Before:
After:
This little gem was a pretty significant transformation. Her shape had such grand potential, but goodness she was covered in some decade's experimental fashion. Stripping her down was the first step like giving her a good grand rinse; let's clean you off and see what we're working with. Once I determined that I wasn't crazy about the top, I knew just what that stack of antique rulers were going to be used for.
I made up my own stain and knew that I wasn't positive I wanted it all monochromatic, so I stained the top, and tested out some white-grey on her midsection. Unsure of my decision, she sat in the corner for a month or so while I determined to paint the whole bottom, the drawers, legs or no legs. Finally I determined to go with the white but dip dye her little legs the same stain color. From the photos it's difficult to see the stained legs in the shadows.
And I settled on these fancy 'key-lock' like pulls from Anthropologie to finish her off. They add an extra element of class that she didn't need, but adorns her oh so well.