The cobalt dresser

Last week I was finally able to worked on a long overdue project—an old dresser I had parked in our garage all throughout the winter and hadn't had the time, nor the 'urgency' to work on it...

But now that days are considerably getting warmer and warmer, and our garage was really due for a spring cleaning, I couldn't postponed the task any longer.    

This particular piece was sorts of an ordeal.  Because I got the wrong paint to start with, I had to repaint it not twice, but three times, using three different paint color.  

Now, don't ask me why this happened... I'd only say that this was not purposely done.  OK, I'll explain...  you see, I'm not good at paying attention to 'unimportant' details, such as choosing the right kind of paint from the shelves at Michael's, and thus I ended up buying acrylic paint instead of chalk paint and only noticed it the moment I started painting.  Urgrgghblablah!!  Yes, that's how scatterbrained I am! Thank you!  :)  

Considering that you'd have to drive 40 miles to return to Michael's, because we don't have one anywhere near here, I decided to mix the acrylic paint with some leftover chalk paint I had left from another project.  The mixing was good, but the color wasn't.  I wanted a cobalt blue, and because the chalk paint I had was more teal than anything, I wasn't satisfied with the result.   So I had to make do with what I already had, and what I could find at Wal-Mart.  So after my third round painting this big boy I ended up with a 'Frankenstein' sorts of a thing and/or dresser which, BTW I ended up loving! ;)

The end result was unexpectedly pleasing, and coincidentally one that I ended up celebrating, as the lighter blue paint bled through the darker blue, and it gave this piece a wonderful blue-green patina in different corners and places that I just love.  

It's hard to see the mixture of colors on my photographs, but it looks pretty cool.  I could had tried for a fourth round of paint, but I was too tired and decided to leave it as is.  Besides, I'm sure that if I had purposely intended to achieve this, I would had failed badly.  So I was very proud of my luck, and gave it for perfect!

I painted the hardware in gold, and voila... I now have this lovely vintage dresser sitting in our dining room as a sideboard holding linens, candles, china, and silverware.

I also got this 'before' brown and unattractive thrift store 'thing' that I spray painted it in gold to match with the hardware of my dresser, and made it into a beautiful planter... I then put the planter on top of my newly painted dresser/sideboard, and made it look perfect~

Found these royal blue little dishes at our local thrift store and had to bring them home too...

Garage sales, used, thrift stores old dressers—love them all.  

Wish I could take a picture of the entire front of the dresser, 

but the room is small and the large square table doesn't let me...

But you can get the idea.

Love that pop of color among all the black and white

...and roses on the table for added prettiness ;) 

Dressers are one of the most versatile pieces of furniture you could own.  Moving a dresser out of the standard bedroom use to think outside the box with new ideas for this common piece of furniture it's something I often like to do.  There are endless ideas and that is what makes dressers my favorite piece of furniture ever! 

I've been spending whatever free time I have during my days in the garden, from the early morning to late evening.  The privets are in flower and the scent wafting from them is intoxicatingly glorious.  It is breeze and warm, and the atmosphere is free from those flying creatures of the air that suck the life out of you. The hummingbirds have returned to the land, and the garden is a composition of roses and woods all wrapped up by the songs of mourning doves and wood frogs.  One of them would start their enchanting songs, and from the other side of the pond immediately would come the answer of another.  And it is a chorus out there, a halleluiah of a moment, and an open-air concert all the same. 

I want to take more pictures of the garden, and I do!... I have millions of them and I want to blog more about the garden and post more pictures too... for the reason that I am in love... totally and absolutely in love with my surroundings.  But I must be wise and let you rest, in case I've started to bore you.  Are you this crazy-in-love with your garden too?     

“Sometimes since I've been in the garden I've looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden - in all the places.” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett.  The Secret Garden.

Life unfolds...

I cannot exactly tell whether if it is something to do with Hurricane Harvey approaching our neck of the woods or what, but the weather has drastically changed over the last 24 hours, and it is stormy and rainy, and high winds have been carpeting the land with a layer of leaves and broken branches everywhere.  Strangely, some of the leaves have already taken the colors of fall, and although it is only the beginning of September, it already feels wintry like around here, and the voices of the winds are frightening, and lovely at the same time, and my soul is one with all I see and all I hear... a soul that must had been born on the tip of raindrops and of the peaceful silence cocooned in the eye of the storm.  

Everything in the garden has come to a stop.  The Crepe Myrtles are done putting all their flowers, I'm afraid.  And butterfly bushes and the Knockout roses are looking scraggy, and long-legged.  Two new lavender blooms are now embellishing one the two Paradise rose bushes, and the gigantic elephant ears are still withstanding this rather marvelous blustery weather.   

