Being old is only good for Antiques

The other day I fell off my deck, if anyone had of been around with a video camera I am sure I would have made America's Funniest Home Videos. I have to say I love my metal wash bins that I plant flowers in, but not when I land on them. I didn't break anything, well a plastic flower pot but nothing on me. But I have been so sore the last few days I feel like I was hit by a truck.



 

This is what I landed on, not exactly a soft landing

I was just not paying attention to what I was doing and tripped



And I am black and blue and every muscle hurts. Getting old is no fun, it is a lot harder to bounce back from stuff like falling, it hurts a lot more than it used too. Being old is only good for antiques and collectibles not for people, who are somewhat of a klutz.

But my garage is full and I don't have time to sit around and feel sorry for myself. I have been waiting for nice weather to come so I could work outside. And this week it has been gorgeous everyday, hot and sunny. I have quite a few antique dressers and I decided it did not make sense to haul them all back to Ontario. So I decided to part with one and give it a makeover.

Don't you hate when you don't take a before pic because you think you have one, then you can't find one anywhere arrrrrrrrrrggggggggg

I have owned this dresser probably for two years and I don't have one pic of it , how does that happen

 

Sorry but this is the best I can do for a before pic

 

The dresser was in great shape but had lots of water stains and marks on the top

I don't know who does this too wood

I had to clean off nail polish and some kind of black tar substance off the top too

 

I was going to paint the dresser white and the drawers a light grey, but after I painted it all white for the first coat.

I decided to keep it white

 

 

 

 

I added two small appliques to the part of the dresser that the mirror attaches too

Just to add a little more character

 

 

The dresser was in excellent shape and some of the hardware was there

I had to replace the knobs on the top two drawers

 

 

 

 

And here is she all done and looking very pretty in white

I painted it in Anne Sloan pure white

I was going to distress it but decided to leave that up to the purchaser

Not everyone likes that look and I didn't want to limit my buyers

 

It is actually hard to part with this, I love the look of it

At one time I was going to keep it and make it into a bathroom vanity

but I have to cut back on what we are going to move back to Ontario

Do you find it hard to part with your pieces too ?

Especially after you fix them up

 

I am taking today off from working in the garage

To rest you might think, but no

I bought a cute little cabinet that I am picking up today

And it is Saturday and it is nice outside

So you know what that means

YARD SALES !!!!!!

 

I know the garage is full and I am still downsizing

but I have to have things to work on to sell

hey that's my story, and hubby is falling for it .........so

 

I am off to check out yard sales

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend

Happy Easter

And please be safe if your travelling

and watch out for those decks

(and no I was not drinking when I fell off the deck)

but trust me I could have used one after for the pain

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie would like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter too

 

 

 

 

 

Chalkboard dresser

Hubby just had two weeks and it was really nice to spend time together. When he works a month at a time 12 hour days we don't see each other too much. He basically comes home eats and falls asleep on the couch, poor boy. I get up with him at 4:30 am but not much conversation happening then lol
 

We had a few days of nice weather and when he was not working on his new toy. His 1960 International pick up that I can not wait to drive and do some picking in it. He helped me with a few things I was working on.

 

As you can see this past weekend we had some nice weather, tshirt weather woohoo

 

 

I had a chance to finish up the dresser I have been working on,

 remember the one with all the nicks and dings in it

 

 

 

It was pretty beat up when I bought it, but I knew it had potential

 

 

 

 

And after lots of wood filler and sanding, it looked like this, still not too pretty

 

 

 

 

Now it is starting to look pretty

I mixed up some left over paint to come up with this colour

it is blue, white and black paint mixed up, and I must say I am loving the finished grey

 

 

 

Remember how two of the drawers had pieces missing on the edges

Well replacing the drawer fronts was not something I wanted to get into on this piece

 

This is where hubby's help came in handy

 

 

 

 

 

I painted the drawers with chalkboard paint and we cut trim for the edges

I stained the trim and we glued and nailed it on

I painted the original wood knobs in the same grey as the dresser

I think the drawers with the trim make each drawer look like a picture

just waiting to be created

 

 

 

 

And now it can be functional and fun

I painted the sides with chalkboard paint as well

Quite the improvement from the first pic don't you think

It was a lot of work but I had some fun with it

And I love trying new things and making my pieces unique in their own way

And what the thrift store thought was junk

Is now a cute chalkboard dresser

 

 

 

Remember this cute dresser, well it just went to its new home

A nice couple expecting a new baby in 5 weeks bought this dresser on the weekend

I had it on kijiji and apparently the lady saw it, but then I took the ad off, before she could email me about it

I had it for sale in a store for two weeks

put it back on kijiji and she said she was so excited when she was it

They drove from 2 hours away to come get it

Now stuff like that makes all the hard work, worth my while

And gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling about what I do

 

 

And now on to my next project

My garage is still full of unfinished projects calling to me

Another dresser? coffee table?

 

 

Hope the sun is shining where you are

probably not right now though because I am typing this at 5 am but you know what I mean

 

Happy Picking and Happy Painting

 

hugs

 

 

 

And my sidekick Maggie

 

 

 

 

 

Is it Spring yet?

