Thirteen years ago, my husband and I, newly married purchased our first home and set out to furnish it on a very limited budget. I headed straight to the local antique store (before Camas Antiques was around!) and bought two dressers for $100. The pretty one with the mirror would be mine, of course, only it wasn't very pretty when I first spotted it. Old mustard yellow paint was flaking off in places to reveal a shiny black layer underneath. Nevertheless, it had potential and I figured I was capable of making it over! I didn't have much experience painting furniture, but I had seen every episode of Trading Spaces on TLC, so I felt pretty confident that I was ready to tackle a furniture makeover!
Paint one coat of white latex paint on, wait several hours for it to dry, a second coat, next day, a third coat...still see mustard yellow in places, a fourth coat, replace plain wood knobs with clear glass ones, and done! I had myself a shiny white dresser.
And so it remained for many years. I vowed to repaint the white beast when we moved to our new home three years later, but got busy hunting for more furniture, having babies, starting a business, etc... Fast forward many years later, I have this wonderful paint sitting in the garage that I know will make my dresser a gazillion times more beautiful than that first mediocre paint job so long ago!
I started dreaming up a plan for this dresser that had faithfully held my things for so long, yet been so terribly neglected and under appreciated. It started with a complete coat of Paloma Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan. Once that coat had dried (about 15 minutes later!), I applied a little Artisan Enhancements Crackle Tex here and there, and then waited for that to dry.
The interior and drawer sides I painted Paloma were simply clear waxed. It makes for a lovely surprise when the drawer is opened, and I am enjoying seeing the pretty color inside when I open it to grab a pair of leggings or a camisole.
After doing some strategic distressing to reveal that lovely lavender shade beneath the white, I stenciled a flourish pattern across the drawer fronts, also in Paloma. Next, I heavily distressed my stenciling to make it look as though it had been there for ages.
Finally, I waxed the entire dresser first with Annie Sloan's clear wax, followed by dark wax and then the clear again where I wanted to lighten it up a bit.
Today, I had fun accessorizing and staging my old dresser with it's new look, in a new spot in our bedroom! I purchased this violets print on Ebay for our bedroom years ago. Today it was put in a new frame and I think it's perfect on top of the dresser as it breaks up the big square mirror.
This antique sterling hand mirror and brush set was a wonderful bargain at a garage sale a couple of summers ago.
My Eiffel tower statues frequently move around to different parts of the house and are often used in staging furniture for photos. I think I will enjoy them here for while!
I'll let you in on a little secret of mine. When I shop estate sales for treasures for my antique store booth space, I often come home with items that are flawed beyond repair and in my mind not suitable for resale. Most of the time, it's simply oversight. I get in a rush and forget to look over my purchases carefully before checking out. I sometimes end up tossing these items or donating them to a local thrift store, as much as I hate to do so having just dished out my hard earned money for them. But, whenever I can I find a place in our home to use these items, either in a repurposing project, or just to put on display. This tea cup is one of those items...cracked all the way through and poorly glued back together but still much too beautiful to be thrown away. It's unsuitable for tea, but it could sure hold a few pair of earrings!
I purchased some silk lavender at the craft store last week to use in my bedroom but when I put it out, it seemed too bright and new next to all of my vintage lovelies. Last summer my husband and I celebrated our anniversary in Hood River and enjoyed a visit to a beautiful lavender farm. The bunch of lavender that I picked that day has dried nicely and is the perfect shade of dusty purple to sit atop my lovely dresser...and it holds a special memory as well.
I am still working on a few more updates to our bedroom but feel like I am fairly close to being ready to share photos of the whole room. I have a small wish list, a few items that would really pull the room together and make it feel a bit more complete. This weekend is the Funky Junk Sisters Vintage Flea Market in Hillsboro, Oregon where there is sure to be a plethora of vintage goodies for sale! I am so looking forward to a shopping trip with a couple of my favorite vintage loving buddies! Hopefully I will find those perfect accessories I've been in search of!
Be sure to follow me on Facebook for photos from our Flea Market adventure!
Thank you so much for your sweet visit today! Have a wonderful week!
Best Wishes and Blessings,
Amanda
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