Walnut MCM dresser makeover...Part 2!

You can see "Part 1" of this makeover here...a tutorial on stripping and oiling these amazing pieces!

Okay, I have to admit...EVERY time I work on one of these walnut pieces, two things happen...I fall madly in love with it and I am reminded of how much I LOVE walnut!

This little table is a prime example!

Solid walnut and an absolute true treasure! It certainly didn't LOOK like a treasure when I brought it home, but with a little time and effort, these pieces can become breathtaking additions to any home decor.

I know painted furniture is ALL the rage right now and I agree whole-heartedly that there is indeed a time and a place for painted furniture. My decorating motto...if you can ENHANCE the piece by painting it, go for it!

Some people aren't real keen on stained furniture...and that is okay. But I believe every decor needs the warmth and beauty of a quality natural wood piece...whether it is a table or chair or whatever! Not every piece needs to be painted and no decor should have ONLY painted furniture. Of course, no decor should have ONLY stained furniture either...even I throw in painted pieces here and there...probably not enough for some people's taste, but I do like to "lighten and brighten" occasionally. I painted my bedroom furniture and my office desk and even the little side table in my den. But you may note one common element on all these pieces...I left a little bit of natural wood! (Wow, looking at these old posts I realize my photography skills have come a long way! Still a ways to go, but definitely better!)

I decided to go with both paint and natural wood finish on this dresser. I like the way the painted "box" seems to frame the wood drawers! In my opinion, the results are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

So get ready for a BUNCH of pictures...because I am loving this piece!!!!

As I mention in the first post, the top had some pretty serious ink stains...

With a little "chemical" magic, gone!! When you find yourself faced with wood stains, hit the internet and search for a chemical solution. Trust me, sanding is NOT the answer, especially if you are working with veneer.

Can you even believe that this.....

...could become this. No stain...just a simple strip job and 4 coats of tung oil finish! Walnut in all it's natural glory!

I put this dresser in my oldest son's room. He doesn't actually LIVE here, but he still has a lot of stuff here. His room serves as a guest room and a place to keep all his "stuff." The other kids call it the "museum"...trophies, jerseys, plaques, certificates..high school and college mementos covering pretty much every square inch of the wall space.

Sooooo...it was time. Time for a fresh coat of paint. Time to box up most of the "stuff." Just time.

So later this week I will share his room makeover.

Want to know a little secret? For the first time ever I didn't stress over paint chips trying to pick the perfect paint color. I chose a color that everyone has been raving about on Pinterest and decor blogs. I literally called the paint store and told them to mix up 2 gallons, sight unseen...and I LOVE it!

I can't wait to share!

I am sharing this project with Christine at MustLoveHome.com as well as all my favorite Link Parties!

You can see the full room makeover here!

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Mid century chair SCORE!! And a Duncan Phyfe chair repair!

SCORE! Seriously, major score!

Okay, so they don't look so hot right now and they didn't look any better piled on a trailer at the auction, covered in gunk and spider ick!

Which is a good thing because nobody knew what they were...which means SCORE for ME! Baumritter mid-century dining chairs! Oh my!

I know they look rough right now, but let me work my magic on them!

Truth is, mid-century furniture hasn't really hit the big time here like it has in other parts of the country and honestly, we don't see a lot of it around here. But occasionally I can find pieces here and there.

I love them...everything about them. The grain and color of the wood after it is refinished (usually walnut or teak), the clean lines, the incredible construction! I love the entire process of restoring these pieces because I know they will take my breath away when I am finished. I also know it is next to impossible to find solid walnut and teak furniture these days.

So...what is my hard-fast rule? If I bring one in, I have to take one out. So sacrifices have to be made and the sacrifice is going to be the rest of my antique Duncan Phyfe chairs! I have already sold 2 and have four left...two painted side chairs and two caption's chairs.

Last year I featured the chair I had to repair. I was so proud of myself. I glued and sculpted the chair back that was broken and then painted the two side chairs, which kind of goes against my grain but they turned out beautiful. I didn't paint the caption's chairs....

The repair lasted all of about 6 months...and then the back busted again. CRAAAAAP!

