Red Dining Table

I'm a garage sale junkie. I haven't found much time to go lately, but if I had the time I would go every week. I stumbled across this table for 30 bucks at a garage sale. It was in great condition, very sturdy, and expanded with a hide a leaf....better than the one in my house. I had never refinished furniture before but I had been following some blogs and wanted to give it a try. So I bought the table and went to work on my very first project. I learned some things, like lint free cloths are a must. But for the most part I was proud of my first try.

Finished Top
I recovered the chairs in this fabric I found at Joann's and put plastic vinyl on the seats for easy clean-up.

The distress and glaze up close.

I took this picture to put it for sale. I painted it red because most kitchens seem to be red, mine was yellow so it wouldn't work, but after I was all done my husband wished we would of keep it. I do have to thank my husband because he helps me with a lot of the work.

Before distressed and glazed.

The original color. I forgot to get a picture of the whole thing, but this gives you a good idea. There were a few scratches, but for 30 bucks it was a steal even in its condition.

Buffet

After redoing a vanity for my sister for her wedding I feel in love and started looking for my own. Everytime I found one on craigslist I would call and it would be gone within 10 minutes of the post. I was starting to get discouraged, then I found this beauty. The lady wanted 50 bucks. She put it was a project she had never got around to. I made my husband take the 45 minute drive to go get it. When I got there it wasn't in as good of shape as I had hoped. A real antique, but a lot of work. My husband thought I was out of my mind.

I sanded and sanded. I wanted to top to be a rich wood. The whole thing was covered with some sort of soft white fill. When I started sandind I could tell why. It looked like this piece had spent a lot of time outside and someone had put the white stuff on trying to restore it. I'm sure its an antique, but I can't find a company name or date on it.

See all the cracks!! Yikes!!



Everytime you touched it the hardware would fall off. At first I was going to reuse it, but with 2 little ones I need something sturdier.

The Finish. I Love it. We lost the keyhole in the garage. I've been looking trying to find 2 more. The ones on he draw we just repainted and they look awesome.

Now the cracks looked distressed.

Picture perfect.

Distressed Vanity

I refinished this vanity for my stepsister for her wedding. It was her grandmothers and it had been sitting outside in my mothers backyard for a few years. I didn't get a before picture, but it was in bad condition and needed to be sanded because all the paint was chipping. It originally had a laminate top that was falling apart so I had my husband rebuild one out of real wood. He also wired a new light fixture inside because the original one was so outdated they don't sale light bulbs for them anymore.

I love the rich look of stained wood. Almost all my furniture has it. This was my first attempt at white. I have to say I hate dealing with white. Especially when you are restoring old furniture. The paint takes more in dry spots than in others and when you are applying the brown glaze you don't have much control over how much it takes. I cursed the entire project and vowed to never do white again.When the project was done I was very happy and pleased with the outcome. I imediately started the look for an old piece of furniture to redo the same for myself.

After it was all sanded, but before any paint was applied.