Thrilled! That is what I could have named this post. That is the feeling I had when I found this piece. It is how I felt when I saw the price. It was how I felt when it fit (kind of) in my car. It was how I felt for the 3 days after while working on the piece at home.
It was still summer when I found this piece. My two boys were on summer vacation. It was nearing the end of summer when, if possible, they get tired of going to the pool. I thought it might be fun to take them with me to look for a new project for me to paint. I scored this piece at the first spot we stopped at and was heading home within 20 minutes. (Can I just take a moment to praise my SUV? I have had this Toyota Pilot since 2005 and it has many miles on it, many memories in it, and can haul large furniture like a beast.)
The boys happy for a day to veg out at home, ran up to their playroom and I was left on my own. My work space is one of the bays of our garage. We have a three car garage. In one of the bays we set up a galley work space. Along one side we have our tool bench with all of our small tools and hardware. On the other side is the large tools and a shelf for my paints. I also have my own smaller workbench, which I made out of the old kitchen island that we tore out of the house when we bought it. I attached casters to the bottom. My husband shares all of his tools with me. I am a little more stingy. I like to keep my paint brushes and some other smaller tools separate. Especially the ones that had once belonged to my grandfather. The center of the galley work space is for the project itself. (note to self: take picture of work space.)
This particular day was beautiful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. My children were content and it was quiet. I opened the garage door to take in the breeze. I leaned my iPad against the tool bench and turned on a romantic comedy. With my space ready to go, I began to work.
I began my usual way by using a deglosser. I wiped the wood down with a rag and the deglosser to prep it for paint. This removes some of the varnish and leaves a texture that allows you to paint without having to sand. Although, I also use chalk paint, I like to still do this step. I find that it takes less coats of chalk paint.
I pulled the draws out and mixed up my own paint. I made my standard chalk paint and mixed blue, black and white paints that I had on hand. It made a lovely light grey. Actually, let's call it that. Paint color named.
Now cleaning these took time. But I loved it. I sat at the work bench and watched an entire movie just shinning brass. It felt so peaceful. Probably the same feeling others get knitting.
After the polishing was complete, I used a spray coat of Miniwax Clear Lacquer.
You can see how it just give a nice top coat to the paint.
After that dried, it was time to put the hardware back on. This was the first time that I was using brass hardware on any of my pieces. I was excited to see how the colors would come together.
