Thursday, July 21, 2011

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

15 comments:

  1. This really turned out beautifully! English Chestnut is one of my favorite stains, now, especially on pine--I like it by itself, or layered with antique walnut. It looks lovely with the blue.

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  2. If you could have seen the state of my garage before I started "Operation Reclamation", you'd understand how it was possible to "find" stuff, lol! It had been out there a year, buried under all sorts of stuff! It looks awesome!

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  3. Beautiful transformation! Love the added medallions.

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  4. I really like the chestnut stain. How pretty it turned out! I'd say you and your friend both made out pretty well! Deb

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  5. Kathie your certainly churning out the pieces my friend. Great job on this piece and love the wood appliques. Sandy xx

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  6. kathie, that is sooo pretty! i love the added appliques and the paint! sharon and i were talking about you the other day and how we would love to meet you. you just seem so real and awesome, and we both love you. i thought i would pass that on!

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  7. beautiful!!!! love the color and the distressing. perfect.

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  8. great job Kathie, I love the color! (with the stain)
    gail
    ps no CCC this week due to the blogiversaryPALOOZA.

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  9. Wow, what a cool piece! And what a good friend you have. I wish my friends would find some pieces for me their garages!

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  10. i love how this one turned out. i wish i had half of your "eye". i just have little no vision for what to do to different pieces.

    poor me. ha!

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  11. I'm swooning over this piece, it is fabulous! It's funny you found it in the garage, sounds like me :)
    XO
    Kristin

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  12. Really great piece Kathie!!!!! Your work is EXCELLENT. Would love to own this puppy!!!!!

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  13. You are Lucky! Someones trash, anothers treasure! LOVE IT!

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  14. WOW! Talk about a transformation! Fabulous blog and what beautiful work you do!

    Would love to have you stop by and share at my weekly Chalk Paint Link Party!

    www.ShadesofAmberInc.blogspot.com

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