Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Cherry Blossom tall dresser


I picked up this solid mahogany tall boy a few months back. I thought about doing it in black and white and had already primed the drawer fronts.  (I thought I had taken a before shot, but guess not.
This was your typical mahogany dresser with plenty of dings and scratches and broken hardware). 


But then I saw this one at Stilskin Studios...
....and I just had to have one!



I went with CeCe's "Vermont Slate" for the body and my own
turquoise chalk paint for the accents. 
The pinks are custom from acrylic paint of  pink and white, and Behr "Geranium" and white. 

I changed the angle while taking the below pic. 
Quite a difference in colors and saturation!





WARNING!!***PHOTO HEAVY BELOW****

 Like Stilskin, I too ordered my cherry blossom stencil from Royal Design Studios, as well as the bronze stenciling creme. 
The stencil is truly the best one I have ever used. Very strong. There are 5 sheets that depict
different branches and blossoms. And that stenciling creme is to die for! 
 I sanded down the top, stained with a dark walnut and used tung oil to finish it off. The right half
shows the tung oil, the left side raw.


 I had a little visitor while I was working.  Mr Mantis popped in one evening.

And if that weren't enough, I pulled out one of the drawers and found a molar cap wedged back there!
WTH??? How does someone misplace their tooth?????? EWWWWWWWWW!

 This piece had the neatest legs/feet. Talons gripping a ball! I did do some patch-repairs to the legs, but you can't even tell. 




In hindsight, I will never prime with white again unless I'm painting white. And yes, even with 
chalk paint you have to prime over this rich mahogany. It has a nasty habit of bleeding through. 
I went over key areas with my aqua (Behr "Gem Turquoise") before the Slate. 
 I had the hardest time with painting in this color! I must have painted the drawers 5-6 times each!
Everytime I lightly sanded, it just didn't look right. Splotchy. I tried everything. Even using steel wool.
I have never had such a time getting even looking coats. I used CeCe's because I love the way this
color gray waxes up. It's such a deep, rich charcoal, almost black.





The drawers got lined with 
complementary color fabric


And one last peek!






11 comments:

  1. That looks fabulous!! Love the pink flowers against the charcoal. Great job!

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  2. This is so pretty, think it would look fabulous in a bedroom, especially mine! Shame I live the other side of the world! Great job, you're very inspiring.
    Lesley in Brisbane

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  3. What a spectacular job!!! Love it!

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  4. Just lovely! Great job! Thanks for sharing at the All Star Block Party.

    Holly

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  5. Well you certainly made it pretty again! I would think it would be perfect for a bathroom. A very lovely piece now that you transformed her! Thanks for sharing your inspiration with Sunday’s Best – you helped make the party a success!

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  6. That is a fabulous transformation! I haven't stenciled anything yet but have been wanting to try. Thanx for coming to THT!

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  7. I love the cherry blossoms. And that tooth is the funniest thing ever. I can't believe it. You never know what you're going to find. My mom just bought a chair from a thrift store to refinish. She took the fabric off and found $300 stuffed inside the stuffing!

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  8. Is this piece still for sale? I absolutely love it!

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  9. Even though it was like pulling teeth to finish the gray, the piece turned out great! Love that stencil. Thanks so much for sending me the link! I have to go and check to make sure my crowns are on good and tight. New GFC follower.

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