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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Bassett French Chest

It's a new week and new project to share.  I apologize now for not having many "before" or "during" pictures.  I just get into the "zone" once I start and forget to grab my camera.  Forgive me, please?

This old gal appeared on CL and was currently residing in a thrift store in a rather low income part of town.  



Hmmm...a 30 minute ride to check out a French piece.  Let's go for it.  The faux painted finish was awful!  I'm not sure what your next steps are while inspecting a piece for purchase, but I go for the drawers...all four of them get yanked out.  Looking good:  dovetailed joints, wood on wood drawer guides.  I'm starting to warm up to the little lady.  Who made you?  



Ah...Old Bassett, not new Bassett.  RPK, what's the difference?  We carried 'old Bassett' in our family store back in the day.  Remember, I come from a furniture family...and quality was of the utmost importance to us.  We dropped the line in the early 70s as they started to take short cuts and their quality didn't meet our standards.  The red raised emblem is from "Old Bassett" when their quality was still good.

But as I am snooping through the drawers, there is tacky drawer liner glued down in some of the drawers.  And the little darling who owned this chest previously had a taken a magic marker and proclaimed her love to her boyfriends!  Yes, plural!  There were many "I love John, I love Bob, etc" notations on the inside of the drawers.  Oh my goodness.  And again, sorry about not having any pictures.  But you can imagine, right???

She was looking good...strong, good bones, so she came home with me.

The old hair dryer trick helped me remove the glued down drawer liner.  And Zip Strip, with some intense scrubbing helped remove all of "her proclaimed love"!  Ha!

I had been working with layering paints on other projects and decided to use a similar technique.  So after some serious sanding to smooth out the paint strokes from the tacky faux wood grain, my first layer was ASCP Old Ochre.  And then a custom mix of ASCP Duck Egg, Paris Gray, Old Ochre (ratio: 5:2:1).

Some distressing, clear wax...and enough chit chatting.  Let's get to the pictures!





This is the only shot I have of the drawers.  They cleaned up nicely...no more proclamation of love!



There she is all prettied up. Anna took her home and is awaiting for Baby to arrive!

Thanks for stopping by!

Robin

Linking up at:









32 comments:

  1. This piece is gorgeous now! Well done! And that color......yummy!

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  2. Gorgeous and LOVE the color combo!!! I hope you don't mind if I "steal" it lol!

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    1. Ha! Have fun with it! My inspiration for a Drexel night stand I'm currently working came from this:
      http://www.thepainteddrawer.com/2013/07/and-then-there-were-two.html
      :) Maybe I'll name it "The Suzanne"! :)

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  3. This dresser is beautiful! You did a great job refinishing it!! I would love for you to stop by tonight and link up to my Furniture and Paint Party, complete with a $50 Visa Gift Card Giveaway!!!
    Hope to see you there
    Brooke
    startathome.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks, Brooke! Sorry I missed the party! Maybe next time...

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  4. This piece is stunning! Beautiful work!
    Anne

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    1. Thank you, Anne! I enjoyed using a few different colors...makes it interesting.

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  5. Great job! Good to know about old/new basset. I stopped buying basset because it seemed cheap, now I know I can buy the ones with the raised emblem. :)

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    1. HI Stephanie! I'm glad you found this post helpful. As I search for quality pieces, I've decided if there are wood on wood drawer guides, wood dust covers and dovetail drawers, then I'm taking it home...regardless of the "name" or even "no name"! :)

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  6. Thanks for the info about Bassett! That cute chest is fabulous now!

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    1. Glad you found the Bassett info helpful. I just bought a dresser the other day and knew it was good quality...but I couldn't locate any information about the manufacturer. Low and behold, as I am scrubbing the interior of the drawers, I see a very faint "Drexel" imprint. So it really doesn't matter who made it as along as the quality meets your own personal standards!
      Thanks for taking a peek at my blog and thanks for the kind comment!

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  7. Beautiful transformation. Beautiful patina on the piece. Love the style and the color.

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  8. She's a beauty. I'm so impressed with your entire portfolio! I'm so glad I found you at E. & Co. I am your newest follower. Blessings to you, Patti

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    1. Thank you so much, Patti! You have made my day! :)

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  9. Wow, it's beautiful. You got the layering just perfect. Love it.

    Mary @ Orphans With Makeup

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    1. Thank you, Mary! I've admired your work for quite awhile. I appreciate your stopping by and offering a kind comment!

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  10. Beautiful job on layering colours!!
    It's absolutely breathtaking now.

    I'm your newest follower:)

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    1. Wow, Sayuri, thank you! I appreciate your support and hope my future posts don't disappoint.

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  11. Beautiful!! I followed you over from Redoux!

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  12. So pretty! Loving all the shades coming through on this gorgeous piece. Thanks for sharing at Silver Pennies Sundays! x

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  13. Amazing collection of bassett chest with fantastic design and perfect suitable for loving bedroom.

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