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Serpentine Dresser Update

Serpentine Dresser Update

My Dad is not going to be happy when he reads this post. You see, last week I received an email from one of my readers wanting to know if she could buy the serpentine dresser.

This serpentine dresser.

This, the dresser that I was so thrilled with how the sanding and restaining had turned out. The dresser that I called my Dad to see if he thought I had sanded it enough to get the scratches out of the top. The dresser that he was so happy that I did not paint.

My reader Becky, wanted to use the dresser for her entry way, but she had one request.

Could I paint it? She loved the color of this dresser.

Could I paint it the same color and remove the bottom two drawers? She had baskets she wanted to use instead of the drawers.

Becky’s vision included a rustic, antique storage space for shoes and mittens. I assured her that I could do that.

After simply removing the bottom two drawers I measured from back to front the longest length that would be needed to replace the area with slats to hold her baskets.

Then it was a matter of cutting fourteen, twenty-inch-long boards from the 1”x3”x6’ pine boards I purchased from Home Depot.

Laying out the boards with a three inch space between them….here’s how I calculated the space.

There are 30 inches between the left and right board. There are a total of seven boards. Each board is 2.5 inches wide. Traveling 765 miles an hour, how long does it take a plane coming from LA to land in Chicago?

Just kidding.

How wide should the space be?

2.5 inches x5(middle boards) = 12.5 inches

30 inches – 12.5 inches = 17.5 inches

17.5/6 (there are six spaces between 7 boards) = 2.91 inches. We’ll call it 3 inches.

Moving past the math to a visual.

Once each board was in place and spaced, I traced the curve of the wood onto the bottom side of the wood slats. Using my scroll saw, I cut following that line creating the curve of the serpentine.

From here each board was painted using Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Trophy and finished with the Miss Mustard Seed Tough Coat.

(I let the slats dry for 24 hours before applying the tough coat.)

The top two drawers’ hardware was removed and along with the rest of the dresser was painted using the same color of milk paint.

I applied two coats of polyurethane to the dresser, let it dry and called it a day.

After everything had time to dry I nailed each of the slats where the drawers used to be, reattached the top drawer hardware and staged the dresser just for fun.

Becky should receive her dresser on Wednesday. I hope she loves it and sends pictures how it looks in her entry way!

Wendy

Dad, I hope you noticed that I didn’t paint the top of the dresser. All of your great sanding advice didn’t go to waste. 🙂

Painted or Not Painted. Which do you like more?

Hitting On All Cylinders

Hitting On All Cylinders

My brain wasn’t hitting on all cylinders yesterday.  And it should have been. I mean I have a great nights sleep, a casual morning and a filling breakfast. Things weren’t improving by mid morning so I decided to switch gears and paint.

Paint a dresser, not paint something Van Gogh-ish.

On the blog, you have seen this dresser several times with different seasonal décor arranged on top of it.

I bought it from a friend of a friend. It isn’t antique or vintage. It was not hand painted. It was mass produced.

And I liked it.

But, today was the day that I finally took a leap of faith and decided to fall in love with it.

Not trusting my cylinder skipping day, I sent a picture of the dresser to a friend of mine  (Karianne from Thistlewood Farms, maybe you have heard of her)  🙂 asking her what her opinion was about painting this piece. She responded:

 Hmm….what about a light blue? Or gray (of course)!  hahahaha!

Gray it shall be. Thanks for the suggestion Ms. Thistlewood Farms Blogger Extraordinaire.

The handles were easily removed and I lightly sanded the fronts of the drawers.

Trophy from the Miss Mustard Seed milk paint line was my gray color choice. It happened to also be the only gray milk paint I had, so, win-win on that.

At first I was thinking I would only paint the drawer fronts but as the project progressed, I felt that the entire dresser, not including the the top needed to be painted.

One coat of paint easily covered the two drawer dresser. I then finished it with a top coat of MMS Hemp Oil.

It took me less than 2 hours from start to finish to finish the dresser makeover.

Putting the before and after side by side, makes me giddy happy that I painted yesterday. A sign of love.

Have a lovely Saturday!

Wendy

One brush can make all the difference

One brush can make all the difference

I am not only a blog writer but an avid blog reader.  I religiously follow several blogs. They are part of my morning routine. They are all unique in there own way, but at one time or another they all have sponsored giveaways.  And, I, have entered those giveaways if the product speaks to me. And paint brushes speak to me. With the enormous popularity of these blogs it is rare to win a give away.  But I  was notified the other day that I had won!

 

I was so excited and grateful.  I had a dresser project waiting and a new brush was the push I needed to get ‘er done. This dresser was the final piece of furniture Samantha needed for her new apartment bedroom. We found this piece at a local garage sale and it was the detail of the silver corner braces sealed the deal.

The dresser is all wood except for the top which is a white laminate.  We decided to freshen the look of the dresser with a white high gloss paint.

On the day that the brush arrived, I couldn’t rip the package open fast enough. I was so happy to see a wood handle on this brush.  Don’t get me wrong I own several brushes with a plastic handle, but this brush was just pretty and somehow made me feel like a true professional.  You know what I mean.  Fake it til you make it, kinda thing.  🙂

Just as Imperfectly Perfect advertised, the brush had a comfortable grip, a 2 inch brush and synthetic tapered bristles allowing a crisp edge when painting. And this brush did not disappoint.

Using the right tools always makes a job easier and more enjoyable! The stunning silver brace corners now pop with joy!

 

Thanks Perfectly Imperfect for offering a great giveaway. I am a fan. 🙂