Foil Bombay Chest

So I have a wonderful friend who suffers from the same ailment I have…

furniture addiction.

Sometimes hers gets so bad that she feels a little overwhelmed (I don’t know WHAT that might be like), and she has to dispose of some furniture or be buried in it (seriously, not WITH it…IN it).

I try to help her out by transferring some of her stash from her house to mine.  Aren’t I a good friend??

Here is a piece that came home with me a few weeks ago.  And this is exactly what it looked like.

 

My friend was in the midst of trying to rescue it from a bad paint job, but it was a mess!  The paint was peeling off in places, and sticking like glue to others.  It was going to me a major pain in the pantooka to either sand or strip all that paint off—and it just didn’t appeal to me in the least!

So I went with “Plan B.”

Last summer I experimented with a foil finish for a couple of thrift-store nightstands—using real live aluminum foil!

You can read more about it here:  Bling for the Bedroom.

I had been thinking about it because, for whatever reason, this little project has been extremely popular on Pinterest lately!  It seemed like a perfect solution to covering up the bad finish without having to remove it all.

If you’re interested in more of a step-by-step description of the process, see the nightstand project, or check out the Ivy Cottage’s tutorial on covering her wall with foil (Amanda was my original inspiration).

Here I am slathering wallpaper paste and foil on this Bombay chest.  You have to press down firmly, doing your best to remove all the air pockets.  It’s tricky on details trim.

And a word of warning…tin-foil-cuts are every bit as painful as paper-cuts, and they happen a LOT more often!

Oooh…nearing the finish line!

Once the foil is on and everything is dry, scrub off the paste residue with a damp cloth.  There will be a lot of it.  Then use a drop or two of acrylic paint (straight up, not diluted) to glaze the surface.

I chose not to try to cover the feet with foil.  They are painted with Rustoleum Metallic Aluminum paint, and glazed with black in the hopes that they will “blend in” with the rest of the piece.

Ready for some beauty shots? 

It really shines in the sun!

The whole piece is covered with 3 coats of polyacrylic.  It gives a nice, smooth finish—but beware, it will always be a little fragile!

The knobs came from Hobby Lobby. 

So there you have it!  I think this would be a super fun piece for an entry, don’t you?

 

This project has been featured at Apartment Therapy, Bless My Nest, and Beyond the Picket Fence.

***********************************************

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	Thrifty Décor Chick
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time Mod Vintage Life	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party A Little Knick Knack
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design Coastal Charm

Steampunk

Do you know what “steampunk” means? I certainly didn’t! I had to check out wikipedia’s definition and, of course, ask my husband once I heard that word being tossed around. As it relates to furniture, I have decided it means anything that is a little bit industrial, a little bit funky, and a lot of fun!

I started out with this chest of drawers that has been sitting in my garage for months. I have mentioned often that furniture “speaks” to me, but this one was strangely silent for a long time…

…Apparently, that’s because I wasn’t speaking it’s language!

Then one fateful day, I spotted this cute dresser at Twice Lovely:

…and I knew…

My chest of drawers, however, wanted to be black and distressed. It was an old piece to begin with, so I needed to work with that.

I purchased vintage valve handles from etsy. They came with the original dirt still attached! My love for ‘vintage’ ends there, so I ran them through the dishwasher.

I used 1/4” x 1 1/2” machine screws to attach the hardware. There isn’t much of a ‘neck’ on these valve handles to hold them away from the drawers, so they were a bit awkward to use. So next I purchased 1/4” nylon spacers to place between the valve handle and the drawer, and that makes them much more comfortable.

They handles are secured by 1/4” nuts on the inside of the drawer.

That’s all there is to it! But I love the fun, funky look of the piece. I think this would be fabulous in a boy’s room!

What about you? Have you jumped on the “steampunk” bandwagon yet?

********************************************************

Linking up here.

*******************************************************

This project was featured at Simple Home Creations, House of Hepworths, and Beyond the Picket Fence .

