Queen Anne Would Be Proud.....I Think

Toni Hunton
by Toni Hunton
This is a set of 2 units,with mirrors coming with the larger one.
I HATE doing mirrors.....but I digress.
A buddy of mine has a second hand antique and retro store called Done and Dusted about 10 minutes down the road,and every now and again he calls me with a piece he wants nothing to do with after he has picked it up,this would be one of those times.
So here I had the 2 cabinets with drawers and some yahoo had painted them partially,in baby blue.
I say partially because as I seem to normally find here,backs and bottoms never get painted.
There were 2 interested parties in this set before I even started on it,and the highest bidder won.
Initially she wanted it done in Lilac for her about to be 11 year old daughter,but after some polite reasoning with her,saying that in 2 years or less she would be out of that phase,it was decided that off white would grow with her.
Now you guys know me by now,I sometimes forget to take a before pic,well.....this is one of those times,but I did get the one of the main dresser after the drawers were out.
I began, as always, by using the heat gun to get the paint off,but ran into a very gooey substance underneath,so assume it was an oil based paint they had used.


This is about 2 hours worth of heat gun work,on only one of the units.


UGH.
After the heat gun fiasco,I moved on to sanding,and went with 80 grit to get the goo off,and finished up with 120.


The legs were the hardest to do as I wanted to keep the original shape to them.


I ended up doing them by hand,which was a chore.
I also did the same on the beveled edges on the larger piece.
Had I used a sander here,they would have lost their beauty.
We had a few minor repairs to do on this set,2 broken drawers that Dave fixed for me using Gorilla glue and wood clamps.


Once dry,they were sanded back down to be flush.


Well.....flusher then they were.....is flusher a word?????
Here are the drawers after 3 coats of white latex.


I prefer latex to oil,even though it takes more coats as it doesn't have that harsh chemical odor.


It's also cheaper over here.
There were no handles at all with these dressers,so since Hannah's (clients daughter) is into the girly things,I went on line to free clip art,and pulled up a heart,flower and butterfly image I could easily trace out.


Dug through Dave's scraps,found some perfect wood,drew over each picture and had my handles.


Using his band saw,I cut around each piece,not very well I might add,then handed them off to Dave to finish them up nice and smooth.


(he's a much better sander than I am )
They all got 2 coats of a Gold Dust paint I had,so they would look all glittery and cutsey.....they are after all,for a gilry girls room.


I also took the mirrors apart and painted all the hinges using a paint pen.


Yeah,I know,I hate paint on hinges too,but I couldn't get all that darned blue off them,so this was a cover up.


There are no pictures of the mirrors (did I say I hate doing mirrors )as I was between cell phones.


One that didn't work and the new one needed charging.


After this,it won't be an issue.....unless of course I simply forget to take them !!!
So here is the mirrored unit all dolled up in her room.


As you can see,I did a light distress on the hard edges,put some stain across the fronts of the drawers and added the home made handles.


I made some Mod Podge to put on the tops as a sealer,didn't want anything too harsh going on it,and polyurethane seems to turn yellow on white,so best to come up with something else.


It is not a perfect job,but Hannah and her mum ,Edwina,love them,so that is all that matters.
Here is the smaller dresser done to match.


Still wish I had made feet for it to get it off the floor.
This is a close up of the handles.


Sorta patting myself on the back for these as I have never done anything like that before.


Next time however,they will be much better.
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  2 questions
  • Sheila Osborne Sheila Osborne on Jul 05, 2016
    beautiful how did you make your mod podge ?
  • Linda Linda on Jul 05, 2016
    You said that you "made" a Mod Podge to seal it, so does that mean you used a DIY version? If so, can you share the recipe, please? Looks great by the way.
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  • Carol Carol on Jul 06, 2016
    i hate to see good furniture tossed out because it is old and not antique.... this is a great project... and goes to show that one man's junk is a teenager's treasure!!! good job and great tips, thanks!
    • Toni Hunton Toni Hunton on Jul 06, 2016
      Same here Carol,bugs the heck outta me when I get stuff people have left out in the weather too
  • Candace Candace on Sep 01, 2016
    "Flusher" is a very important word! It's that thingy on the toilet that makes all the bad stuff go WHOOSH.
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