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
