Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Laminate to Lovely & White Wednesday !

I have the best neighbor ever - she is always bringing me little treasures she has picked up from odd garage sales or thrift stores...

...since she knows I have been on a furniture makeover kick,  it was no surprise a few days ago when she called across the yard saying she had something that I might be interested in... "surprise" is not the word to describe how I felt when I saw this piece of "furniture!"

        { Bless her sweet little heart! }


She proudly pointed to this "nightstand" her face all abeam. You see, she has bestowed upon me many wonderful and coveted "finds" over the years...antique lace, vintage sheet music and beads...a sweet old picnic basket and priceless plaid wool for my collection, just to name a few....
 

I was so shocked at the piece that was staring back at me that I could not even bring myself to speak at first....in time I collected my thoughts and politely thanked her, saying that I would certainly TRY to do something with it.........

{ like take it straight to the garbage pile }


...the very saddest part of this story is that I didn't even get a picture of this little "monster" before I started. I truly intended too, and then I was so anxious to start on the thing that I was well into sanding it before I realized I had no "before" photos...

...picture this...small, dirty two drawer nightstand. Top drawer facing is bright green, glossy road sign grade laminate with a DINOSAUR carved into it.... { I kid you not - and she has SEEN the furniture I have been redoing, so she must have more than a little faith in my makeover skills }...Bottom drawer scuffed up white laminate to match the rest of the piece. Two cracked, white plastic drawer pulls. Stability - none...was wobbling on three semi good feet. Back was stapled on, poorly. Bottom metal drawer slide plate was loose and dangling, aka, the bottom drawer was dangling.

Well I towed the "thing" across 1.2 acres of yard, debating whether to take a sharp right at the end of the drive and end the life of said "thing" at the garbage pick up. My "let's just TRY to see if we can fix it up" side kicked in and took over...so a quick u- turn at the drive led us straight into the garage to the utter disbelief of my hubby who had been watching my internal struggle for the last 67 yards.

Well I sanded it down with the palm sander...some places the ancient press board, { or whatever the hek it was } was already showing, so I just took her all the way down...I mean how afraid could I be? She was already begging to be dumped. I peeled off the glossy dino sign and removed the drawer pulls, { which by the way crumbled in the process } and sanded a little bit more.
I reattached the back, repinned the drawer rail and said a prayer...

...two coats of heavenly blue { I know it is not the only color of paint on the earth, but this piece needed some divine intervention! } and two top coats of country white finished her off. She was beginning to look less like a monster and more like an old piece of furniture in need of some TLC.  The small pock marks left by the press board didn't look so pretty, but I knew I would be forced to heavily distress this piece to even have a chance of salvaging her.

Lo and behold...she looked adorable...SHABBY, but adorable. I heavily palm sanded her when the paint had cured. I used the scraper everywhere possible. I even peeled some of the paint off of the sides of the piece. Then I took a sanding block and evened out the rough edges and waxed the living hek out of her. Some new antique silver hardware and some awesome number plate from the talented and generous Roben-Marie

{ she knows I adore anything with numbers on it and this was a 
surprise treat in my mail box yesterday...
along with the most fabulous mixed media mail art! }

Be sure to check out her Art Goods Shop here for more goodies like this!














She is so sweet now! Hard to believe I could have just dumped her off on the roadside like any old piece of junk. 
KATHLEEN AT FADED CHARM HOSTS WHITE WEDNESDAY! 
HOP OVER AND TAKE A LOOK AT ALL THE BEAUTIFUL WHITES TODAY!

Please be sure to hop over and visit some of the other talented artists 
and enjoy some super ideas along the way!

8 comments:

Sandi Keene said...

And now you are an ER Trauma Doctor! Way to go, Rae. You pulled that nightstand back from the brink of death. Love the plaquette on it - great use!

Sanghamitra Bhattacherjee(Mukherjee) said...

You did a great job! Love it:)
It looks gorgeous now! Thanks for sharing. Hope to see you on my blog:)

Francie...The Scented Cottage Studio said...

LOL ohhh my. I have someone who does the same, she brings me things that just amaze me. (as in WHAT is she thinking amazement) She is so sweet I would never say anything to hurt her feelings.
You did a fabulous job with the "treasure" your friend gave you.
She was right to have that faith.

Roben-Marie said...

Wow! This looks so beautiful, Rae! Glad you like the numbers!!

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

What an upcycle. I found your blog from Cozy Little Home and am now #56 follower. I am enjoying reading your blog.
-Joy

BECKY said...

What a great treasure! And what a blessing to have such a generous, thoughtful friend!! JOY!!

You did a fab job bringing it back to life! I love those little numbers, too!! :o)

Have a wonderful day, gal!!
Hugs,
Becky

My Little Home and Garden said...

So clever!

Holly Lefevre said...

So glad you came by the FB page for 504 Main last week. Your blog is lovely! I am imagining this lovely piece as it was and awed at what you did to it...gorgeous! Great Save. New follower.
Holly
504 Main

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