~ ~ ~
"When I turned my hobby
into a business, my dream was to take hand-me-down furniture that had
been politely stowed away in attics, garages and storage facilities and
turn those forgotten, sentimental pieces into sensational and
unforgettable.
After
doing MANY pieces for others and myself, I finally got the opportunity
to do just that. A client had been storing her grandmother's dresser
set on the premise of giving to her son one day. She had painted them
herself but the finish was extremely gritty (no idea what kind of paint
she used) and in desperate need of a ReStyle.
The dressers were covered in veneer and the 60 year old glue was disintegrating. Much of the veneer was chipped off and what remained intact was peeling badly. The only option was to strip the veneer and find out what was underneath. I can thank my handsome, handy hubby aka Triple Threat who had his work cut out for him and removed every bit of veneer on both dressers. A few bloody knuckles along the way but I digress.
The dressers were covered in veneer and the 60 year old glue was disintegrating. Much of the veneer was chipped off and what remained intact was peeling badly. The only option was to strip the veneer and find out what was underneath. I can thank my handsome, handy hubby aka Triple Threat who had his work cut out for him and removed every bit of veneer on both dressers. A few bloody knuckles along the way but I digress.
To
our surprise, it wasn't solid pieces of wood underneath all that mess
but strips of wood glued together that kind of resembled a layer cake.
There was no rhyme or reason with the layers either. Some were all the
same color, others weren't - alternating between dark and light.
Primer became my best friend in this project and I ended up using about
4-5 coats on every drawer, sanding in between each coat.
Once
the primer was dried, I got to start on the fun part. The client
wanted an industrial look so we decided to go with grey. I chose Annie
Sloan's Paris Grey and put my paintbrush to work. After the paint dried,
I didn't think it looked quite as industrial as I wanted so I applied a
stain 'wash' with Verathane Weathered Gray. The resulting color was
perfection - it almost had a steely silver look. Next, I used a clear
wax and a subtle distressing on the wooden appliques. Last step was to
apply two coats of poly and once dry put the hardware back on.
Here's the reveal...
Of all the projects I've completed so far, these dressers were my biggest challenge and greatest ReStyle.
My
client was ecstatic with the results and I know Granny would be proud
of my work. I'm thrilled my client's family gets to enjoy them for
years to come."
~ ~ ~
Stephanie again! I love turning the wheel over to someone else every now & then and letting them drive.
For more pictures on this makeover go visit Amy at her Facebook page High Style ReStyle.
Thanks Amy for letting us feature your amazing furniture flip.
Very ambitious love the pulls
ReplyDeleteI've got to add. The final finish is wonderful indeed. But this description of "Cake layers" has me thinking of stripping veneer
ReplyDeleteQuestion...why would you wax it, and then cover the wax with poly? I thought you did one or the other? Yours truly, A Newbie Refinisher
ReplyDelete