Monday, September 5, 2011

Dresser From Hell & A Giveaway Winner

 Hello friends..happy to see you back at the nest.
I hope you had a relaxing Labor Day weekend.
Mine has been....well, let's just say ......
interesting!
On Saturday, I was trolling the local Craig's List offerings and came across a beautiful antique dresser.
I e-mailed the seller and it turns out she lived about 10 minutes from me.
I asked if I could come look at it and she said yes.
So I hopped in my car and headed over to her house.
I came to a four way intersection where I had the right of way and the cross street has a stop sign.
Yeah...you guessed it
The other driver ran his stop sign
SLAM!!!!!
I'm ashamed to say that my first thought was
MY DRESSER!!!
My second thought was
SNAP...I SHOULD TAKE PICTURES FOR MY BLOG!
As I was being strapped to a gurney (by a fellow bloggers husband!) for my ambulance drive,
I remember asking the rescue squad if they had a camera
so I could have a photo for my blog.
But the straw that broke the camels back
was e-mailing the seller while lying on the ER examining table.
Yeah..I am officially
OBSESSED!
I am happy to say that aside from being somewhat knocked around, sore and losing valuable furniture painting time...
I am ok.
(gotta love those muscle relaxers)
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Ok...now about the dresser for Hell

Remember this beautiful dresser I found at my local Salvation Macy's?
I love her pretty corners, her lovely pulls and her softly curving legs.

I began her restyle by securing any loose veneer with Elmers wood glue and clamps.
I also repaired a small missing piece of veneer with Elmers wood putty.

I have a lady interested in this dresser and she asked if I could paint it in Provence chalk paint.
So let the painting begin

She was coming along very nicely when I started to notice her maroonish stain popping through.
Second coat...still bleeding through
Coat of primer...still bleeding through
Second coat of primer...STILL BLEEDING!
Two more coats of Provence...Still Bleeding!!!!
This dresser appears to be possessed.
Someone call the Vatican
I think I need an
 Exorcist
Begin the chanting Please
"The Power of Christ Compels You"
"The Power of Christ Compels You"
"The Power of Christ Compels You"

I exorcised the maroon stain bleed through by using paint to 'fool the eye'
Look at the photo above 
Just beneath and along the top edge is where the stain
repeatedly bled through.
I brushed on some diluted Old White along the whole top edge
and then quickly wiped it off
so it highlighted and settled in the top and bottom crevice.
I then distressed the area.
Now your eyes are drawn to the distressing, the highlighting and the white primer I exposed.
You can't even see the bleed through.
So let's see the dresser one more time....

In all her red glory
Before

***After***

She was a Demon to work on, but evolved into an
Angel

I painted the sides of her drawers in ASCP Versailles, a lovely grey/green.

She got a new pair of glass earrings

Isn't she sweet?
Just look at her dainty little feet on rollers.

Cute little detailed corners and vintage curvy pulls.
It started out as a Devilish endeavor and turned into a heavenly rebirth.
I do hope my client approves and takes her home.


And now for the winner of the Home Depot gift card generously offered by 
Using Random.Org 
the Lucky follower is...
#52
Sue from the lovely blog
So I have some bad news and some good news..
Bad News: I failed to receive 500 entries, so the gift card amount will not be doubled
Cue the tears and sad violin music
;-<
Good News
Sue will be receiving a $50.00 gift card to HOME DEPOT!!!!!!
All courtesy of the kind folks at
That's enough to buy a new power tool
 enough paint to restyle an outdated room
Fall landscape plantings 
or
seasonal holiday decorations!
Congratulations Sue
I will be contacting you soon.
I would like to say a huge
Thank You
to Jason of Hometalk
for making this wonderful giveaway possible.
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*
If you did not win this time...don't be sad.
Come back tomorrow because I am having another fabulous 
Giveaway
If you love fabric, you will not want to miss this one!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Sharing here this week

PS...many thanks go to all of you who graciously spread the word about my Giveaway...You are the best readers/fellow bloggers EVER !!! I am so grateful to have so many new friends because of this giveaway and I hope you continue to visit The Empty Nest.


26 comments:

Itchin' Stitchin' said...

So glad you are okay after your little crash!! I think the dresser looks lovely.

Gretel said...

Oh Janet! That could have been...well, it wasn't anyway. Did they have to strap you down in the end to keep you still? You have done marvellous things with that chest (and there is Dolores!) I am so very very glad that you were ok-ish in the end. Now, try to stay out of trouble! XXX

Katie @ Wildwood Creek said...

