I'm certainly not a "dumpster diver" but I do tend to keep an eye on the curbs of my neighborhood come the day before garbage day. Before you "gasp" or make your "gross" face, hear me out. You may start paying attention!
I found this {not so} beauty on the curb while driving to my parent's house. I immediately fell for it's curves and keyholes. Of course, I had to admit to myself that it needed some work. I decided to drive just a few short blocksd to my parent's home and asked my dad to go check it out. {I was pregnant and wasn't going to try to move it at all.} He went and looked it over and then brought it back with him.
Someone had mistreated this lovely piece of furniture. There was a horrible, crackle finish painted on and plenty of water damage. My dad had to soak the drawers and clamp the wood to straighten it up so we could open and close the drawers.
Once that was done, I was able to begin sanding off that ugly paint job.
Do you see the mess I was dealing with?
With sanding out of the way, I was able to paint this lady up and make her all pretty. I used Valspar paint in Colonial White for the exterior. {This was a flat finished paint. I'll explain why later.} Inside the drawers, I used Valspar's "Peacock" to bring a fun detail that makes this dresser mine.
{What? You don't watch The Nate Berkus Show? He loves this finishing detail.}
With painting out of the way, it was time to apply the antique glaze on the outside of the dresser.
The process is pretty simple. I just painted on the glaze and used an old, cut up t-shirt to wipe it off until I had the look I was going for. Keep in mind, if you choose to use antique glaze on a project of your own, go easy on the application. I was all "Woo Hoo! GLAZE!" when I started to paint it on and ended up spreading one small area's glaze across the entire top of the dresser. But I also found it easy to get into a good rhythm with the whole "Glaze on. Glaze off." song and dance.
Also, using a flat paint will work best with the glaze finish. I feel like it wears the glaze a bit better since it absorbs it almost.
And I was pretty happy with my results!
I also chose to grab some glass knobs in place of the ones previously on the dresser. I think it dressed her up quite nicely. {Every fine lady likes a little bling, right?}
In case you're wondering, this dresser lives in my living room, right under the wall mounted, flat screen TV. I use the drawers as storage for our TV remotes, DVD's, Coloring books for the kids, and Videos. The DVD Player, VCR, and Wii are parked underneath the dresser...on the floor. {Hey, it's bad enough I have a Wii bar on my dresser. lol}
I also have a few other things on my dresser that I'm quite proud of. {pictured below}
I found an old, dove tailed wood box with a latch closure at an antique shop and knew right away that I wanted to put it on top of my dresser. I use it to hide away my little ones' techy toys. They have their little readers and play lap-tops, and what-not in there. The idea is to keep the surface clean and still have it be a place that's meant for my family at the same time. It works very well!
I also have a rather unique candlestick sitting on top of the storage box. This is another antique store find and it actually isn't a candlestick at all. I found this great, vintage light fixture and knew I could fit a candle in it. I loved the old paint on it and left it "as is". Pretty neat, right?
What about you? Have you ever rescued something from the curb?
**I have no relationship with or connection to either Valspar or Nate Berkus and receive nothing for this post. I'm just sharing what I used and where I drew inspiration from. Mmmkay?**
