A Federal Sideboard in Cream and Gold

I've said this before, but this is the best sideboard I've ever handled. My friend spotted it at the goodwill, of all places, and bought it on my behalf straight away. I zipped up and picked it up the very next day. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was in superb condition, beautifully built, and had so much detail! Even the drawer pulls are beyond belief. A client selected it as the perfect piece to grace her spectacular and well appointed entryway, and we set to work deciding how to reinvent the piece. First I refinished the top. The mahogany was in great shape, but the old surface had been badly scratched and was starting to crackle. Now it's flawless and smooth as glass once more.
        We decided to paint the case in a griege, a gray/beige that is, and then heavily highlight all the fantastic woodwork, fluted legs, and exceptional lion's head pulls in a bright gold. The detail work took me ages but was so worth the effort. I love the timelessly elegant classical effect. I distressed the case and then sealed it with dark wax.

A Mahogany China Hutch in Cream an Amethyst

Here's a lovely little antique mahogany hutch I had the privilege to refinish for my best friend Jess. She's a pretty active collector of my furniture, and has been waiting for the perfect hutch to add to her dining room. I knew as soon as I saw this one a couple weeks ago that she had to have it. She and I had actually been planning to go see a midcentury modern hutch the very next day, but when I sent her the pictures of this little doll she agreed completely and immediately, this was the hutch for her!
         Jess knew she wanted cream for the outside but wasn't sure what direction to go for the interior, though she was sure it would be a fun pop of color. We settled on amethyst, a gorgeous color that shows up here and there in the decor of her lovely mid century cape. I custom mixed a shade without too much pink, and deep enough to be sophisticated but still playful. The exterior is also a custom mixed shade of cream, rich and warm, with loads of character. I kept the original round drop pulls but recolored them in a bright gold. Finally, I distressed and dark waxed all the painted surfaces.

A Vintage Maple Desk with Ferns

And finally for today before I go off to spend the best evening ever with my best friend (slumber party!!!) Here's a maple desk that I actually refinished twice. This is one half of a pair that I refinished way back in September. Initially I painted them in a custom mixed red....and they sat and sat and sat in my workshop. Ok, I get it, ya'll aren't feeling the brick reds. And so I went ahead and re-did the tall dresser once again in a spring green with hand painted ferns on the drawer fronts.... and it sat and sat and sat. But then last week someone finally came to look at it, and LOVED it. Hooray! And then the client asked if I happened to have any other dressers. I showed him the few pieces I had on hand, but none were really hitting home for him, and then I remembered the little maple desk that had once matched the dresser. I showed him the piece and explained I could refinish it in ferns too so they could be a matched set once more, and he was delighted. And I'm delighted. It's not a huge sale, and all told I've probably lost money on the pair since I had to spend so much time re-doing them, but I'm so glad they're staying together, and going to such an appreciative home! I get sappy about furniture, it's a side effect in this line of work!

So here's the link to the first time I refinished the set http://heirandspace.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-maple-dresser-and-desk-in-wellfleet.html

 

An Antique Dresser Turned Kitchen Island

The theme today is the many ways a simple antique dresser can be reinvented for the modern home. On the last post I shared a piece where I removed the bottom two drawers to turn the dresser into a media console. On this lovely little late 19th century dresser I kept the drawers but added a larger top with rear overhang so it can be used as a kitchen island.

      This sweet little kitchen island was custom for a very patient client who needed a dresser that fit some pretty specific dimensions for her kitchen. She waited months for me to find just the right piece, but I'm so glad she hung in there (and I hope she is too!). I found this antique dresser at the Collinsville antiques market a couple weeks ago and knew instantly that it would be perfect. I removed the crazy vintage drawer pulls that someone had added, and swapped them for simple turned knobs stained to match the top. We used Benjamin Moore's Hawthorne yellow, mixed into a chalk paint for the case, I lightly distressed the piece and then sealed it with dark wax for a smooth, ultra durable and fully washable surface. I added a pine board top to allow for a large overhang on the rear to accommodate barstools.

An Antique Oak Dresser Turned Media Console

This was such a fun and satisfying project for one of my favorite clients. After seeing a piece I had done back in November she approached me with the idea of turning a family piece, a late 19th century oak dresser with poorly functioning drawers and a badly stained top into a farmhouse style media console. I've done a handful of these pieces for clients over the last few years and they're always exciting as the end result is so dramatic. I just scrolled through every picture of mine and am kicking myself because I don't have a 'before' picture on this one, but I think you can kind of imagine the typical old oak dresser that this once was.

       So we agreed upon a creamy yellow for the interior, and a lightly distressed black for the exterior, a color scheme we used to great effect on another family piece of hers, a large hutch, which you can view here---> http://heirandspace.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-vintage-hutch-in-black-and-pale-yellow.html . I sanded, stained, and sealed the top, and added pine shelves where the drawers had been. Now it's pretty as a picture!