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