Here’s the “before” finish. Not very nice at all. I removed the top 3 drawers and completely sanded the entire piece for proper paint adhesion.

 After sanding, it was time to create a new shelf for the interior spaces at the top. Drawer guides were removed and a new, 3-piece wood “shelf” was installed.

Everything was primed and painted. Drawers guides were waxed for ease of use. Holes were drilled in back  to allow for electrical cords.

This console would fit perfectly in both traditional and contemporary spaces.

 Why are so many of my pieces in turquoise, you ask?
For me, turquoise soothes the eye… I am not alone in my affinity for this special blue/green pigment. It has become a highly sought after color in the design market.

I was immediately drawn to this bed. It had some veneer chipping here and there, but nothing that couldn’t be repaired.

This is a good wood filler for small areas needing repair.

After repairing and painting, I distressed all details of the bed by hand sanding with 80 grit sandpaper. I then added a dark glaze to add character and age.

I think it is so lovely! A sweet mama bought it for her little princess girl.

Then I found this trunk at Pottery Barn Online

This is their write up-

We spotted an old wooden trunk at an antique store and replicated its sturdy design and timeworn patina in this piece. Crafted of kiln-dried solid and engineered hardwood. Finished by hand on all sides using an intricate process that includes staining, painting and sanding repeatedly to achieve the look of an antique. $499.00 (plus shipping)

WHOAAAAAA!!! THAT’S THE SAME TRUNK I HAVE!!!

I REALLY liked the red and decided to paint my genuine antique, solid wood trunk the same color. My piece was already naturally distressed by years of use.                            I’ll first show you all the great things I adore in this trunk.

Time worn edges

Aged wood planks with square nails (bottom of trunk)

Heavy duty hardware

and a wonderful interior patina

For the exterior I used a pretty red color in an eggshell finish.

Yes, I know, it is bright but WAIT for the glaze!

With glaze products, you really have to work carefully in order to give your piece a uniform finish. A little goes a long way. Apply it with a brush and then remove some of the glaze with a DRY brush. Keep working it back and forth, side to side until you no longer see brush marks. Keep your dry brush dry by wiping it clean with paper towels.

Next I had my husband cut these little feet out of an old solid oak board we had in the shop.

The feet were sanded and stained. I also added these nice glides to prevent any marring on the floor.

What a beauty!

There are so many possibilities for its use.

As coffee table like I have shown here.

Place it at the end of the bed to hold sweaters and spare bedding, and to create a convenient spot to sit while dressing.

Or under a window as bench seating, and a quite place to read a book.

I adore it, do you?

I painted it using my favorite turquoise (I still have 1/2 gallon left so expect to see more of this sweet color). I then distressed the edges and applied a coat of dark glaze to give it character and age.

 LOVE!

(Wood looks really red in the photos but it is actually a nice medium brown oak)

Since I failed to snap a photo, let me just tell you what it looked like before the transformation. This circa 1960′s desk was solid and well made, all drawers glided smoothly and the top was in pristine condition, however, the finish was a problem for me. It had several chipped layers of paint, from the original grayish, green color, to orange and cream. I, myself, have an affinity for orange but I was not going to go back with that color for the entire desk. It would look like a giant tangerine! Soooooo, I decided to paint it my favorite turquoise color and then distress it to allow the other colors to peek through, see? best of everything.

I carefully taped and covered everything that was not to be painted. Sanded, sanded and sanded so the new paint would adhere nicely. Oh, and I used spray paint instead of brushing.

I even painted the inside and outside of the drawers a crisp white. (I like fresh).

See that wonderful orange peeking through?

LOVE IT!

What a hobby, I just love giving old things new life! Go make something extraordinary for yourself.

I recently found this vintage, solid mahogany, Lane cedar chest and knew I had to bring it home. The exterior needed some love but the interior was like brand new. It still had that wonderful, fresh, cedar aroma and with a little help it would be ready for 50+ more years of protecting clothes from pesky wool eating moths!

