Anitique Dresser in Graphite

When it comes to restoring old or outdated furniture it can be difficult to judge which pieces are keepers and which simply aren't worth the time or effort to refinish. Basically...

"You gotta know when to hold'em,

Know when to fold'em,

Know when to walk away, 

And know when to run."

This week I had the opportunity to refinish an antique dresser for my cousin, Dana. In all honesty the piece was in pretty poor condition, especially the drawer bases. Most people would have "folded and walked away" but one of her daughters was attached to it so she decided to take a gamble.

Here are some BEFORE pictures of the piece.

It's a petite dresser with large ornate mirror.

The veneer on the top of the dresser was on its last leg. 

 

We opted to remove it completely and sanded down the surface.

Dana chose to have her dresser refinished in ASCP Graphite. Graphite is a beautiful slate gray and an excellent color choice if you want to hide some of the imperfections in your furniture.

Here's the final product.

What'cha think?

It's beautiful once again!
Yeah!

I love the details in the mirror.

Gorgeous!

More often than not,
your choice of hardware can make or break a piece of furniture.

I picked out two different styles of knobs for the dresser.

The faux mercury glass bulbs...

 

give the graphite a bit of sparkle,

while cherry pulls add character and an unexpected pop of color to the piece.

Which do you prefer?

Honestly, I love them both.

I'll let the owner decide which pair she likes the best.

I'm so glad this family gambled on this old piece.

They'll have a great keepsake for years to come.

As always thanks for reading 13CCF! Be sure to stop back next week to see a blonde hutch makeover.

~Wendy

Refinished Buffet

I'm super excited to share this week's project with you! I found this buffet on an online garage sale site. It was in pretty rough condition but I liked the shape and LOVED the hardware. My husband thought I was completely bonkers but it wasn't hard to see its potential beneath all the dings, scratches, and chips. Right?

I removed all of the doors and drawers, and

started the tedious process of stripping and sanding. 

As I've said before, refinishing woodwork is fairly easy but VERY time consuming. 

It took several hours/days, showers, and Kleenexes 

but oh so worth the trouble!  

It would have been just as beautiful and so much easier
to have painted and waxed the buffet. 
In the end, however, the layout of the sunroom dictated the type of finish I used.

I simply didn't want two large painted pieces of furniture on the same wall. 

End of story.

I stained the entire piece with Dark Walnut and 

sealed it with three layers of Spar Semi-gloss Urethane.

In between coats of urethane I worked on the doors.
They were a little warped when I brought it home.
Simply moving the buffet into a controlled climate helped quite a bit. 

The expansion caused the wood to rub on the door frame 

which in turn caused the laminate to pull away from the door base. 

I used wood glue 

and 99 cent clamps to remedy the problem.

The next hurdle was to figure out how to update the brassy door pulls.

I played around with a few different ideas.

This picture shows the original brassy/golden pull,
as well as the coppery brass version I experimented with and the gun metal silver option
I eventually chose.

I felt like Sheldon Cooper polishing all of Howard's belt buckles! 

Remember that episode? 

Bazinga!

Here's a picture of the final product.

What'ch think?

I know right!

It turned out great;)

I love it.

So glad I decided to take a chance on this piece.

I wonder if my hubby will ever admit that I was right?!?

One of my new year resolutions "for the blog" was to give the sunroom a makeover.

I plan to swap this buffet for the one I already have in there.

Here are a few of the elements I'm going to incorporate in the makeover.
I want the room to have a coastal feel.

 I can't wait to get started on the other furniture pieces in the room.

As always thanks for reading 13CCF. I hope you've found some inspiration to tackle those big projects. Remember, the bigger the project the bigger the reward.

~Wendy