I love it... love it all, but recognize that the voices of the storm frightens me and I'm a wimp.  When all that frenzy of rain and wind among swaying canopies and breaking branches above my head comes too close, all I know how to do is to run across the garden to the safety of our little white cottage, which is, parenthetically speaking, a most charming little shelter of fairy lights and peacefulness inside... 

 

When I go to sleep at night and it is stormy and the wind is making a lot of noise outside, I sometimes would think about all those trees out there in front of our cottage forming that tall barricade I so love, so bare and tall as they are, that if the wind would knock them down, they would come to rest right on top of where our bed is under our roof.  Right there.  Where I sleep.

Yesterday, I finally had my handyman Oscar helped me add legs to that old dresser I spoke about awhile back, HERE. 

The day I painted this dresser I wasn't feeling well, and did such a bad painting job...  but that's the beauty right there.  You see, because I did such a bad job, or not really caring how I did it, or how it would turned out, is why this piece turned out looking as awesome as I think it does.  Shabby Chic awesome in its two or three tones of blues, greens and navy!  And because this happened by chance, and not intentionally, is the reason why it looks really good to me, or at least acceptable under the label "shabby".  And that's fine with me for now too.    

Right after I brought those short legs home from the thrift store I realized that they may not suite this 70's dresser, but I felt in love with it, and the intricate design and wanted to try adding legs to it.  All four legs were only five dollars, and I'm cheap like that, and I like how much I pay for it.

I had those legs stored somewhere in the garage since the beginning of the year and had almost forgotten about them until I found Oscar this week.  I still think they were not the right legs for this dresser, but that's fine with me.  I decided to paint them in gold to match the pulls, and I love the contrast.  So here's the 'before' with no legs..

And now with it...

I'm cool with that!

What do you think?

ps:  We will know for sure what paths our lives will be taking as far as moving back to the North, sometime next week. A lot of emotions are going through our minds and hearts these days, but we are fine with whatever the outcome may be.  Whatever it is, is...

Thank you for letting me share my life with you... thank you for listening and for all the input and encouragement and love I receive in the form of comments... it means a lot to me.

Coffee nook revamped...

I always wanted to have a little coffee nook in my kitchen. There's just something so endearing about the thought of having a cup of coffee in a quiet area tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. So when we moved to our little white cottage, I finally got to work on creating my dream.

I then added some cute knobs to my little green dresser... from Hobby Lobby

A cozy little spot perfect to keep all the coffee-related items in one place. This corner added so much charm to our little white cottage and I loved that when friends came over they left inspired to create their own coffee space after seeing ours...

I later found this cute wooden shelf and added it to that wall... 

The little drawers hold tea bags, sweeteners and such... 

I absolutely loved how our little coffee bar turned out, and it was definitely worth the investment because we used it every single day... perfect for easy access to coffee in the morning, and a nice cup of tea or hot cocoa for lounging on the couch on cold nights. 

The way we live in our home, however, is always bound to evolve you know... almost nothing stays the same for too long...

The antique little green table matched really well with the palette of the kitchen, but I knew too well it looked disproportionated in height beside the much taller dish shelves... plus, it soon became obvious that it was too small for our needs as well... that keep me dreaming... and planning my next project. 

First, I needed to find a larger table that could fit all the coffee-related items, such mugs, coffee maker, espresso machine and Keurig... all in one same spot and still give me place to work there.  

So I looked around my little white cottage to see what I could find, and found the perfect piece of furniture...

White looked cute and it matched real well with the area rug and such, but I wanted some glamour there... I removed everything I had in that corner and began painting away... of course, I knew hubby wouldn't agree with my vision of using an old dresser in the kitchen... so I had to wait until he left for work before I could start... hehe! 

I, on the other hand are not one to stick to the standard room designing norms and like to use furniture in unconventional places.  I knew he was going to like the finished product once he saw it, as it usually is the case, but he needed to see it all done first... 

And here it is...

From a boring white to a glamorous work of art, don't you think so! ;)

Paint colors I used:  Relic Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint. I used a gold leaf pen to highlight the details. And sealed the entire thing with clear wax.

Next project? Open shelves on that wall! Stay tuned!

LINKING TO:

RETURN TO LOVELINESS
TUESDAYS AT HOME
THE SCOOP 
TWEAK IT TUESDAY
A STROLL THRU LIFE 
COASTAL CHARM

Life...

I refuse to complain I refuse I refuse! The Southern summer is eating us alive… literally. Mosquitoes, poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, and we had to take my dad to the Emergency room this morning; all swollen up. 

I’ve been affected too, but in a much lesser degree… and perhaps I was saved because I already have the poison antibody in my system? Who knows...  The thing is I have been there too… been poisoned by this wild and treacherous Southern Nature, back when we first came here to check this place out, last summer. 