So this time I decided to "rebuild" rather than repair.

This would have been SOOOO much easier had I just gone and bought a scroll saw. But oh no...I figured I could do this with my jig saw and Dremel. And I did...but next time I am going to buy a scroll saw!

First thing I had to do was deconstruct the chair to get to the "broken back." Fortunately, these chairs are constructed with dowel rods and the top pops right off...okay, you have to beat on it a bit and chip the paint...but it eventually comes off.

Then I had to find a little piece of wood the same thickness as the back...3/8". I figured that wouldn't be a big deal. It was. I ended up finding some 3/8" pine, but it wasn't wide enough...so I had to do the ole' clamp and glue thing to create a piece wide enough.

This is no big deal...truth is, most large wood slabs, and even smaller ones, are nothing but smaller pieces of wood glued and clamped together...most table tops are constructed that way!

After I let the piece sit for a day or so, (I was busy priming, sanding and painting my bedroom furniture...can't wait to finish and share!) I used wood filler to fill any gaps in the joints, sanded the piece smooth and traced the broken piece onto the wood...

....then I cut it out with a skill saw and dremel.

This is not a job for the faint of heart, impatient people or someone who has had more than 1 cup of coffee. You have to go slow and use a light, steady hand. I actually cut on the outside of my mark and then used sand paper to sand down to the mark.

This process would have gone a bit quicker had the wood not split a time or two. It never split at the glued joints, just on the grain, which meant I had to glue and clamp the split and wait! Grrrr.....

Anywho, after hand sanding and sculpting for a few hours, I had a piece that was pretty darn close to the original! Then it was just a matter of priming, sanding and painting it.

I reconstructed the chair and hit the entire back with another light coat of paint and sealer.

Presto...ALMOST good as new! Can you tell which is which?

I can...the chair on the left is the repair. The big difference is the "lines" that are missing from the middle...after all the cutting and sculpting and sanding, I wasn't going to risk messing it up by trying to chisel lines in the wood.

And I will be honest...fitting it all back together was NOT as easy as it sounds...there was some additional sanding and grinding and even a few curse words! But in the end it turned out pretty good!

Also, I noticed the paint has "yellowed" over time. That is pretty common for "whites." Something to keep in mind when contemplating "touch ups." There is a good chance you will have to paint the entire project if the color has faded, yellowed or changed over time!

Now that it is repaired and I feel good that it will hold up, I plan on selling this chair and the matching one and the two caption chairs so I will have room for my mid century chairs when I get them refinished.

If I bring one in, I have to take one out!!!

Hopefully I will get that done before Thanksgiving...or we may all be sitting on lawn chairs!

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Drexel Declaration Mid Century coffee table...

I know I am always talking about how AWESOME some of my furniture finds are, but this is truly an AWESOME piece!!! Mid century and walnut...my absolute favorites! (Check out some of my other mid century finds and makeovers here!)

We scored this coffee table at an auction. I probably should have flipped it over and looked for markings before bidding, but it is pretty big and honestly, I didn't want to draw too much attention to it (gotta be "cool" at the auctions!) When I bid on it, I knew nothing about it other than it was walnut and mid century! Structurally, it was in mint condition and I knew it could be spectacular with a little elbow grease. The scratches and water sports were not too bad! We were told it had been stored in an old outbuilding for years....I believe it!

The piece is marked on the bottom. It is a Drexel Declaration coffee table. A relatively "rare" piece with a good value!

As I have said before, it is not the "profit value" that motivates me. It is the absolute LOVE I have for this furniture.

It has been in my garage for months. I just didn't have the time or space to mess with it! The first thing I had to do was strip it. Keep in mind the finish on these pieces are 50+ years old so the old varnish has "yellowed" over time. And of course there is all the wear and tear...scratches, water damage, worn finish! But you CAN NOT strip old paint or varnish inside. The chemicals are just too strong and stripping and sanding does make a bit of a mess so I made sure I got all stripping and sanding done before it got too cold to work outside! (I really need a heated shop!)

