This was the second antique gifted to me from someone who saw my work online. From the pics she initially sent, I knew it was going to be a looker and I had to have it.
Once bringing it home I saw there were many issues. The first was it was missing metal drawer stoppers on both of the larger drawers. This caused the drawers to close unevenly and get stuck. One of the drawers needed the bottom replaced because the wood was bowing and falling out. Part of the frame that acted as gliders for the drawers kept falling out or twisting making the entire piece unsteady and causing further issues with opening and closing the drawers. Lastly, there was no mirror, only the frame that was in pieces. One would think it would be simple enough to throw the mirror out but the frame was needed as the dresser top was cut short so the frame could be butted in the back of the dresser. Other then those issues, the piece was in great shape.😀
I tackled 1 issue at a time. First I replaced the bottom of the 1 drawer. Secondly I removed the metals stoppers and cut/glued and nailed new wood ones that I made myself at the same height as the metal stoppers. Next I leveled the frame/gliders and glued and clamped them. Lastly, with the use of photoshop I figured where to cut the mirror frame to use it as a backplate on the piece. Once done, I measured, cut and stained the 3 pieces and then glued them together.
I have been wanting to do a green /stain combo piece for a while and Bayberry from Fusion was my favourite green of the bunch. Since I am trying to use Bluestone House Paints as much as I can, I matched their colour Savon D'Olive and in my opinion, one could not tell the difference in the colour of both brands.
Initially I sanded the top of the dresser as well as the 2 bottom drawers and stained them in Dark Walnut. Unfortunately the wood used on the top was different then the drawers and the variation between the two did not compliment eachother. I decided at that point I had to paint the top and was pleasantly surprised with the result.
I decided to keep the original hardware because that added to the rustic feel of the piece. I liked the patina of the knobs and pulls but also new they needed to be cleaned. Once cleaned it was clear that the patina was more dirt and grease then anything else. The handles polished to a beautiful gold but unfortunately it did not look well on the piece. I then figure I could closely match the prior look with a few blasts of bronze satin spray paint along with a few blasts of oil rubbed spray paint. I love the end result and will be using this technique going forward.
The piece got 3 coats of Savon D'Olive green and was protected with homemade foodgrage beeswax The stained drawers were protected with 3 coats of tung oil. The gliders were given several coats of moist beeswax to ensure slick gliding drawers.
We are going to call this piece "Patty" in the honour of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day.
This is my third time using Bluestone House Paints and I am very satisfied with the results. I hope to continue using it on many projects going forward.
Dimensions: 35"Hx42"Wx20"D
You are welcome to check my page for other available pieces to purchase or simply follow me as I post pieces weekly. I also have an Instagram account under the same name.
@renew_and_restorations
@renew_and_restorations
@renew_and_restorations
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