New Beginnings

Well, spring is officially here although you wouldn't know it by the weather. Apparently Mother Nature didn't get the memo. Still, everything seems to be waking up and starting anew. I love this time of year. It feels like the start of new beginnings.

Speaking of new beginnings, I found this awesome piece of furniture on Craig's List that was begging for a new start.

 I love the lines on it and it has so much storage space. Who couldn't use storage space? (Um, my husband could since I was working on this project on his side of the garage...hee hee.) I didn't care for the color of it or the shiny finish. I also wasn't a fan of the hardware. The guy I bought it from said that his mom bought it years ago and spent a lot of time refinishing it herself. I love that she also thought to give it a new start too.

Once I got it home (with A LOT of help from the Hubby...that thing is a monster!) I realized that it seemed a little too short. No worries...I had a vintage set of casters I bought earlier from a thrift store that I thought would do the trick. I was right. It raised it up to the perfect height and gave it an even prettier look. Now to do something about the color.

I took it out to the garage and stripped it down to it's original finish. Initially, I was going to leave it at it's original finish but when I stripped off all of the paint, I realized that it was actually made up of several different types of wood. In it's original form, I'm sure it was a pretty look but when I tried to stain it, the stain took really uneven. It looked horrible. I'm not one to give up easy so on to plan B. (Actually, I panicked and forgot to take pictures of that step. Then I pulled myself together and went on to plan B.) I used a primer on the base and then painted it a soft cottage white. I stained the top of it leaving the pretty wood tone showing. Once the paint was dry, I sanded some of the edges giving it a distressed look and finished it with a coat of dark wax to age it a bit more.

 One of my favorite parts of this piece was the hidden drawers behind the cabinet doors. I also loved the natural color of them so I thought it would be neat to leave them as they were.

 To finish off the new look, it needed some bling. I found these handles and knobs at Home Depot. I love them! If I recall, they weren't too pricey either.

 I'm a sucker for things that are a mix of old and new or rustic and feminine and now it has that look.

So there it is in all it's glory! A new life for an old piece. What have you breathed new life into? Pieces of furniture? nick knacks? I would love to hear about it. Leave us a comment sharing your creativity.

Happy Spring!
Diane