Beautiful makeover! Love your creative thinking to solve the problem bleed through. I had a major fail on a piece this weekend. I'm a little bummed, but I'm going to start a new project shortly. I need to end the day on a positive note.

Atelier Conti said...

You ARE crazy Janet! I wish you'd take a bit better care of yourself!!! Well, I guess it's just that your public calls, and you can't let them down. The bureau is a wonder and I'm quite sure your client will be MORE than pleased...I hope she pays extra for those bumps and bruises.

Unknown said...

love the dresser the color is fabulous even though it put you through hell the result was beautiful!

Sue said...

Janet, So glad to hear you're okay after your accident! There are so many crazy drivers out there- I am a very defensive driver these days! Your dresser turned out wonderful!! Love the distressing and the color. I am ecstatic about winning your give-away. I'm an avid HD shopper- I've always liked hardware stores. LOL I'll e-mail you my address. :-) Sue

Kathleen Grace said...

First of all, congratulations to Sue on winning the giveaway! Secondly, I love your kind of crazy with calling from the ER to make sure you got the dresser. We bloggers are unique aen't we? lol, but I'm glad you got the dresser, can't wait to see it!
This dresser may have been terrible to work on but it sure turned out beautiful!

Kelley said...

I'm glad that you're okay after your crash! That must have been really scary!

Annette said...

Oh dear Janet, I'm so glad you're okay. I had to laugh about wanting to take pictures and emailing about the dresser! I have to say, I think this dresser is my favorite so far. Maybe it's the way you distressed it and the pulls, but it just looks old and well worn. Take care of yourself. XOXO

The LadyBugs Garden said...

I knew it..you still were painting with Chalk Paint after the wreck. So glad you are ok.
I think she the dresser is beautiful! You always do a great job even on a demon!
xoxo
Stephanie

Megan said...

Glad you didn't have any lasting injuries after your crash. Your little she-devil turned out lovely! I hope your client loves her!

Sarah said...

Gosh, what a lucky escape you had!!

The dresser from hell sure looks like an angel now - she's gorgeous!!

Can you tell me, do you ever have any problems with drawers sticking when you paint the outer sides?

S x

Laurie said...

so sorry your weekend started out with the wrong kind of boom :( but glad to hear you are ok. Stay safe friend

Claire said...

Hey Janet, the lengths you got to, to find such pieces!!
Glad to hear you are OK, how's your car?
Hope it won't be off the road for long........
Your latest 'makeover' looks great despite the issues you had with it. Love the glass 'earrings', very pretty.
I can just picture it sitting in my bedroom with a vase full of beautiful Summer roses on it.............

Claire :}

Paula said...

You did a great job working through the stain! So happy that you are doing ok after the accident! You are a nut for texting about the dresser while getting in the ambulance though!! :)

Jenny Lynn said...

First: Sorry about your accident. Hope you get back to feeling better really soon.Without the muscle relaxers to help.:) Been there!

Next: your blog is amazing, so glad I found you.The dresser looks amazing even if it gave you trouble.

Nelly said...

Oh wow what a lucky escape.Hope you didnt end up to sore.Love the bleeding dresser and did you get the one you went for eventually?

Leigh Powell Hines said...

I am so glad you are okay. What an ordeal.

The dresser is beautiful.

Aprons and More said...

Glad you are ok!! Love the dresser. The first thing I noticed about it was the little casters. I love furniture you can move around and change locations. Perfect! Great job!

Katy :)

Tweed Thoughts said...

Pheeew, thank goodness you're OK Janet! Nice makeover job ;-)

Anonymous said...

Sorry about your accident! As for the dresser bleeding through—it was trying to tell you not to paint it! A little cleaning and waxing would have made it beautiful!

Jennifer Juniper said...

Holy smokes! You almost died (and couldn't document it with pictures) while I was getting my kiddos started in school!

That dang dresser is lucky it decided to come around. It turned out so beautiful!

(GBS) NewsFromTheHill said...

Oh my! I've been away from the blogs for a few days! So glad you are okay!!!
Enquiring minds want to know.... did you ever get the dresser?

Lorraine Young Pottery said...

I can see that chest of draws in my bedroom!
Perfectly imperfect aging.

I just joined your bloggie as a followers.

Lorraine :>}

Hollie @ I'm Busy Procrastinating said...

I like your term of "earrings" for the knobs. Glad you're okay and can continue creating beautiful things! I'm curious -- were you using oil-based primer or water-based primer? If it was the latter, the problem was probably tannin bleed, which happens with certain woods, such as mahogany. Oil-based primer solves that problem.

Deborah March said...

OUCH!! Poor YOU! Your dresser is FABULOUS...and your post had me cackling out loud!