Antique Chairs Pt. 2

Ok, so it's been an incredibly long time since I first introduced you to these chairs here. Well I finally got around to finishing them up (which I could not have done without the help of this wonderful, insanely talented woman), but I took so many pictures that I'm splitting it up into two posts. So here is part 2 of my pair of antique chair makeover:

Disclaimer: Lots of Liam pictures in this post. I can't help it! He loves being in the spot light!

With the help of my wonderful boyfriend (and kitty), we began tearing these guys apart.

There was a lot of this:

Which resulted in this mess:

After the crumbly-foam-pocolypse we were left with this:

We popped the backs out and saved them for future reference.

Liam found a place to lay and watch. It's not like he was in the way or anything!

I sanded off the peeling finish so I could paint.

Then I prepared my first coat. I knew I wanted to distress the frames so I mixed a gray color to be the base coat.

I distressed the base coat a little then painted over it with a soft black from Martha Stewart. After distressing I gave them each a coat of wax. You can sort of see the difference: the one in the back was waxed and the front wasn't.

Here are some close-ups of the final finish.

Love love love!

Stay tuned for the finished chairs! Hopefully I can get to the post this week! I'm still settling into my new apartment and need to get some good pictures! Then I'll be able to cross a few things off of Sincerely's 100 List!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Sincerely,

Ashleigh

PS:

In Progress // Project A.D.D.

[please excuse the awful iPhone pictures throughout this post]

I am wiped out. I've been working on projects for about 8 straight hours today. And I didn't even get one thing finished! I must have Project A.D.D. I start one thing, move to another, then another, then another. I always have a million different ideas for a million different projects running through my mind.

Tonight I'll give you a little taste of what I've been working on. No big reveals, though. That will be for this weekend/early next week.

SO MUCH SANDING! I sanded my way through the drawer fronts of a mid century dresser I've been working on.

I repaired the water damaged top of my curbside end table.

I picked up this beauty from my Aunt Dar. Did I mention how she's my favorite?! Haha. I love having supportive family.

I stained the drawers with dark walnut.

I couldn't wait to start so I disassembled the desk and started peeling off bubbled up veneer.

TIP: Heat the veneer with an iron to melt the glue and make it easier to remove.

I also couldn't wait to try the paint color I picked out, so I did a quick coat on the drawer of my end table.

Not pictured: sanding and two coats of primer on the end table, repairs to the desk, lots and lots of spackling, more sanding and a little more sanding.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to start and finish the body of the dresser, paint the end table and get the desk sanded and primed.

Wish me luck! Hope your week has been a productive one!

Sincerely,

Ashleigh

Rescuing Some Antique Frames

The rain (and the death of my palm sander) is hindering my project progress. So, today I'm going to share a couple of frames I fixed up for my cousin Jill a while back. You might remember that I fixed up an end table and a coffee table for her. Her mom (my great Aunt) had these in her garage and thought we could do something with them.

They were in pretty rough condition.

I wiped off the round one and painted it yellow. I used really light coats of paint and left some original black showing through.

The other one took a little more work. Aided with some warm soapy water, windex and a toothbrush, I attacked it.

I couldn't believe what it looked like underneath that layer of nasty. Two hours later I had this-

The plaster looked a little dingy so I dry brushed on a little paint to match the end table.

Here they are at Jill's.

 

I hope this rain stops sometime soon so I can get out and work in the sun. Check back this week for new projects :)

Sincerely,

Ashleigh

PS: