Antique "Layer" Dresser

This dresser was a great estate stale find from back in Spring of this year.  I wanted to try a more masculine look with this piece and also wanted to experiment with a layering technique, in which I started with a base coat of paint, and then used different finishing products to create a rich, textured finish.

Here a few before pics:

Two interesting characteristics that drew me to the dresser were the double table top:

And the fact that the top layer of wood veneer was peeling back:

I decided to remove the remaining veneer and stain the top of the dresser only, while painting the bottom. Removing the veneer required lots of time and patience, as well as gloves, a hammer and a putty knife. After slowly chiseling away at the top and carefully removing all of the veneer, I filled in any holes with wood filler and sanded everything down.  The top was then stained in a deep espresso stain and left to dry.

I wanted to try my hand at acrylic on this piece and I choose a beautiful color from Paint Couture's line of water-based acrylic paints.  The shade is Amber and it floats somewhere between sandy brown and gold. Two coats did the trick while the color was pretty, I didn't feel I should settle for a clear topcoat and call it a day.  So I decided to try a glaze from Paint Couture's glazing line, cleverly named, you guessed it, Glaze Couture.  Their glazing products are water-based and super simple to use, just paint on and wipe off.  The glaze was pretty but standing back and looking at the piece, I still felt something was missing.

So I left the dresser to sit for a while.

We're talking weeks and weeks.

And the one day, while bumming around my garage and noticing, for the umpteenth time, the dresser sitting there, decided to try some dark wax on top of the glaze.  It was perfect. Kismet.  Exactly what the piece was missing. I used Maison Blanche's Dark Wax and just painted it on with a chip brush, concentrating on small areas.  I let the wax sit for 5 minutes before wiping it off with a lint-free cloth.The result was an aged look to the paint finish, with underlays of shimmer and gold.

I had some old, antique pulls from another dresser project and decided to use them for this piece.  I used silver polish to remove some of the patina and buffed them with a lint free cloth, to bring back some of their shine.  Once the pulls were in place, I used my finger to apply small amounts of an awesome product, again from Paint Couture, called Gilding Wax.  This stuff is basically lip gloss for your furniture.  You can use this wax to add depth, sparkle and texture to furniture, cabinets, hardware, etc.  Awesomeness.  Go ahead, take a look:

So there you have the story of my little antique dresser that could.  I love the rich finish provided by the glaze and wax layers and hope this piece can find a Happy home in the future!

Client Project: Restoring a Century Old Table

This restoration project was truly an experience to remember.  A client contacted me in hopes of bringing the life back to a gorgeous family heirloom: her grandmother's 100 year old farm table.  I have never worked with anything like this before and could not have been more excited to take on the project.  My client expressed her wish to leave as much of the table's character and charm in place and wanted merely to bring back the original shine and rich color of the wood.  She mentioned during our consultation that the discoloration and differentiation in the wood grain was something she wanted to live with, as it has been in her family for so long and the piece was very special to her.

Here are some Before's:

For this project we lightly sanded the table surface and gave the entire piece a good wipe down with a very soft, slightly damp cloth.  The table was cured using Miss Mustard Seed's Hemp Oil and two generous coats were used here.  Hemp oil does nothing more than moisturize dry, old wood surfaces and can even be used on old hardware and painted surfaces.  It is 100% natural and will continue to condition and protect a surface for many years.  You can see the difference just one coat makes below:

Because our client had never used the piece, it was given to us disassembled and we were more than Happy to put the table together for the big reveal.  This process involved working with hardware dating back to the 1920's and thanks to the very awesome crew over at Pointe Hardware in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, we were able to replace and repair certain items essential to the proper assembly of the table.

The results could not be prettier.  The hemp oil worked it's way deep into the wood's grain, giving a warm, golden hue to the antique wood and restoring the rich shine and depth the table once had.  We hope the client is as Happy as we are with the stunning results, and that she is able to enjoy her family's historical piece for years and years to come!

Home Sweet Home

Though my daughter Olivia's father and I are no longer together, we remain good friends and to this day I am still in frequent contact with his family and adore them greatly.  I recently learned that the family is selling their home located in a beautiful, lake-filled suburb complete with wooded grounds and rolling hills and more than a few dirt roads.  This house has been in the family for over 35 years and is filled with many wonderful memories and stories.  In a recent conversation with Olivia's Nana Sherri, we were talking about how bittersweet the last few months have been as they prepared the home for sale.  The house is quite large, and with her family grown and mostly moved away, it now houses only herself and her husband and is of course, dotted sweetly with weekly visits from Olivia.  This is a lot of space for a couple looking forward to retirement and relaxation and it was with heavy but forward-looking hearts, they decided to downsize.  

The house rests in a wooded area and is very close to a pretty lake with boat access.  Sherri often talks about how lovely it was to allow her children to grow up in an open environment, complete with dirt-road walks, campfires, days on the lake and fire-fly catching at night.  It was stories like this that made me very excited to introduce my Olivia to a life that included the robust outdoors and playful, energetic activities.  

Though the family is not moving very far, and intend to stay close to the pretty lake and all of its amenities, it is still very difficult for Sherri to leave the home that has become the welcome retreat and foundation of life for the last 35 years.  It is my firm belief that life expands and flourishes not just by where we are at, but by whom we choose to surround ourselves with and also how we chose to exist in those surroundings.  The lake house is a true testimony to this belief.  When Sherri started her family with the love of her life, they, like many young couples, struggled to make ends meet and provide a comfortable and happy environment for their children.  They both worked hard and Sherri developed an interest in "garage-sale-ing" as an affordable way to uniquely and tastefully decorate her home.  Eventually, their hard work paid off and they were able to decorate the home as they wished, but Sherri's interest in re-furbishing and re-using a vast array of antiques, collectibles, home furnishings and the like stayed with her and she has managed to cleverly mix the old and the new and create quite an eye-catching and gorgeous home.

I was lucky enough to celebrate a milestone birthday with Sherri and her family a few years back and as a gift, decided to put together a photo book of this wonderful home and all of the treasures and memories it stores for those who are close to the family.  After Olivia was born, her father and I lived in the home for some time while getting on our feet during a career change, and the house holds a dear place in my heart because it enabled my family's survival for a short time and also because it held great hope for my own daughter's experiences growing up in and around the lake house.  

I've added a few of the pictures here today to give you an idea of the treasures and life that the house holds and perhaps this small tribute will bring comfort to Sherri as she packs her things and gets ready to move. I wish Sherri and her family lots of love as they embark on the next chapter of their lives and settle into their new house and become accustomed to new smells, sounds and structure. 

Our homes are the heart of our worlds.  Home is where family resides.  Home is what shelters us from the storm and keeps sacred our most treasured and true belongings.  There is something to be said for a person who puts their heart into making a warm, welcoming home for visitors and family alike.  We take pride in our home.  From the very first moment we cross the threshold, to the moment we lock the door behind us for the last time.  Home is where the heart is. 

 Home Sweet Home.