Geography Lesson

I have done several map pieces lately. I picked up this night stand at an auction. I painted it with my new fav Peacock and decoupaged maps to the drawers and top. I posted it and it sold quickly.

I accidentally left a strip of wood showing...I did paint it before the customer picked it up. Crazy what you don't notice!

I forgot to pull this from Craigslist and received a few calls in regards to it. I  happened to have another night stand on hand. I ended up painting it a navy blue and adding maps to it similar to this piece. I have learned that maps are hot. I need to stock up on maps as my supply is beginning to dwindle. 

Beachy Dresser

Around our house we have a need to breath the ocean air about every three months or we begin to get grumpy. As a result we have stayed in many different beach houses throughout the years. When Drexler was younger every time we were headed to the beach he would ask, "Which of our beach houses are we going to stay in this time?" It made us sound like we were super rich with several beach properties.
Alas, on teacher's salaries we don't own a beach house. We are fortunate to be able to go to the beach often. Most of the time the houses we stay in have kitchy tacky beach themes of mismatched stuff the owners don't want to use in their regular house.
I love beach decor and many of my pieces are inspired by shore. This piece is not exception.

This is the dresser from my friend Gayle. I had to do a bit of work on one drawer, but other than that it was easy piece to refinish. I painted the top with a random cream (you know those containers of leftover paint that you have hanging around) and the bottom with a Sherwin Williams color I can't remember the name of right now. I sanded the drawers and top a bit before I began to paint, but neglected to do the sides. When I was paining one side the paint wasn't adhering in a few areas. I added some of my secret ingredient and turned it into Dickey's Chalk Paint. This solved the problem.

Next I roughed up the paint and shabified it. Finally, I put a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Soft Wax. The first picture was taken with my phone, the other pictures don't show the coloring as well.

I am hoping this piece sells quickly because I have the following pieces to clear out of my garage/driveway right now:

Waterfall style dresser
French Provincial dresser
Buffet/bench (I am soooo excited to work on this one)
Kitchen table
Big desk
Little desk
3 Lyre chairs
2 Frenchy chairs
2 End tables
1 Coffee table
Clock
Radio Cabinet

I believe that is it. Whew.

*I posted a picture of this on Facebook last night and wouldn't you know it the same lovely person who bought the desk purchased this. I am going to paint another dresser for them to match.

She's Outta Here

A few weeks ago a friend sent me a message on Facebook and asked me if I would like a desk and dresser. They were mine if I could come pick them up pronto. Lickity split I galloped to her house and picked them up. They were better than I imagined. It is funny how some people's idea of beat up and mine are totally different.

The desk was petite and solid pine. Gayle's husband had started to refinish it and aborted the mission. This made the desk even better for me. All I had to do was sand the top down a bit more and it was good to go.

I stained the top with a dark cherry and painted the bottom with Dickey's Chalk Paint (I need to trademark it ) in Watery, one of my favorite Sherwin William's colors. I stained the knobs to match and top coated it with wipe on poly.

I snapped a quick picture (ugh...) with my cell phone and posted it to Facebook. Within twenty minutes I had three people offer to buy it. I was happy the first responder was a friend whose daughter has been a buddy of Drexler's since preschool. They went to elementary school together for several years, played soccer together and will attend the same middle school next year. I am happy this cutie went home to Olivia!

As you can see I have been absent from Blogland lately. With both kids playing baseball right now we have our evenings pretty full. Additionally, we have had two beautiful weeks of temperatures in the mid-70s-80s. This is unheard of here in Oregon; no rain and clear days. As a result we were forced to get the pool summer ready a few weeks early. A lot of my time and attention has gone to yard projects. I'm not complaining, but I am glad this weeks forecast calls for rain. My plants need water and I need to get back to painting!

Peacock Dresser

I had a dresser that sat in my garage stuffed with various nails, tools, electrical junk and more for the last seven years. I recently purchased a dresser and it was a buy one get one free deal. I had to take this one in order to get the other. I almost took it to Goodwill. It isn't really wood and was horribly painted and stripping such a cheap piece was out of the question in my book...painting it would be a waste of time even in my world. I decided to keep it and trade my old catch-all dresser with it.

This dresser is solid wood, but it is very thin pine. The drawers all worked, but they weren't all that big. It would make a perfect dresser for those baby through toddler years, but after that they are just to small to fit much in the way of clothes. It would also be a good dresser for an office or crafting space.

Anyway, I painted it with the evasive Peacock (a $1 quart I found at a salvage store).  I will be honest, I would never put this color in my house, but I like it a lot in other's homes. It just isn't my cup of tea.

I realize again that this is a horrible picture. I struggle with photography. I have a decent enough camera, BUT...

1. The lighting in my garage/workshop stinks
2. The item sells and I have forgotten to get decent pictures
3. I'm lazy

No excuse for it. I am going to make a goal for myself this summer to become a better photographer. Honestly. No excuses.