A Spool of Beauty

Out on a morning jog I found 2 old wooden spools. I looked them over, connected loosely with an old metal rod, and continued on my run. I played them over and over in my mind, "could I do anything with it?" And this is somewhat the image that came to mind. I knew my in-laws were needing a new coffee table for their downstairs to better match the media center I had built them 2 years ago. So I put to work before Thanksgiving (I know this is quite a belated post) to have it down prior to the holiday so that we could transport it down to them. I am in love with how it turned out that,.....I may just make the other for us!

Ombre 3 Drawer Vintage Grey Dresser

I have been having a few interests and requests for dressers to be transformed for wee little ones on the way. I had a few dressers in stock but none seemed to fit the bill. So when I picked up this little gem I had grand nursery oriented visions for her. I had kinda a grey/pink salmon combo in mind and when I started the grey turned out to look almost white. I toyed with about 6 different sets of knobs and could not figure out why she was being so complicated to me. And then a stroke of genius- what new technique could I give a shot- OMBRE. I happen to think waiting to find out the sex is one of those last little secrets that you can get to keep until the last minute- so a neutral colored nursery dresser makes complete sense to me. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't have to end up finding its home in a nursery, but that was how I ended up staging her.

And then you couldn't imagine the responses I got, assuming this was how we were announcing our own 'little adventure.'  Unfortunately, I think that could have be one of the most fitting ways for us to announce, but low and behold we are not!  I love the little features to her, the backsplash, the mini caster wheels, the subtle stripes the keyholes!   

Dimensions: 
30 inches wide
16 inches deep
31 inches tall (without backsplash)
3 feet tall with the backsplash.

Chevron Ruler Bedside Table

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.

Doe Re Mi

Had been wanting to paint a deer as of late. Loved the square window I had on hand and slapped some craft brown paper and old hymnals for his backdrop: the woods and their melodies.

Muted Blue Striped Vintage Desk

Before:

 After:

Vintage desk refinished with a muted blue coat. I taped off a variety of 2 sized stripes on both the top and down the fronts of both sets of drawers to keep some of her original raw beauty in tact. Complete with seven drawers to store your work place necessities. One really extraordinary perk to this desk is that she is a full 360 refinished; which means, if you'd like, you could put her in the middle of a room with a chair behind it as the back side is painted consistently with the rest. I kept the original hardware as I thought it brought a nice sturdy brass completion.