Howsewears: Chest of Drawers

Showing posts with label Chest of Drawers. Show all posts

Monday, November 28, 2011

Subway Art Bureau

Hey, Froggers. Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can concentrate on what I REALLY love to do, which is painting and designing. I was inspired by some furniture I had seen on some other blogs, and I had the perfect bureau to try it on. I used the same techniques on my other pieces here and here. I'm super excited about how this turned out. It will be for sale as soon as I can transport it to my space at Building Character in Lancaster, PA. I'm the Howsewears booth (look for the Howsewears banner). If you're interested in purchasing it and are fairly local to Lancaster County, let me know. I can't wait to find a loving home for it.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a before picture, so use your imagination. It was just a plain old brown bureau with some scratches.

This piece is near and dear to my heart since I spent so much time in Lancaster. Some of the landmarks don't exist as businesses anymore, which gives it a more vintage feel.

I LOVE wooden knobs. I can do so many things with them. These are painted with Paris Gray mixed with a little bit of Graphite (as is the top). They're distressed and waxed with Briwax Antique Oak.

The body was painted with Graphite, with Old White lettering. It was waxed with Clear and then Antique Oak Briwax, followed by buffing for a nice patina.

I love the detail in the upper drawer, and accented it with Old White.

It almost seems at home here next to a field in Lancaster County.
It's a delightful size:
Height- 3'4"
Width- 2' 5"
Depth- 3' 5"
And, as always, let me know what you think. I love hearing from you!!!
Fondly, Tami

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Finding Fabulous for Less
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Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom
My 1929 Charmer Blog
Embracing Change
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Friday, September 2, 2011

Dumpster Diving

Well, Froggers. I have stooped to the bottom. Yup. Dumpster Diving. Well, I didn't actually go in the dumpster. I picked something up beside the dumpster. So, I think that doesn't qualify. Or does it?
You see, a good friend tipped me off briefly before church started 2 Sundays ago. He told me about a chest of drawers that looked like it was in good condition near his daughter's apartment.
And, yes. I did immediately look at my watch. Shucks. Church was starting in a few minutes. Could I just slip out without anyone seeing me?

I succumbed to internal pressure to stay. As my pastor was talking about God's love, I was thinking about Furniture Love. You know. The deal of the century. The piece that didn't get away? That great piece of furniture that you procured for FREE?

Would it still be there? Would it start raining and ruin what was left on the finish? Would someone else get there right before me and snatch it from my clutches?

As soon as church was over and I paid my requisite greetings to my Fellow Christians (although could they call me that after I hadn't paid attention all morning?). A streak was seen as I exited the building. Well... not quite. After all, I really can't run that fast.

HubbyDoc, Youngest, and I drove the Subaru to said location, and lo and behold, it was still there! Joy and Jubilation! We pulled out all of the ~~trash~~ items that were placed in front of it. We jiggled the drawers, rocked the base, and checked the joints. The only thing that was wrong with it was that the runner for the bottom drawer was broken. No problem. I'll just ask my dad to fashion the piece for me and I'll nail it in.

Now, here's the funny part. Since Youngest was in a hurry to go to lunch with a friend, and the Subaru would only hold the chest plus 2 people, I decided to wait for HubbyDoc to drive home, drop off Youngest, and then come back and pick me up. Keep in mind that we had just come from church.

Our church is very casual. However, this particular Sunday, I decided to wear my cute new sandals with heels. Once Hubbydoc went home, I was left, literally standing on a street corner waiting for him to return. In the rain. It was then that I discovered that perhaps I looked less like an innocent Furniture Stealer and more like a Hoochie Mama. As people drove by in my conservative, small town, I received looks like I've never received before.

So, just call me Hoochie Mama Dumpster Diver.

Here's the chest in its nakedness.

I love wooden knobs. They're so versatile.

And here's the transformation:

I painted it with a combination of Versailles chalk paint and Paris Grey. There are actually numbers on the chest, but there's not enough contrast for the camera to pick them up. I was a little disappointed that you can't see them well, but perhaps that's the charm of the look. Yeah. I'll pretend it was planned.