Something Old, Something New

A Project 15 Years in the Making

This blog, this morning, is for Pam. Thanks for being who you are.

I bought a dresser at a consignment shop about 15 years ago. It was and still is a beauty. Looked as though it had been through the war. A lot of the pictures I'll share have more to do with backing that statement up, then the actual re-hab of the piece.

Sometimes we have an old ugly piece we know could look beautiful, sometimes it's more that. This dresser was from the heart and brought back lots of memories. You see, I bought this when I had two little girls sharing a little bedroom and I had little money. So the way I bought it was the way it stayed for a long time. Eventually all the drawer supports starting sagging and artwork was added to it's rugged exterior.

When my oldest learned to write her name, she proudly wrote it for us in all rooms of the house and on all surfaces. Now it makes me smile for all my present furniture is safe, but back then, 15 years ago, she was often lucky to go to bed alive.

The entire piece was stained in a heavy brown finish. It was very old. Each board was so dry and flaky. I know it's old but I'm not sure how old. Initially I started out with the thought to paint the entire thing and then rough it up a bit to keep that "old" look. However, as I sanded and discovered the wood, I didn't have the desire to do that. I didn't want to cover up the carved name of my first precious baby and I didn't want to cover up the way the first one taught the second one what our phone number was..... 

After just a few passes, and no stain remover, this is what I was looking at. I loved it. It didn't take out all of the old stain and it barely touched my children's artwork. I knew I couldn't paint all of it.

The body of the dresser featuring 4 large drawer slots and my favorite feature, the 3 little drawers at the top. This frame was falling apart, unglued, had been nailed into and screwed into to strengthen by uncaring hands, and in general was a very sloppy piece from all it's years of use.

In this prone position all the screws and added nails were removed and gently each side and the front and the back were pried apart to clean out old glue if visible and add new. It was then squared up and clamped. 

Here are square nail heads.

Hand carved dove tail joinery.

The drawers as a final steel wool rub down was performed.

The only thing added were these little blocks to each drawer support. Without taking this completely apart, each piece, as my expert furniture refinisher grandfather would do, I didn't and couldn't, expect it to be solid for long under everyday use without a little help. It's a small block of wood with glue and one nail. It felt a little sad to do this but necessary.

I didn't stain the top or the drawers. Instead I used Formby's Tung Oil. I use this a lot as it adds just the right tone and color but for old wood it's like a deep tissue massage and helps it restore. After only 2 coats it no longer felt like I was handling kindling (which is how dry the wood was.) I actually coated the inside and outside of all the drawers, the inside of the dresser and the back of the dresser, all once. The face of the drawers and top of the dresser, I applied several coats with 24 hours drying in between.

Now here is where I stray from others in my love for wood. I love it. But I'll paint the crap out of it too. I love color, I like some style. I do not want a room of BROWN. No matter how "rich," how "warm," how "original," it is. I need color and I also happen to like shiny things! So this dresser whose purpose for all the foreseeable future was to be in my own bedroom and be Mr. Wonderful's personal dresser was painted. I used an olive, light green. I wanted something I could live with for a long time, something I could use very bright accent colors against, and something not too girly. 

And then I added some bling! I love these silver pulls. In fact this is the only thing I spent money on. The Tung Oil was left over from my kitchen island top and the paint was $1.50 left over on Lowes Paint shelf....(so yes, I spent $1.50.) I LOVE how the pulls bring this piece into the 21st century! This isn't a piece that will easily be tossed to the curb after I'm gone. Each pull is positioned over the original knob hole (which is still there) and I kept all the wooden pulls just in case (I have an idea for another project.)

Enjoying my end of project victory glass of wine.

I think this spanned two weekends and I applied the tung oil through out the week to keep it moving. 

Something I'm learning is you pick something you want to do and you just do it. It won't be perfect but as you move onto the next project it gets a little better. You may have picked up a small useful tip, skill, or even new tool from the last project that helps you with the next project. Each person and their home and style is different but I admire all tastes. Sometimes to the point that mine gets lost in the many awesome ideas out there. In the end I guess I like a little something that is old and a little something that is new. This project was the perfect example.

And for the record I'll say that my projects no longer consist of only myself. My best buddy and partner in crime helps almost every step of the way. He doesn't have the vision and is sometimes quite stumped when I say "this is going to be THIS" but after the crazy kitchen island I think he'd believe me if I told him I was going to build a helicopter. But what he lacks in vision, he makes up for with precision. I dream it up but he makes sure it's square and level no matter how hasty my little self wants to be. I thought I'd take a moment to acknowledge my helper.

What's Next???