Dresser and Armoir--- Fun in my Garage

I picked up two more pieces from Goodwill. I keep thinking about those "before and after" shows like Design on a Dime and Designed to Sell. We all like them... some of us more than others. I would put myself in the more category. I am ashamed to say I even enjoyed Extreme Makeover, the regular edition. The one where they mangled people and made them look like strange plastic versions of themselves. I liked the before and after aspect of it. So here are two ugly girls in need of plastic surgery. The Armoir portion comes tomorrow.

The dresser struck me just because it was unusual and was, once again, solid wood with the dovetail construction on the backs of the drawers. It is also unusual because it is tall and narrow. It was a little pricey for Goodwill at $40, but I didn't see anything else there that day. I broke one of my own rules, which is, always be willing to walk out empty handed.

So I brought her home and sanded her down, meanwhile discovering the scent of cedar during the sanding. Then Newell came home and pointed out a few indicators showing this was a home made piece. I probably would not have bought it if I would have known that. I am trying to see if I can turn this hobby into a money making venture, and I think the style of the piece is a little unplaceable. I listed it on craigslist and didn't know what to call it. Not shabby chic, not classical, certainly not french provincial.

But I do feel some satisfaction in one thing. As I carefully cleaned and sanded and painted and fixed this piece, I thought over and over again about the carpenter. I am sure he made it in his shop, carefully planed and then sanded and stained each individual piece. Then he carved a pretty design in each door. No doubt he was making it for someone, I would guess a woman, maybe a wife or daughter, and no doubt he thought about her as he made it. He put thought into it's natural beauty, the waving lines of the cedar planks, and made the shiny finish perfect for her. It made me think about love and the things we do for each other. Then it was used, certainly for years, maybe even decades, and maybe passed down. Then in became antiquated, supposedly "ugly," and then someone dropped it off at the donations center at the Queen Creek Goodwill. It reminded me of the Velveteen Rabbit.

But I digress... here are the Before and After photos. Enjoy.

Updated Family Shots

Some of you see our family almost every day, some of you do not. All my blog posts feature very old pictures. Here are a few so that you can see what we look like now. The blog will not always be just decorating stuff... promise.

Another Project...

I really enjoy refinishing wood furniture, it's a hobby that I picked up recently. My friend Rachele, that I have mentioned before, paints professionally and she taught me a few tricks and now I am hooked. Newell and I decided to try buying old, neglected beauties, and fixing them up and selling them. I found this old dresser at Goodwill for $25 and then bought about $12 worth of spray paint. When I saw it my heart skipped a beat. Sitting there, covered in yellow and gold paint and scarred by layers of dirt, dried makeup, and even a substance that looked like caked-on ice cream. There was crayon and nail polish and the paint was scuffed and the wood was even a little dinged up in places, but it was still a diamond in the rough. There was nothing on it that I couldn't cover or fix.

Some of the things I have learned that you must look for are:

• If the drawers slide in and out easily. It's hard to fix the moving pieces of wood furniture. Not impossible, but difficult.




• Avoid a plastic or even wood veneer if it's thin. This will give you limited ability to sand away scratches or nicks in the surface. It's not a deal breaker for me, but finding a solid wood, dove tail constructed piece like this dresser is a wonderful find.




• If the basic shape is good. There is nothing you can do for an orange, oak, flat panel dresser with rounded edge pieces. It's ugly in any color. If I offend, I am sorry.

I love love love Krylon satin paint. I get it at Walmart for $2.79 a can, and it's high quality and the nozzle is incredibly comfortable to use. Most pieces need anywhere from 3 to 6 cans of paint, so it can add up in price and energy used to do the work. They also have a lot of colors. I stick with the ivory and, of course, the black mostly but there are many more to choose from.

There is also a special attachment you can buy that hooks onto a regular spray paint nozzle that works like a trigger. It's great for when you have to use a regular nozzle from a primer, for example. They are plastic and cheap at Home Depot (thanks again Rachele for giving me this tip!).

Ok, so go out and have a refinishing adventure of your own!

P.S.

Goodwill has an interesting structure for their sales. Items are assigned a "week" as they come in. I think this week is like week 17, or something close to it. When an item has been on the shelves for a certain amount of time, I think it's six weeks, it goes through a series of sales as the week progresses. This week the sale items were from week 11. So last Wednesday everything that was week 11 or before that was 50% off. Then Thursday all the week 11 items that were left were (drum roll please) .... ONE DOLLAR. That's right. One buck for sofas, head boards, dressers, DVD players, etc etc. The trick is browsing early. So if something comes out and the warehouse guy in the back priced it too high (like a beat up old dining table for $75) then chances are it will sit for the six weeks and not be purchased. Then, fifty percent off Wednesday comes, and even at $37.50 this table is over-priced. Well, show up at 9 am bright and early on Thursday and that beat up old table (aka diamond in the rough) is all yours for $1. This happens each and every Thursday at your local Goodwill.