Tuesday, November 23, 2010

My Newest (semi-done) Piece Of Furniture

I picked this work of seventies/eighties art up at the Goodwill a few months back for a few pesos. It was exactly what I had been looking for to store games and photo albums in, but not exactly my current style.

The finish even has the black speckles that some wise designer thought would complete the piece. Really? Stain it then splatter it with black dots? Genius.

First I painted the whole thing with my favorite color (Milk Paint from Lowes). I didn't like it so I started putting Citristrip all over the top and sides. I still didn't like it and the worst part was that when I started sanding the top again then it took of the top layer of "wood" to reveal fibery, ugly particle board.

So I had to get creative.... I didn't actually take all the paint off the top cause I really wanted it to look old. I then took some stain with poly that had kinda gotten globy, a paint brush that was on the stiff side and I used that to recreate a wood grain on the top.

I almost broke my arm patting myself on the back when I was done. Except for one thing, I didn't really like how much I had ended up distressing the bottom of it.

But I went ahead and moved it into the house anyway and let it grow on me like a fungus.

It worked! The fungus spread all over me (loving the mental image) till I have now fallen in like with the piece of wonderful storage!

One more itsy-bitsy problem though... I decided not to fill the former holes from the hardware and just find some the same size (the jute ones on there are temporary). Dumb. The size of the top ones are 4 1/4 from hole to hole. That's a very large handle and very hard to come by. I'm still on the hunt and still not sure what I will do. Your suggestions are welcome.


Now you've heard the whole story.

I will be back to hosting We Can Do It Cheaper (it will be up later tonight) so be sure to stop back in and link up all the things you've done while I've been absent!
Photobucket

12 comments:

Cassie Bustamante said...

it looks gorgeous! it doesn't look like 70's at all any more- fab job!

Kelli@Restore Interiors said...

Hi Jillian! I really like the piece! I did the faux wood thing on a tray. It's amazing how real you can make it look! Yours looks great! I gave a suggestion on your hardware. I've done this a bunch. You should fill in the holes with paintable wood putty and sand it down and paint over it.. Then drill new holes for updated hardware. Thanks for coming to my party!
Kelli

stephaniegiese said...

I actually really like the rope as hardware, I don't think I've ever seen that before. The finish look great!

Helen said...

Yeah, what Kelli said. Also, to make it look different from the age it came... put feet on it, paint them or stain them. Try some you can get at the hardware store or keep you eyes open for some like newel posts, turn the posts upside down and make sure you have a good block of something in the corner to give it strength. It means emptying it out though, because you need to turn you whole project upside down to do it. We have even used two blocks on the back corners and two curved type ones on the front. A different project may even use door knobs.

Lorianne said...

Have you looked online for handles? I got some on eBay for a dresser I was working on. They are usually cheaper than Lowe's or Home Depot.
Good luck finding some!

Stephanie said...

Oh my gosh, I LOVE it! It's beautiful! And I love the jute handles, I think they look great, even if you don't want to keep them (I think I would!) I'm so beyond impressed. Wanna come over and help me with a couple of pieces of furniture? I think I messed some of them up trying to be all creative and cute. :-) I could use a creative/experienced brain to pick!

Gail said...

I like the look of two knobs on each drawer, especially if they are different, instead of a handle. Otherwise, have you checked out screen door handles? They might be the right size. I have a friend who used those on all of her kitchen cabinets - wonderful! One more idea....you can buy backplates that disguise the old holes, then put the new handles on top.

Jane of All Trades said...

Hey, Jill. It looks great. Have you tried Hobby Lobby for the pulls? I got some bigger ones there a while back. I don't know if they would have your size or not but it may be worth a try. Especially when they have their 50% off week. Good Luck!

Lori said...

How would two single knobs side by side look? Great storage piece! One red, one green for Christmas coming up.

Unknown said...

Well, I'm kinda partial to those jute handles, being that I "borrowed" the idea from you too. You could do knobs to match kinda like I did, then it all goes together. We have an antique store that has lots of old hardware in odd sizes. Maybe next time you're out you can check it out. The Covesville Antique store is awesome!
Love how this turned out, you did an incredible job on the top!

Unknown said...

wow i love this, very unique handles!

Tonya said...

amazingly beautiful! something whimsical for the knobs...like fruit or footballs. But, I am sure whatever you decide will be fantastic!