Refinished Dreamer Cedar Chest
by
Sharyn Diaz
This circa 1930 cedar chest has been in my family since it was purchased, after my great-aunt died we were clearing out the house and I found it buried in a backroom under a pile of old damp newspapers & magazines. The original finish was water damaged and the feet were nothing to write home about but a solid cedar chest is always an asset. so I rescued it and refinished it with black lacquer in the early 80's. It served as a wonderful blanket chest for the past 30 years. Now this little lovely is in my bedroom and sporting a brand new face lift that I wanted to share.
After using a chemical stripper to remove the lacquer and a through sanding to remove the residual black stain I repaired gouged areas with wood filler then replaced the worn out feet with wooden buns from Lowes.
Two coats of Minwax water based stain (I used the white tint base to cool down the red in the wood and to cover the water stained areas) in Blue Hawaii and 2 coats of wipe-on poly I was ready to play with my stencils.
I didn't like the white lettering so took a step back, wiped it off and decided to go with midnight blue.
...added a layer of watered-down white to give the letters depth
and a few celestial touches because I couldn't help myself :). Then I sprayed a sealer on the lid to protect the stenciling.
My little lady is right at home in my bedroom, holding sweaters and offering me a place to sit while I put my boots on.
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3 of 6 comments
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My husband refurbished one like that, only his had the old casters under it. It has the same side handles! very pretty!!! Ours was for our granddaughters nursery, he did it in espresso stain. Those are the best aren't they? The "keepers!" LaPine??? Love it over there. We used to have a home out in Wild River, right on the Deschutes!
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Very pretty, lovely keepsake.
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