Shabby cottage chic desk and dresser

Found this little desk and three drawer chest at a recent estate sale.

Of course, it was the color that first caught my eye when I saw this little desk from across the room.  Alas, the top was a real MESS!  Cheap plywood that had cracked, stained and peeling paint, but not the kind that you can leave ‘as is’.  Still, the price was right so I bought it.  (and the drawer innards were nice and CLEAN!)

SCORE!!  Another piece in ‘my color’!?!  woo-hoo!  Ah, but wait!  Once I put my reading glasses on I could see that it had been very POORLY painted aqua over a medium green pain; which still showed in several places.  Still, it was nice and sturdy.  The backing was in good shape and the drawers were clean!

The chest was pretty ‘grimey’ and  required a good scrubbing; and those drawer pulls HAD to go.  The pulls were screwed on, which usually means an easy removal; but these had been painted over more than once, so simply removing the screws did not do the job.  I had to WHACK them really hard with a hammer to get them off.

Not all of the stain and grime came off when I washed it, so it was time for the orbital sander.  I was HOPING that I could ‘just sand it’ and leave it this color.  Nope.  This, and the desk were going to HAVE to be painted.  I opted to paint them both white.

The top to the desk turned out just perfect!  Just the right amount of each color, white, aqua and wood showing after I distressed it.

As I am in the habit of doing, I painted the backside also.  It really only takes a few more seconds to do this when you are repainting items; and it gives the purchaser a lot more flexibility on placement of the item, as they won’t HAVE to place it with the back to a wall.

Distressing brought out just the right amount of the original aqua paint along the edges and ‘here and there’.  I recycled some old metal drawer pulls that I had on hand.  The insides of the drawers were completely painted the same aqua as the desk, but the bottoms were a bit scratched up.  I glued some pretty wrapping paper to the bottom of the drawers.

Distressing the chest was a bit more difficult.  Usually I can just ‘sand away’ and not have to pay very close attention and it will turn out fine.  However, the aqua color was a very LIGHT coat of paint, and if I sanded too hard of too much, I went clear through to the green coat of paint.  A little bit of the green showing through wasn’t too bad, but I wanted more of the aqua to show.  At one point, I almost decided to just repaint the whole thing turquoise!  But then I decided to ‘give it a shot’ at selling with the bits of green showing, before I went to all the extra work of painting it a second time.  I used the same vintage metal drawer pulls for the dresser and I did for the desk.

You can really see the green around the edges of the top of the chest.  That little ‘reddish’ mark near the center of the top of the chest had been a ‘blob of paint’ that had to be sanded down.  Apparently the top had been RED at one time, and sanding went down to that coat on this one little spot.  SO, I may well have to paint this chest a second time.

But for now, it’s in my booth at Stars Antique Mall priced at $59.00.  The smaller size of this chest make it perfect for a child’s dresser and/or a bed-side chest for an adult’s room.

As is the desk; which is $49.00.  That aqua cute bow back chair is also $49.00.

While I had the white paint out, I painted up a couple of wood slat picnic baskets that I’ve had for a while.

The smaller square basket with the BEE on top is $24.00.

The bigger, dark brown one with EAT on the top is $29.00.

The shabby apple basket is $15.00.

White metal birdcage (decorative use only; it does NOT open!) is $ 25.00.

Upcycled candle chandelier is $29.00.  Made using old white metal garden edge fencing; with five frosted glass hanging jars for tea light candles or battery tea lights.

I’ve recently added a LOT more vintage milk glass dishes!  Look at that adorable little espresso cup and saucer!!  I’ve got LOTS of regular coffee’tea cups and saucers and creamers and sugar bowls.  Perfect for an elegant bridal shower.  Lots of vases too!

I also just took in a nice collection of vintage Taylor, Smith and Taylor ‘Boutonnier’ dishes.  I had been collecting these for myself for quite some time; and finally decided that I just didn’t have room for them.  It’s not a complete set.  But there are a lot of cups and saucers and dessert size plates.

Stop by soon and see what’s new!!  Don’t let the construction on the side street scare you away.  (they tore down the boys and girls club and are putting is a high rise condo building!)  There is still plenty of parking; actually MORE than what was available before on some days!!

Stocking up for my next project marathon . . .

After quite an extended ‘shopping hiatus’ while I got packed, moved, unpacked and settled into my new place . . . . I’m finally at the point where I can start shopping for projects again!  Here are my latest finds:Small three drawer chest (about 12″ tall) probably for jewelry.

At first I thought the butterflies and flowers were decals.  Nope, just paint and fairly easily sanded off.

Another little one, about 7″ x 9″.  Little cupboards and chests of drawers always seem to sell well for me.

sigh.  I so wish the insides were not painted bright green!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ‘three shelf’ spice rack.

Gold frame.

This is the angle that I saw this piece at at a garage sale.  Unfinished, so easy to paint.  Add some backing and it would be a cute little night stand.

Alas, if I had bent down, even just a little bit, I would have seen the dowel rod near the top.  So, it’s actually a ‘doll wardrobe’.  Oh well.

Super icky . . . and consequently super cheap!

Apparently it had been used as a plant stand.

But the drawer ‘innards’ are nice and clean.  Painted even.  Albeit a very ‘muddy brown’ paint color.  A little paper on the drawer bottoms will take care of that.

I’ve got two of these foot stools; the other a little smaller.

This one had the top already removed, but it was a very FLAT top.  Gonna have to add some batting or foam pad to it.

The smaller one had this needle point cover on it.

Little glass jars.  One of them has ‘IKEA’ on the bottom.  I find jars with this type of lid quite often and in various sizes.  Spray paint the lids black and embellish with some pretty paper labels.  Always good sellers for me in my booth at Stars.

Initially I thought this was a ‘part’ of something.

Nope.  It’s a candle holder.  I’m sure I have something that I can add to it to turn it into a finial.

The last of the summer finds . . .

Alas, the summer ‘stock up on furniture’ season is coming to an end.  As soon as the rains come it will limit my ability to paint furniture because I don’t have an indoor painting room for big things.  Here’s my last few findings of summer:

Small wood trunk.

Berry trug.  (thinking this will work great for displaying some of my smaller signs in!)

When I first saw this I thought it was a doll cradle, because one end is higher than the other.  But the wood dowels inside make it look like a magazine rack.  ???  Maybe someone else UPcycled an old doll cradle into a magazine rack???

Really CUTE little desk.

Another sign storage bin.

And the BEST score!!  An UNFINISHED round pedestal table..Gotta LOVE not having to do any prep work like sand or prime!!

I had already sanded this one when I remembered to take the picture.

These ought to keep me in painting projects for a while!