Just wanted to pop in to show the transformation of a piece of my childhood furniture.
Sometime in the 90's my mom acquired a chest of drawers and a vanity. It had belonged to my great-grandmother, Mama Fox and up until that time had been sitting in the barn at the old dairy farm in Crossville, TN (see here and here). My sweet mother, being the lovely woman she is, took this on as a project for my room which at the time was painted pink and had a sweet little kitty cat border. I'm fairly certain that if either of us saw this room today we might barf. Because she was, and is, the best mommy EVER she painted this furniture pink, then sponge painted a darker pink over it. Now I must insert here that I have very vivd memories of my mom not being happy with the darker pink color. In her words, it was "too dark." I also have vivid memories of LOVING THE COLOR. In my 90's childhood state I really thought it was just the best thing ever. After a while I got my own, new furniture and these pieces went to live in the attic.
Fast forward to earlier this year when my parents were moving...they came across a ton of my junk the furniture and asked me if I wanted it. It was either take it or give it away and my sentimental self couldn't bear to part with it. So, even though we didn't really have a lot of space for it we brought it home as a summer project.
Most projects of mine go this way:
1. I have a grand idea (or a little one, it really doesn't matter)
2. I get started with all my happy little supplies
3. Everything goes wrong
4. It turns out ok
This project was no different. The dreams I had of painting Mama Fox's sweet furniture quickly faded into mounds of icky stripped paint, saw dust so thick it made me ill, fragile pieces falling apart and being fixed again, faulty primer, wrong brushes...the list goes on and on. Here are some not so great pictures of what it looked like before.
The color I painted was Benjamin Moore's Ballet White. I thought this was a really subtle white that I could use in any room in the future. I'm not completely sold on it now that I have it in the house, but for now it'll do the trick. :) Shout out to Mom and Dad who helped me strip and sand one day... huge help. Daniel snuck a picture of me sanding (most likely because he'll never see it again). You can see the blonde color of the furniture once I got it to bare bones. Looks like I might have an asthmatic attack at any moment.
I have to say, after Daniel saw how much I was struggling with it, he really stepped up and helped me finish the project. I couldn't have done it without him helping me wood glue, nail, prime and paint. I have finished both pieces but I'm waiting on the right drawer pulls for the chest of drawers. Here is the vanity all finished up in our bedroom!
The quote is just something I found on Pinterest, wrote on a piece of scrapbooking paper in "livigraphy" and popped in a frame. The flowers are part of a bouquet I purchased at the Chattanooga Market. The bench is recovered in material left over from the chair in our room that my aunt recovered for me when I was younger. I purchased the glass knobs for 50% off at HobLob...score!
Overall I am so excited to have a little place to do makeup and hair everyday. It is so special that I am using the same mirror that my great grandmother used and I cant wait to pass it down if I have a little girl one day. Mostly, Daniel is excited that I don't have hair and makeup all over the bathroom counter anymore. :)
Until next time,
Livvy