Gradient Dresser

There’s a trickle-down effect in blogland….and I’m the latest drip!

Cassie at Primitive and Proper showed this gorgeous dresser just about a week ago.

She was inspired by this dresser from Norske Interior (via Brooklyn Limestone):

And I….was utterly smitten.

I came across this dresser at Deseret Industries last week, and I wanted it. I knew it would be perfect for a similar treatment!

Unfortunately, it was priced out of my budget, so I waited patiently for a week (visiting it often, of course)…

… until I could ask them to mark the price down! It happily came home with me Tuesday, and I couldn’t wait to get to work on it. (You can tell because it’s now…Thursday.)

It turned out just like the picture in my head!

I painted the body of the dresser in a barely off-white paint I had on hand (Behr Ultra color-matched to Sherwin Williams Creamy), and I had fun choosing three colors for the three rows of drawers.

I bought a sample of Behr Ultra in each of these colors: Windwood Spring (top), Shallow Sea (middle), and Lagoon (bottom).

My teenage daughter graciously offered to help carry it up to her bedroom.

Too bad! She already has furniture. (I’m a mean mom.)

So there you have it…my version of the Gradient Dresser!

I do love these retro dressers. Two of my other favorites are Reverse Anthropologie and 38 Flowers !

*******************************************

This project has been featured at Saved by Suzy, Day and Age Design, Mod Vintage Life, My Repurposed Life, and AtticMag.

********************************************

Linking up here and !

A new direction

This is my first attempt at using Windows Live Writer…so please be patient with me!

In my last post, I showed you the new-to-me couch in my living room.

Of course, that one new piece of furniture started a domino effect! I had to change the orientation of the rug. Of course I have to rearrange my pictures. Naturally I will need some throw pillows. But most importantly, I need *something* to cover the now bare space of wall above! (Can’t have that cable jack staring me in the face, now can I??)

My first thought was to put a bookshelf there, but then I remembered this little chest of drawers that I picked up at a (very cold, very wet) auction on Memorial Day.

No one else seemed to want it! I scored it for $20. I thought the shape was fun and unusual, and it is actually a great height for a small entry table or buffet.

Or maybe…for my bare wall??

I had a specific idea in mind for this piece. I purchased this map from Amazon (about $6, including shipping), and I mod-podged it to the top. Knowing that mod-podge tends to create wrinkles, I purposely crinkled and wrinkled the map before I put it on! The body of the cabinet I painted in a creamy white “oops” Valspar paint (the same paint that inspired my bathroom makeover here).

The map originally had a glossy finish, but the matte finish mod-podge toned that down, and I liked it much better. Then I used Minwax Jacobean stain mixed with Martha Stewart glazing medium over the whole chest—map and all. It gave great “age” to the map and everything else! I used the original hardware, painted with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, but then roughed up to show some of the original brass underneath.

Here’s what it looks like now!

The map looks more vintage-y with the glaze (and the wrinkles!)

Then I had fun playing with a few accessories….

I picked up these two HUGE chippy baseboards at an architectural-salvage shop in Salt Lake City. I didn’t know Salt Lake had an architectural-salvage shop! It was probably better when I didn’t know…

I have three of these cool scales now. I think Ballard Designs want $300 for theirs. I didn’t pay over $20 for any of mine!

The left side of the scale holds two doorknobs and a wire flower frog. The right side has an old brush. I purchased them all at a great antique shop in Salmon, Idaho, on my way home from Montana. I spent a delightful 20 minutes and $28 there!

The succulents in the little wheelbarrow I bought from a local lady who makes delightful arrangements in “found” objects—like tea cups, gravy boats, or other unusual dishes.

So the real test is…what does it look like in my living room?

Well, what do you think?

This is the “new direction” I am referring to (also a nod to the map on the top!) Is this as good as / or better than a bookshelf?

(Still not sure what to put above the couch now. But I may have the glimmer of an idea…)

What do you think?

and

Linking up to these great parties here

and