What is up with this weather, is today really the first day of Spring ?

I shouldn't complain about our weather here, yes it is cold and today we had rain, thunder and lightning. While I was outside trying to paint I should mention.

But there are other areas of Canada that have snow and they are getting more snow. So rain does not sound so bad.

So although I can not show you my completed projects because the weather is not co-operating with me. I thought I would try to cheer you all up with a bit of online spring. If it won't come to us I will bring it us online.

Hope these pics make you smile

Don't worry spring will be here soon

Sometimes you have to stop and smell the dandelions

 

 

And being with friends is nice too

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tulips are definitely a sign of spring

 

 

 

 

 

Easter is just around the corner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anything can be a planter with a little imagination

 

 

I think they need more than one bird bath in this yard

 

 

I think he is laughing at all of the birds in the bird bath

 

 

 

 

 

Spring prom anyone

 

 

 

 

I want one of these ducks, look at those faces

 

 

 

fly lil buddy fly

And if you weren't smiling yet

 

 

 

 

I hope this pic makes you smile

 

 

 

and this one

 

 

Maggie likes to stop and smell the flowers too  

 

 

 

Maggie and I hope these pics put a smile on your face  

 

I am certainly ready for spring, aren't you?

hope the birds are chirping and the sun is shining

And that spring is in the air soon for all of us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Under the paint

Sometimes I think that I should put a tag somewhere on some of my pieces saying do not strip off the paint. Those are the pieces that were in bad repair and look like someone used them for a dart board. You know the ones that you have to fill all kinds of nooks and nicks and gouges with wood filler before you paint.

I keep thinking what if one day someone gets in the their head that they should strip the paint off and stain this. Oh My God would they hate me then. I am working on one of those pieces right now, it has a nice look to it but lots and lots of marks in it. Looks like someone took an exacto knife too it in spots, who does this to furniture.I know the guy at the thrift store thought I was nuts when I bought it, but I knew I could save it. Even hubby said, paint is not going to fix that. Yes but some TLC and paint will.

 

 

 

 

I have spent almost the whole afternoon filling cracks and crevices and sanding

And I didn't notice till I got home that two of the drawers had pieces missing off of the corners

Now, I did get a good deal on the dresser

But I am not replacing drawer fronts, so I am trying to come up with a solution

I think  this poor dresser was used as a dart board at some point

 

 

I only wish people would understand the work that goes into these projects

We just don't buy them and add paint

I saw this sign on Pinterest and I think I am going to have to make one for my shop

 

You know the shop in the future dream house that we have not purchased yet

yep that shop  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have filled and patched more nicks and holes in this dresser

 than I have in the last 5 dressers I have done

And do you see the chips out of the drawer fronts

I thought about changing the drawer fronts but they are not just flat drawer fronts

so I have decided to work with what I have, instead of rebuilding the whole drawer

 

The drawers on this are very deep and would be great for storage in a play room or kids room

So I am thinking my paint should go with that look

But I still have a few more repairs to make before paint

 

 

Here is what the dresser looks like now, minus the drawers, still working on them

Don't you just love this colour

it is 3 small cans of paints that I had left over, mixed into one

grey, black and white

I love the finished colour

I am going to save it and try to have it matched and get more of it

 

 

 

I have something different planned for the drawers and the sides of this dresser

I try to be creative with my pieces and give my customers something that is unique

 

 

 

 

and while I was outside painting today

this is what lil Maggie was doing

 

 

 

 

Sun tanning and having a snooze and staying close to Mom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I had hoped to show pics of this finished dresser, but the drawers are taking longer than I thought

but I am hoping they will turn out the way I have it planned in my head

My hubby says that being in my head is a scary place

funny man

 

 

but I do have another project to show you that is complete

 

 

 

 I found this cute little desk cabinet at a thrift store

Although it looks great the way it is, I thought I could take it up a notch

 

 

 

I started by painting the inside with duck egg blue,

and painting the outside with pure white

I had to paint it with priming paint first to stop the knots from bleeding through

 

 

 

 I think its a big improvement on the pine look, what do you think?

I changed the knobs which were brassy to a nice nickel with roses engraved on the knobs

 

 

 

 

 

When it was in the thrift store the leaver to lower the desk was off

so they had reduced the price considerably

which is good for me

but it was just missing a screw lol

not broken just missing a tiny little screw

Can you say score

 

 

 

 

 

And now all this needs is a new home

 

 

OK I left for an hour could you tell?

 

hubby and I just participated in earth hour

we turned all electricity off for the hour

lit some candles and spent sometime outside under the stars with Maggie

 

we are going to have to do that more often

did you participate in Earth Hour

 

I hope everyone is having a beautiful weekend

I did not go thrifting this weekend but I did go to a Spring fair

and bought a pallet sign that says I love Vintage

from Shannon at The Rusty Nail

I love it

 

will try to finish the dresser off tomorrow

weather permitting

 

till then

 

Welcome to my new followers

 

hugs to you all

 

 

 

 

 

 and my lil Maggie

look at that cute lil face