How Chester Became Art...

Raise your hand if you are guilty of buying an inferior piece of furniture at one time in your life.  I am guilty of this myself, having recently purchased six kitchen counter stools from an online catalog.  I bargain shopped for them and while I got a good price on them, and we made them sturdy when we put them together, I'm going to tell you that these chairs of mine WILL have to be painted at some point because their stained finish is poor.  (I'll gladly tell you in private where I bought them so you don't make the same mistake I did.)   Well, such is the case with today's featured furniture flipper.

Meet Natasha of Trash & Treasure Creations.  About ten years ago Natasha purchased this chest of drawers aka Chester.  There was assembly required, it was unfinished, it didn't have any supports or guides on the drawers and the trim on the drawers was coming off.   Natasha says, "If you wanted to slide a drawer back in, you had to carefully and strategically slide it in with both hands.  One of the handles crumbled about a month after I bought it. But, since I live in Alaska, and it was so inexpensive, there was no point in trying to return it.  The only thing it had going for it was that it was inexpensive and real pine."

Lucky for this little chest that he ended up where he did because Natasha has a lot of experience in remodeling and construction.  She could rebuild him.  She had the technology.  She could make him better than he was.  Better...stronger...prettier.  (Like the Six Million Dollar Man!  Except he was made faster, not prettier.  Hehehehe.  I miss that show.  Remember The Bionic Woman and her super cool apartment?  I wanted to live there.  Google it if you don't remember.  It's still trendy by today's standards.) 

Here's what Natasha did.  First she anchored the top down a little better with glue and screws from the underside.  She added some supports inside so that the drawers had something to slide on without tipping down through the cabinet.  She purchased a bunch of decorative moldings and rosettes, cut them to fit, and glued/nailed them to the drawer fronts.  She used home made chalk paint in various shades of blue, green and grey on the cabinet and drawer fronts.  There is an acrylic craft paint wash in ultramarine blue on the cabinet.  She used a coffee colored glaze on the drawer fronts and cabinet. Then she stained the top and around the trim on the drawers with Varithane oil based stain in Dark Walnut.  Finally, she added glass knobs for a little bling.

Let's check out this unique one of a kind masterpiece now...

I could look at that piece every day and not get tired of it.  That is A-R-T in my book.  Unique, unique, unique!  We have so many out of the box thinkers on this blog.  Love that!  

You can find Natasha and Trash & Treasure Creations in Homer, Alaska.  She offers small home furnishings and accessories crafted with locally purchased, reclaimed, or collected materials.  Wander over to the Trash & Treasure Creations Facebook page and give them a "like".  Let Natasha know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.  

Thanks Natasha for sharing your spectacular furniture flip!  

Dear faithful readers of Furniture Flippin', do YOU have a furniture flip you'd like to share?  I'd love to see it!  Send me the before/after pictures plus a LOT of details.  The more details the better write-up.  Don't make me drag the info out of you.  You brag yourself up to me and then I'll brag you up to everybody else.  So, don't be shy.  

See ya on Friday!

 ~ Stephanie