The cedar chest needed something. I searched for an overlay (wood applique) and found the most perfect wreath. It needed to be stainable to match the existing wood color, this one was. I ordered two, one for a future project. After applying a red mahogany stain to the wreath, I glued and nailed the overlay in place. This, of course, was after I sanded the entire exterior of the chest.

Next came my current favorite color, turquoise. I applied two coats.When that dried I brushed on a coat of tea glaze for added character. I then used 100 grit sandpaper to distress the chest allowing the mahogany to show through.

I think it is so lovely now.

Yep, it’s just ugly! Ugly-and-dated-and-ugly. It actually took me a while to do anything with this piece. I was ignoring it, hoping it would go away. At one point I was going to haul it to the goodwill. You know when you need to work on something, it helps to be in “the creative mood” and I just couldn’t get there with this cabinet.  I only picked it up at a sale because it was such a solid piece AND the price was right, that always helps. A few weeks back it clicked for me. I was feeling the love for this ugly old cabinet. I could finally see the real beauty inside. Here’s what I did to make it “focal point worthy”.

I wanted to add legs, because I like to add legs to most everything I refurbish. It really changes the look and feel of a piece of furniture. These “legs” are actually fence post toppers. I, (meaning my husband), attached a 2×4 “frame” underneath (sorry, no pic), so we would have something in which to screw in the new legs. Ahhhh, perfect!. Next I removed all the hardware, including the hinges. I don’t like painting around hinges; it does not make for excellent workmanship, besides, it only takes a few minutes to do it right and remove them.

Because this piece had shutter doors I dared not use a paint brush, What a mess, drips, drips and drips. No, it is best to use spray paint for shutter-door projects. I used Rust-Oleum Heritage White. After my neutral base coat, I brushed on a tea colored glaze to give it age and character. I also heavily distressed it with 100 grit sandpaper.

I gave this “anywhere” cabinet (because you can use it anywhere in the house see?) a new set of knobs and handles.

What a lovely transformation.

This solid, walnut desk dates to back to WW2. It was made for the military, specifically the Air Force. It is exceptionally well made and very sturdy, however, it really needed to be refinished, but because of some veneer chipping I did not consider it a good candidate. I decided to give it a full “Donna” transformation. (I was remiss in capturing a “before” photo. Actually, I took a photo but it was so dark you couldn’t see any details.)

I painted the desk with my “oops” turquoise, satin paint and then distressed it so the beautiful, rich, oak wood could peek through. When distressing a piece of furniture, I typically don’t use a heavy hand, but this desk, with it’s strong, war era history, I decided to show more of the original finish.  After painting and distressing, I added a coat of glaze to give the paint dimension and character.

I paired the desk with a 1920′s solid oak chair. With a new designer fabric seat cover it was ready for service.

I was VERY pleased with the outcome AND it sold within a few hours of my posting it.

My love for refurbishing is not limited to furniture pieces only. I wanted to use my dads old, rusty tool chest for my paintbrushes, sandpaper, small stencils (and more) but NOT looking like this! It was way too plain-o and tool-like.

Just a little paint, some sanding and WOW! a new tool chest more to my liking!

Here we are again, just a simple 1970′s headboard waiting for some refurbishing love. With a good cleaning, a happy color and a bit of sandpaper “highlighting” it would be better than new.

I can’t seem to get enough of this wonderful turquoise color. Yes, I know, I seem to be using it on everything BUT I know something you may not know. Did you know turquoise and eggplant (the color, not the vegetable) are a perfect combination? How about orange, yellow, chocolaty brown, pale blue, silvery grey, pink, or red?  This green/blue splash really adds a pop of fresh color to any room.

I highlighted all the edges with sandpaper and finished up with a tea stain glaze to give it depth and age.I adore bringing fresh, new life to a soon-to-be-forgotten piece of furniture.