An Antique Chest in Pumpkin Spice

Every once in a while I'll allow myself to keep a piece of furniture, rather than flipping it to sell. When I saw this c.1875 cottage pine chest at the flea market at the end of July, I knew I needed to keep it. I'll be putting it in my dining room tomorrow when I flip the decor to fall.
      I love the scrolled base, the original oversized turned knobs, and the handsome pine top. I painted the piece in a deep autumnal pumpkin color, and then dark waxed just the drawer fronts to the give the piece more dimension. I sanded, stained, and sealed the pine top to bring it back to its former glory. I can't wait to get it in my house!

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*After!*

Maple Farmhouse Coffee Table Set

I have serious coffee table envy. I like this set waaaay better than my current set. Sadly, the pewter gray of this set just wouldn't go with the rest of my color scheme. I picked this coffee table set up at the flea market about two weeks ago. It was made by the Hammary Company, probably about 40 years ago, if I had to guess. It was it good shape, but so boring, so dated.
      As with most solid wood furniture from this period, the set had a hideous opaque surface on it that completely hid the wood underneath. I was pleased as punch when I sanded the tops to reveal the outstanding wood grain of the solid maple tops. So incredibly pretty! I custom mixed the paint color, which is a rich pewter gray, and swapped the ho-hum Chippendale drawer pulls out for antique turned wood knobs that I saved from a previous project. Oh, and I also removed the drop leaves on all three pieces, because drop leaves on a coffee table is as useful as an underwater grill.

This set is for sale, so let me know if you want measurements!

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*after!*

Antique Dresser Turned Kitchen Island

Oh you know how I love to rescue woebegone old dressers and give them a new life as a fabulous kitchen island. This has been one of my favorite rescue missions yet. This dresser was in rough shape, and the gentleman I bought it from gamely suggested it might be just perfect for the fire pit. I knew it could be saved, though.

I painted the case in a warm yellow called Roasted Sesame Seed. I added the top, and the two shelves. I swapped the old knobs out for some new brushed nickel ones, and added a matched pair of shelf supports on the back. What do you think?

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*After!*

Cross posting with:

A Handsome Trestle Table Set with Benches

Who doesn't love dining sets with benches! When I saw this set up for sale I knew I had to get it. The fact that it was more than an hour away didn't daunt me at all. It was even better in person than it had been in pictures. What's better, this set was hand made by a craftsman in Massachusetts about 60 years ago. The care he took to build this set for his family is apparent in the quality of construction and beautiful detailing.

I painted the table and bench bases a deep stormy gray with a heavy dose of blue undertones. It's currently my favorite color. I sanded, the bench and table tops, though leaving some of the wonderful character, and then stained them special walnut. I've got to admit, I'm thrilled with how it turned out!

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*After!*

The Compass Dining Set

This is a set I just recently refinished for a client. It was a pretty typical blond oak dining set. We opted to go with a pickled oak table top, and pickled oak seats. The client choose an absolutely stunning color, called Tide pool Wonder, which is somewhere between a blue, turquoise, and gray.
I very lightly distressed the paint and then waxed all the painted surfaces. To zest the set up further, we decided to do a decoratively painted compass on the top. It was a lot of fun to add a painted element, and I'm hoping to do more details on other sets in the future!

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