Tuesday 5 August 2014

The ugly dresser completed...

Hello stranger! Time has gotten away from me. I've been visiting my dad, working on an epic piece of furniture and focusing on my daughter as it's the school hols.

I'm halfway through the kitchen, so it's a perfect time to wander off and do something else. A kitchen break. I was itching to finish the ugly dresser.

So I did. Ta daa!




Let me remind you how it started out...




It didn't fit the wall, see how it cuts accross the door frame?


The top was not looking good.


I wasn't loving the plywood back or the black shelves.


But I LOVED the paintwork. (What was left of it.) It really was love at first sight with this piece. All the problems with it could be fixed.



I put a new tongue and groove back on the cupboard section. Much better than the plywood. And although it's inside the cupboard and no one sees it, I couldn't leave it looking so new.



I stained the wood with a mixture of tea and thinned down black acrylic paint. Much better.


I scraped and sanded the top, not too much as I didn't want to ruin the beaten up finish. I cut sections off the sides and top cornice so it fit my space perfectly. I sanded and stained the cut edges so it didn't look newly cut.



Halfway through, it was looking better but still needed a tongue and groove back for the top section and I needed to lose that black paint.

There was no simple way to do this. I painted all the paintwork, the black and the cream, very carefully, so that it would all be the same colour. I had to paint around each and every flaked of piece as I didn't want to lose that! This piece really was a labour of love.



I dark waxed it all so the new paint looked original.

wood bleached top


I used wood bleach on the top as I love the super pale look. (Did you know that using wood bleach and tongue and grooving something are two of the most fun things to do on the planet? )



The new tongue and groove back was stained darker and then also bleached to match the top.
Then I put it all together. I really wasn't sure about the wood finish behind the shelves. I thought I might paint over it.
But when the china was all in place, I loved it. I think that the china stands out more against wood than it would do against a painted surface and I'm so thrilled with the way it all matches up.



So here's the before...


And now...


Right then, better get on with that kitchen...

Ivy and ElephantsElizabeth and Co.

Furniture Feature Fridays

43 comments:

  1. You've really made your old cupboard into a showpiece! I love the addition of the beadboard backing and the newly bleached counter! And you've styled it beautifully with your white dishes and wood crates and basket on top. I love it all!!

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  2. Hello! It looks great- what a labour of love! Totally worth it for how good your china looks displayed on it :) xxx

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    1. Thanks Katie, It feels a bit like living in a White Company catalogue! Which was my cunning plan. xxx

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  3. The dresser looks fab, love the tongue and groove at the back. Now you just need some colourful crockery... Joking! I can see you blanching (to match the white china) from here, Emma Kate!
    Hope the holidays are gong well. xxx

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  4. OMG Em....what a fantastic (if somewhat tedious) job you have done . It is almost exactly like the big country blanket box I bought home and posted a few weeks ago, and I am so unsure of how to stabilize the flaking finish still xxx

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    1. Thanks Meg, I didn't really stabilize mine. I'm happy if bits continue to fall off. (My husband is OCD about hoovering.) But if you wanted to you could use varnish on yours to hold it together. It wouldn't have to be shiny...xxx

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  5. That looks great, you've done a wonderful job. That dresser would look ace in my kitchen, the perfect backdrop for my 1960s ceramics! xxx

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    1. Thanks Vix, I'm so pleased with how it turned out. xxx

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  6. You did an awesome job! So glad you left the patina, that's the best part!
    It looks amazing filled with your beautiful iron stone.
    Hugs,
    Patti

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  7. It looks like the cabinet and ironstone were made for each other. A really awesome piece.

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  8. Just beautiful! Love the cupboard and I am drooling over your whites and all the ironstone!
    Roselle

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  9. Fantastic, I love that you are never daunted by a challenge and you've pulled it off fantastically. Who knew about tea and watered down black acrylic paint for ageing the wood - fab! Another successful project, well done xx

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    1. Thanks Antonia. I tried tea on its own and it failed so I added a drop of black paint. xx

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  10. It looks fabulous ... well done you! M x

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  11. Crikey your talents are endless!! It looks beautiful, all that hard work has paid off! Off to research wood bleach now :) xx

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    1. Thank you. It's awesome stuff. I use a 2 part wood bleach. xx

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  12. I <3 your chippy hutch and iron stone china:) Pinned

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  13. love how much character it has. You did a top job on painting the black shelves to match.

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  14. Love, love your fabulous hutch!...you did a terrific job in refinishing it and cutting it down to fit in the space!...I love your ironstone collection...beautiful!

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  15. Absolutely stunning and great work ... rustic farmhouse perfection right there :)

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  16. I am looking for something just like that. I must remember that I can change the look if I need to. I would not like the plywood either unless it was painted maybe.
    Janice

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  17. What I love most about the things you do Emma is that you don't try and sanitise things, you work with them not against them, seeing the beauty in peeling paint and preserving it and letting it evolve. That's what makes what you do so special! x

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  18. Love your hutch...just swooning over all the great pieces of ironstone and your wonderful arrangement of the pieces!

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  19. You did a great job! I love everything you did and how you maintained the vintage feel. I also like how you fit the piece to your space.
    Love what you did.

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  20. Wow that looks amazing you did a great job. dee x

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