My Favorite {finished}

This next project is by far my favorite!  Okay, between the blue desk and this I guess it's not hard to pick favorites, but I just really love how this turned out!

Here's how it all began...remember, this is a blog so I will blab when I want to.

Saturday mornings at my house are usually pretty early.  The boys are so used to waking up early.  I consider myself pretty lucky the mornings I get to sleep 'till 7 a.m.  So usually we'll all get ready and go out the door lookin' for stuff to do.  We were wanting to go browse around thrift stores, but nothing is open until like 10 a.m.!  We were headin' on home down Princess Anne Street when I spotted a man unloading stuff onto the curb outside his thrift shop. 

We parked.  We asked if he was open.

He wasn't.  He said we could look around though.

I walked into the store and immediately spotted her.  She had crap sitting on top.  It looked like the store owners were using her.  I wanted to inquire but the man was preoccupied. 

I wanted to look around more, but Thing 1 and Thing 2 would not have it.  They don't do so well when we go anywhere and this occasion was no exception.

Sadly, we had to leave. Empty handed.

I thought about her all week long.  I wondered if any one else had snatched her up.  I was sure she was gone.

The next Saturday, I snuck over to that thrift shop when I was supposed to be coming home from a baby shower.  My heart skipped a beat when I saw her!  Still there!  I immediately inquired as to what this beauty would cost.  In my head, I figured $30 was my limit but my heart told me to stop at no limit! 

$20 bucks.

Yep, $20.  And the guy started muttering about how it was worth like $300 or something.

He let it go for $20.  I didn't even haggle. 

So, I took her home and dragged her out to the back deck.  I immediately got to work cleaning, removing hardware and gathering supplies.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 helped clean her up.  Toothbrushes and all.  This was serious business.  She smelled funky and there was no way she could ever come inside in that condition!

While the cabinet was drying, I sat in front of the TV and sanded all the hardware.

Middle one is done.

Next, priming.  Remember to shake the can for like 3 minutes first!

I went bold with the paint and chose Krylon's Cherry Red.  I was a little anxious about it, too.

If you ever spray paint anything with Cherry Red, be prepared to buy more cans and do several coats! 

Here's what she looked like all painted...

Yikes!  That is BRIGHT!  And the carved details are totally lost.  Soooooo I glazed it. 

I LOVE it!!  And do you love the hardware!?  Spray painted it in Rustoleum's Hammered. 

Wait!  She's not done yet!

My favorite part:

The fabric I bought from the quilting fabric section.  It's actually much wider than the standard 42", but it's also much thicker.  I glued it in with tacky glue. 

So, this little project probably cost me like $30 for all the paint and supplies.  Total cost:  $50.  I have seen similar pieces of furniture like this at Kirkland's and they cost like $250-$300 brand new.

I think I got a pretty good deal. 

To Blue

Several months ago, a friend of mine introduced me to this awesome web site called
All Things Thrifty
The gal who runs it is a "thrift store junky."  She loves to take old junky stuff and turn it into something amazing.  After looking through her blog, I was totally inspired and on the hunt!
Justin spotted this desk at a yard sale.
$5.00

Fancy, huh!?
Yeah, not so much.  These types of desks can be found pretty much anywhere.  And they're all totally boring.
Justin had settled into his desk...hehe
I came along and literally pulled it out from under him!  I carried it outside and got to work.
First, removing the hardware.
Second, cleaning it off.
Third, priming it.  That's right.  No sanding.  And you can probably tell that it's a veneer finish. 
This pic here is about 2 or 3 coats of primer.

I used a spray primer called Kilz.  It's pretty awesome but it left a gritty finish and I did have to sand it down with a fine grit sandpaper (220). 
I learned how to avoid this for future reference:  shake the can for 3 minutes straight and you should be good to go!
Next, the color!  Because he was being such a good sport, I let Justin pick the color.  He told me he wanted it to be blue.  And so it became!
I bought Krylon's beautiful Global Blue in Glossy.  I chose Glossy, as is recommended by Brooke at ATT.

Isn't that such a pretty color?!  I later learned that this is one of Krylon's colors that is only available regionally or something.  I feel so priveledged!
Okay, enough chatter...get to paintin'.

This is after 1 coat of paint.  Man, I was hoping not to have to keep going.  I had only bought like 2 cans of paint and had to go back for more.  There is a technique to spray painting.  The nice thing about Krylon is the nozzle adjusts so that it covers better, depending on the direction you spray in.  I'm so lame, but I totally watched a video on how to do this right.  I still didn't do that great of a job though.  Here's a piece of advice:  do NOT spray with your wrist...meaning don't move your hand back and forth.  Move your entire arm.  Does that make any sense?

I am much to cheap to buy new hardware, so I spray painted the original hardware in Rustoleum's Hammered.  It sprays texture onto it.  So cool!

Isn't she so pretty!?  That's right, this desk is a GIRL!  With 3 guys around all day, I have to assign gender to inanimate objects.
But wait... she's not done yet!  I want to make the desk look all old and antiquey...
So, I did what is called "Glazing." 
I think I bought the Martha Stewart Faux Glaze at Lowe's.  Then, I bought one of those small samplers of black paint.  Follow the directions for tinting the glaze.  If you try this at home, just note that you won't need very much.
Just paint the glaze on...jam it into the little crevices everywhere.  I find that wiping it quickly with a wet towel, and then wiping it again with a dry towel does it very quickly and looks nice!
Here's how she turned out:

I know, the lighting is bad in this pic and there's weird shadows every where.  Look closer:

And look inside!

My favorite part!  Fabric from JoAnn's.  Cut to size and glued in.  A lot of people have asked how I glued it in.  I tried the spray glue stuff but it really doesn't adhere well...especially since there was primer sprayed into the drawer.  So I pulled it out and reglued it with lots of tacky glue.

I love the desk! 

Now...to find the perfect chair to go along with it.  Imagine the seat covered in that harlequin fabric...

...to be continued...