A Farmhouse Dining Set in Blue and Pine

Here's a handsome pine dining set I just refinished for a client out in western Connecticut. We spotted the great vintage solid pine six chair set on craigslist a couple weeks ago. I zipped over and snagged it and then refinished it in warm english chestnut for the table top and chair seats and a custom mixed blue for the table base and chairs, distressed and dark waxed. I took the pretty pretty drive through the countryside yesterday evening to deliver it, and my goodness, spring is popping up all over. I love this time of year!

An Antique Mahogany Desk

And another incredibly fun project- this serpentine front desk is such a looker. I love all the molded edges and the sophisticated spade feet. And solid mahogany, throughout. I refinished this piece for a client who has a great eye and is steadily building a phenomenal furniture collection. We went with a deep mint green paired with a pine top stained in English chestnut and sealed. The cove brass drawer pulls are playful with the top two ceramic knobs. Finally, the client hoped to save the decorative painting on the top center drawer. Since there was no way to paint  the desk and maintain the decorative bit, I repainted it from a photograph after the mint had been applied but before the distressing and wax.

An Antique Cherry Hutch

This was SUCH a fun piece to work on. I picked it up from Anything Goes in Glastonbury, CT for a client and then refinished it to his specs. We went with a creamy yellow on the interior and a beautiful blue that's a little gray for the exterior, distressed and dark waxed of course. I can take little credit for its beauty as I imagine this hutch would have been stunning even if I'd painted it vertical stripes of pepto pink and puke green. The yellow and blue feel pleasantly tropical so I staged it with a little bit of classic colonial islander in mind. And it felt practically tropical today- 77 and sunny! We spent most of the day painting the house.

An Antique Serpentine Front Dresser in White

This was a custom project for a new client that I happened to meet while picking up another piece of furniture. This gorgeous antique mahogany serpentine front dresser was ready for a new look so we decided to go with antique white and a deep rich finish on the top. I achieved the antiqued paint surface by layering bright white, then a cream wash, then liberal amounts of sanding with 220 grit to let the white pop through, then hitting it with a bit of 80 grit for distressing, and then a dark wax.

A Beachy Sophisticated Vintage Dresser

Yesterday after several hours of painting the house- did I tell you we're painting our house from boring yellow to beautiful blue??- it was time for a lunch break. I zipped over to the Westchester Market to scoop up one of their amazing gigantic delicious grinders, and spotted this vintage dresser on the side of the road. On my return journey I saw that it was still there so I took the drawers, to deter any other scavengers (sneaky sneaky) and then made a quick turn around to come back with my truck for the rest of the carcass. Free on the side of the road is my favorite furniture price point. I understand why this one had been cast out; it's top had seen better days, and the design was so SO dated. There was a lot of interesting trim work there, though, and the drawers worked perfectly and are solid oak, and it's made by Bassett- worth saving for sure.
        First I added a new top in horizontally placed weathered pine boards finished with thumb molded oak trim. I stained the boards in gray and sealed them for a sophisticated meets beachy vibe, somewhere between driftwood and swedish country home. I painted the case in an antique French blue, highlighted the wood work in cream, distressed, and sealed with wax. I replaced the heinous drawer pulls with antique stamped brass knobs and an antique lion's head and ring pull for the bottom drawer. So from side of the road to chic in just over 24 hours, this vintage dresser is ready for a new home!