a wee bit before it sold.

It is a fun piece, for sure… and it is sold :)  Happiness!

thanks for coming by!
kathie

linking to these great parties:

Restore Interiors Restored It Wednesday

Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

My repurposed Life's Catch as Catch Can

Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesdays
Perfectly Imperfect's All things Furniture