French Linen Dresser & Night Stand

What a lovely 'stumbleupon' when this buffet and dresser came up on CL from the same seller.  

 I'll write a later post about the buffet, but for now, today's post is regarding the dresser.  Both pieces met my criteria for quality, so let's load 'em up!

My inspiration came from this lovely picture via Pinterest:

Unfortunately, the original Pin had no identifying marks with it, so I don't know where this lovely picture originated from.  But the room was quiet and serene.  I loved the way the dresser looked in the overall scheme.  There was my vision for this piece.

The dresser looked like a soft version of ASCP French Linen, with Old White accents.  After the base coat, I did a very soft wash of Old White...just enough to settle in the grooves of the drawers.  

I had a lovely Drexel night stand in my 'inventory', so I paired them together.  Here is the 'before' of the night stand:

And here is the 'after':

I added crystal knobs to the night stand...thought she needed a bit of sparkle...

Here's the happy couple...

But the two didn't stay together for long.  One of my favorite customers loved the night stand and asked me to keep an eye out for a similar piece.   So what did RPK do?  She repainted it!  Ha!  

The dresser went to a lovely couple who just moved here from Alaska!  

And they all lived happily ever after...

Thanks for stopping by!

Robin

Vintage Vanity

Here is another lovely lady, who was old and tired.  

My first step is to strip the top.  As I've said before, let's see what is under the hood.  I never know if I'll be able to strip & sand it well enough to refinish.  Fortunately, she looked good after that step.  

A custom mix of ASCP ( a little bit of this and little bit of that!) got me a pretty shade of blue.  

Dark Walnut stain and MissMustardseed Clear Wax.

The original hardware was in great shape....

A little fluted detail and some pretty turned legs...

She's not so old and tired anymore.  When Christine saw her, it was love at first sight!  It does my heart good to know she has found a new home!  :)

Thanks for stopping by....

Robin

Linking to:

MissMustardseed

LizMarie Blog

Finding Silver Pennies

Elizabeth & Co

Redoux Interiors

Why is this Crackling? Help Please!

I bumped into a bit of a mystery on this project and am hopeful you can help me solve it.  My Paint Crackled and I don't know why.

Let's start from the beginning:  Lovely little desk, well made and deep, dark reddish, mahogany stain. 

A client spotted it in my "inventory" and thought it would be great for her daughter.  Can I paint it in ASCP Pure White, and redrill for knobs instead of the pulls?  I say to myself, I can do that because I have mastered the plague of the bleed through!  So she gets a good sanding, fill the holes and get her prepped for paint.  

The side panels are constructed of wooden boards (this little desk weighs a ton) and there is some separation in the boards.  After filling, gluing and sanding, the prep is done..

I apply two coats of shellac, because that is my magic weapon against bleed through.  I've done a dozen pieces of dark mahogany and Old White and the shellac has worked like a charm.

Next comes 2 coats of ASCP Pure White.  NO BLEED THROUGH!  Am I the master of the universe, or what??  Ha! 

Ah, the rub.  Time for humility to set in!  Those boards on the side panels are not flush and I can see the slight difference in elevation from one board to the other.  It is slight, but I am aware of it.

The cottage look was not what the client and I had discussed.  So I sand, fill, etc, but to no avail.  I send her this picture (after day 3 of working on this cute, little desk, arg...) and she is cool with it.  Not a problem.  Great....let's get her finished up!

2 more coats of Pure White (I like a thorough coverage), with light sanding between each coat.  She is feeling smooth to the touch and really beginning to look beautiful.  It's late and time to call it a day.  Good night sweet, little desk.  I'll see you in the morning!

This little darling turned into the devil and started CRACKLING overnight!  What in the world???

Please tell me you've seen this before and can explain what happened!  I've gone through this process of shellac and Old White a lot recently and not bumped into this....I am stumped.  This was still during the summer, so there were no drops in temperature during the night.

I called my client and we scrapped the project.  I painted the desk black, refinished the top,  and added some really cute knobs (Thanks, Reese, from The Weathered Door for inspiration!).

In the end, she turned out beautifully.  These projects have a way of taking on a life of their own...but as DIYers were open to that happening...make the adjustments, because that's how we roll!  :)

Any thoughts on what caused the crackling would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by.

Robin

Linking up at:

Finding Silver Pennies

Elizabeth & Co

MissMustardseed