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Thursday, September 25, 2014

Spade Dresser A Vintage Bohemian Moroccan style

Whooee! I have been lax with my stuff! Went back to school last month to finish up my Registered Veterinary Technician schooling. Plus, with 100 degree weather for the ENTIRE month, who wants to go out in the garage to paint??? Uh, not I.
So I've had this baby sitting around all year. Those insets are one mutha to complete!
 Especially since I changed the color thrice! 
This is such a cool piece. I've only seen 2 other ones floating around. My friend Jennifer over at MiVidaVintage did this same piece in black and white lacquer. Just Beautiful!
 I didn't want to totally copy her, so I did the turquoise.
Athena, my fat cat, was kind enough to model. 

I originally wanted to do a silver metallic,,,,,
But as you can see, the brush strokes were impossible to avoid because of the angle of those insets. There was no way to paint this by hand. So I tried metallic spray paint (middle drawer) but I just wasn't feeling it.  So then I though, hmmmm, what about a glossy navy?  So I re-sprayed in Navy. Mind you, each time I sprayed, I had to tape off the surrounding area. That meant an hour of taping off very carefully because trying to cover a dark color with the white would be, well, not good!
This is what the taping debacle looked like. And it didn't matter. I still got overspray. 
So then I would have to tape off the blue part, spray primer on the white and then paint the white part. The drawers I did with a brush. The body was done with a HVLP sprayer and then with a brush for the touch-ups.  Oh as for the gold, more taping off and then spraying and touch up with brushing!! 
I must have sprayed and taped the drawers at least six times!
This piece took forever and a day to complete!! 
You can't tell in this pic, but all inside the spade area was done with a small brush and the white paint. I'm not kidding when I say this took forever! Doing two tone colors on accents and insets really is a labor of love. Very much a detailed painting process. 
While I do not like painting with Valspar paint, I did use their spray paint for the insets.
I really liked the way it worked. They have great colors too. 
 I gave the top 2-3 coats and sanded in between. This top was not a very smooth, finished wood, so it still shows the grain and "woodiness".   
Athena thinks it's purrfectly fine for lounging.
You can sort of see the wood grain in the below shot. 
The gold just gives it a little extra. I think all that white would have just been too much.
The hardware was quite tarnished. I soaked it, cleaned it and used some steel wool, but then just ended up spraying it with Rustoleum brass-gold. 

"Does this angle make my butt look large?"  Uh, why yes it does.


I really love how this turned out. It would fit in with so many types of decor that our popular
out here in my neck of the woods! 






3 comments:

  1. Wow! Those insets would be a beast to work with! I would have cried in frustration, lol. It tund out amazing!

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  2. Oh, my! I have a three pieces with similar angled insets. So far, I've done nothing but make a mess of the job. Thanks for sharing your experience. Next time I'm ready for more frustration, I'll try to remember what you went through and not feel sorry for myself. I will be sure not to even try painting another piece with cut out parts.

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  3. Your dresser turned out great. Thanx for partying at THT!

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