Before and After

What I wouldn't give for these pictures to be the BEFORE and AFTER pictures of myself, But Sadly they are before and After pictures of furniture RE DO's! However, I do know when I decide to concentrate on myself, it will happen again! So enough about WEIGHT!
I have been addicted to furniture blogs and revamps for almost 2 years now. Hence, the slow demise of this blog. I can't just jump into something. I have to mull it over, think about it, contemplate it, almost befriend an idea before I go gungho and dive into something. I wish I was more pro-active when it comes to things like that. I have a natural abhorence to natural woods being painted. I love and appreciate antiques or the warmth of seeing age against the grain of wood. I believe it tells a story.

So, when the concept of taking beautiful ornate pieces of furniture and slapping paint on it disturbed something deep within that I had to fight against and come to grips with. I know, its FURNITURE and usually furniture that no one wants but I guess I'm still a purist at heart.

I found this beauty at the GW! I have a love hate relationship with GW! I love it, but seriously some of the prices at the GoodWill are hillariously ridiculously over priced!! Like, give me a freaking break! These items have all been donated to your store for FREE and then you are going to charge $250 for a TV that might work? The prices are more than I would pay on more things BUT then the compelling reason that keeps me going back is that I find a beauty like this little girl.

HELLO Gorgeous!

Her lines were perfect! Her top was a little beat up but nothing a little sanding couldn't take care of and I loved the hardware she came with! OH my ::swoons:: Other than her top, I really thought she was beautiful as is. but I thought the small ornate detail would really sing with a glazing technique and this is the soul purpose she was bought for!
The blog that got my heart singing about painting and glazing is this girl, Brooke. You can find her at All Things Thrifty.
She gives you a details about everything you need to know about spray paint! I read that tutorial as well as countless others on the internet. I wanted my bases covered. I chose to go with the spray paint technique instead of using the paint brush. So simple and easy.

I used Kilz spray primer. LOVE IT...Mean It! I sanded in between coats. and primed again, and sanded! and then I chose KRYLON high gloss in spray can! It's glorious! NO pictures sorry!

This post is not a HOW TO! Because I clearly did not take the pics! But head on over to All things Thrity if you would like a step by step process.
I took the handles off and sprayed them with OIL RUBBED BRONZE by Krylon. I should invest in that stuff! It's beautiful. You will adore it also!! Go, GO GET IT NOW!!!
Sanded primed and painted. I'm going to be upfront. This is another side table I did. I forgot to take pics of the end table in this stage!

She looks good at this point but I knew she could look so much better.

GLAZING GLAZING GLAZING! Go back to Brooke's blog and she gives a wonderful detailed tutorial how to glaze your furniture. Here's the linky!
You're Welcome.
Now Glazing is a personal thing. I didn't want a lot of glazed left on my piece. I wanted it to just enhance and not take over. You can leave as much or as little on it as your little heart desires.

Here is my experience with GLAZING!
1. I bought the expensive glaze. I did not have my glaze tinted because I wanted it to be very versatile. I wanted to be able to tint the glaze any color I desired. I have since tinted my glaze black, and brown for a wall technique. Would I buy glaze again? Probably not.  Glaze in my opinion just buys you time. It allows you to apply and paint and then all you do is rub it right off.
2. Have a dry cloth and a damp cloth on hand
3. Apply with an old brush
4. I had to let mine sit longer on the piece before I wiped it off. I am THRIFTY to the extreme so it bothered me that I put all this glaze on ONLY to wipe it ALL off! Wasteful! So, on my other pieces I used a lot less glaze and more paint and I felt it was a better fit for me and I was being more THRIFTY!
5. All that said, I recomend doing it the correct way first and then making your own adjustments. Who knows you may need more play time.
6. I glazed my pieces with the drawers in the table and dresser. I FORGOT to open the drawers and wipe down the tops! The drawers still opened but I had these black gobs and streaks left. It looks unprofessional. I wish I had caught it while it was still wet, so I could have wiped it off. Easy fix. Just rub with the color of paint you used to paint your piece with. I just hate added steps.

Here is the finished product! She really is beautiful! I bought her for $8

I found a matching end table on Craigslist and they wanted $20. I tried to get him to go down to $8. He wouldn't budge. I felt like I didn't need an end table on the otherside of my bed. It was the Mr's side. I thought I could live not having her mate. I was grossly mistaken. I pine for her matching mate, almost as much as she does! Now, I gladly would have handed him over the $20 but I was being a stickler to what She cost and not spending a penny more. I know one day I will find her mate and all will be well in the world. I just have to be patient. One of life's lessons learned from furniture.
Here she is a bit lonely. I will find cute accessories to help her lonely heart.

I never pay more than what I think it is worth to ME and this is one of the EXTREMELY very RARE times when I allow a gem to slip through my fingers. I should have paid the $20.00

But for now, we have both chosen to embrace life as a single side table! My daughter saw this picture and screamed, "You didn't make your bed?" Hello, she's 13!! And No, I didn't make my bed. I'm 41 years old and had to make my bed while young EVERY day and I choose to make my bed about 50% of the time! LOL, I don't harp on my children to make their beds! But, my bed is now made and now everything is right in my daughter's world because her mama made her bed! (next time, you will make my bed)!