I never did mention it here, but last July after our very first visit here I ended up in the Emergency room myself, with horrible hives all over my body and swelling of face, mouth, neck, etc. The large blisters on my legs broke some of the thin capillaries and produced some very nasty bruises all over my legs that took forever to clear off.  It really looked as if I had leprosy… it was horrible. 

Any way, as I was saying I refuse to complain… I do I do... have you heard me complaining yet? ;) Oh well, such is life… 

Before mom and dad came to stay with us I had started working on a lengthy project… a paint project I’ve been wanting to tackle down for a few years now, but didn’t had the courage to do it… 

I'd never liked the dark mahogany wood of the furniture in our master's, but it looked OK with the style of our more larger home up north, and it was such a huge project to undertake… but then we moved to our little white cottage where most everything is white and where the painting of furniture is allowed… because, well, this is a cottage right? And you all know how it goes… "painted furniture is especially appealing for the cottage theme, where old nondescript furniture can be gathered together and painted to suit any color scheme one pleases"… isn’t this marvelous? So I have started painting away…

 

  Thus far I have done both of the small side chests only... 

 

Our master bedroom's colors are white, black and yellow.... 

 

I have also painted the originally silver pulls on the drawers in black to match the rest of the decor...

Here I'm using a white ornate vase to hold some yellow roses...

Experimenting with a mercury glass flower vase, originally a candle holder, to match the mercury glass table lamp.

The paint I'm using is "Vintage", from Americana Decor, and it is the same color of paint I used on my small kitchen table.  It is my favorite color right now.  I will be painting the rest of the furniture after we come back from taking mom and dad back to Florida, next week.  The headboard is part wood part leather.  I am leaving the leather as is and will be painting the wood only. I also have to paint the dresser and rest of the hardware...  not an easy task, but now that I have started I'm motivated to finish this up. 

Remember, enjoy your moments... an go with time as clouds go with the sky.

See you soon!

Painted furniture and mirrors

I had this little black chest sitting in my little white kitchen since the day we moved. I wasn't too crazy about it, nor liked how it looked there. Too dark, too ‘serious” looking? 

So I painted it, applied clear wax, and now I'm loving it! Oh yes I’m into painting furniture these days. I am! I’ve been wanting to try the Annie Sloan chalk paints for the longest time, but cannot decide if I should pay that much for paint. I’m I too frugal? I want to try making my own chalk paint some day. The Internet is overflowing with great videos and posts on how to make your own chalk paint. I find this a little messy thought, plus I’m not too sure about the “mix-this-measure-that” part. Even when cooking I seldom follow directions... I just don't like the ‘measuring’ part… unless it is something new I’m trying I just add the amount of ingredients I think I should, and that’s it. But don’t follow my advice, OK? ;) My daughter can never understand how I can add salt to my food just by guessing the right amount ;) 

Anyway, the other day at Home Depot I found out that they carry chalk paint… yes, did you know that? Their line is called the Americana Décor Chalky Finish paints. And it is my absolute new favorite paint on the planet. Cheap. Fast. No need for priming. And beautiful colors. 

Now, is this what they call the “heavily distressed look”, or is it more like a bad painting job? Hehe!

Truth be told, heavily distressed furniture gives me the impression of furniture that has been rescued from a dump… no offence intended. When you think about it, isn’t it a little odd that we purposely age our furniture now? Growing up in an underprivileged family and remembering most of our furniture looking just like this one on this photographs below (and this was not OK back then, believe me) I don’t think I’d ever want  to have pieces of furniture like this on purpose.

 

(Source - Pinterest)

Do you like the Shabby distressed look?  

So I went for a second coat of paint on my little black dresser...

and this is what it looks now...

By the way, I love these silk roses.  The ones with the tarnished tips were originally all white… I dipped them in coffee to make them look old.  Pretty~

 

Then I added some pretty knobs to it… crystal sea foam green knobs I bought at Hobby Lobby long long time ago and hadn’t decided where to use them… until now.  In our previous homes I had used these knobs as decorations… they’re so pretty!

The color I chose for this little chest is called "Primitive".   

Beautiful.  Fast.  Immediate satisfaction.

I love mirrors in the kitchen... and everywhere as a matter of fact

Mirrors bring light and beauty into any room…

They’re like windows to me that you can move around and place as you like…

So I tried one or two mirrors before deciding on these small ornate ones…

A rectangle and oval mirrors for added contrast.  

and an added French flair to the kitchen

Love it!

Home Depot carries only certain colors of the chalk paint at the store, but you can order whatever color you want online. Check COLORS here.

By the way, in case you’d want to know, the color I chose for my dinning room table on my previous post, it is “Vintage”, also from Deco-Art-Ameriocana.

Happy Monday

and

Happy painting!