I almost always use Formby's furniture refinisher to strip old varnish. I find that it really does a great job of "melting" the old finish off while hydrating the wood. Occasionally I may have to use something a little stronger and on very rare occasions I will actually sand the piece. I did take some sand paper to this piece only because there were several "water stains" that just couldn't be chemically removed.

I can not stress enough how important it is to CAREFULLY sand old furniture! Veneers can be very thin and it is easy to get carried away! Always start with a fine grain paper (220 grit) and work your way to a heavier grit ONLY if you need it. Then work your way back to a fine grit!

You may not be able to remove every stain or imperfection. And that is okay! Old and antique pieces are going to have imperfections! Embrace them! My office desk I featured here is a prime example....

Try as I might, I could not get this old cigarette burn to go away...and that's okay. It is a constant reminder of one of the many reasons I shouldn't start smoking again!

Fortunately I was able to get almost all the "imperfections" off the coffee table.

Also, most finishes were originally applied in a way to make the wood grain appear "uniform." A multi-layer technique may have been used or the finish and stain were sprayed on. Once the original finish is removed, you are likely to find that the wood grain no longer has a "uniform" appearance. Again, embrace it!

After making sure I removed ALL the old finish, I "washed" the entire piece with mineral spirits. This is an important step when refinishing furniture whether you are applying a clear finish or painting. It removes all the gunk and oils. Then I hit is with a very fine sandpaper just to knock down the grain a bit.

The mineral spirit wash will also give you an idea of what color the wood will be when you apply a clear finish. Most woods will be a completely different color stripped than it will after a clear finish has been applied. After you wash the piece with mineral spirits, the wood will eventually dry back to a natural color, but while it is wet you will be able to tell what color it will be after a clear finish is applied and whether you will want to apply a darker or different color stain. I personally love the color of natural walnut after a clear finish is applied, so rarely will I apply a stain.

After wiping the piece down with mineral spirits, I wiped the entire piece down with tack cloth to remove dirt and dust. Again, you can wipe down a piece all day with the cleanest cloth...I can promise you the tack cloth will find more! Use it and use it between EVERY coat of finish or paint!

After stripping, sanding and tacking, I began applying the Formby's tung oil. I love this stuff...in my opinion it is a superior finish to poly! Super easy to apply and much less room for error. If it gets scratches in the future, just hit it with 0000 steel wool, tack cloth and then apply another coat of tung oil. Simple!

Because of the weather, I had to apply the tung oil inside. The smell and fumes from tung oil is not that bad. Steel wool itself tends to crumble and create "dust" so I decided to try something new...which is NOT something I do easily! I picked up these little "finishing pads." They seem to work pretty well! I still favor the steel wool, but the pads produced far less "dust" than the steel wool!

A little trick when painting or refinishing...place aluminum foil under the feet/base after you are finished sanding and tacking. Most paint and finish won't stick to aluminum foil (unlike paper) and it will protect your floor and keep dust from being dragged onto the base when applying the finish!

I usually apply 3-5 coats of tung oil. I use a "stain sponge." You can usually find them in the stain section at Lowe's. Three coats is usually enough, but if I still feel the finish is "uneven" I will continue to apply coats until I get an even "gloss" look. ALWAYS rub it down with 0000 steel wool and tack cloth between each coat.

Whether you use steel wool or finishing pads or sand paper, make sure you always sand WITH the grain.

"Sanding" and tack cloth between each coat is VERY important. I used tack cloth before I applied the first coat of tung oil and I could still see and feel "crumbs" after it dried!!!

I love this piece. I think it looks a tad too big for my living room, but I just can't bring myself to part with it! Honestly, I think I would like it a bit better if I had a bigger rug. This one has always been a tad too small, but it was cheap and I just needed something to throw down to keep our toes warm! With an old kitty in the house, you don't invest too much in rugs.

So I have been looking...Joss and Main...Overstock...I'm looking! Someday.

(UPDATE! Yep, that is the NEW rug...featured it here...and I seriously love it! I am so honored to be featured on betterafter.net! Gail asked to see the inside, so here is a picture with the top open. As you can see it has a little compartment with a sliding drawer. The inside was in mint condition, so I did not do anything to it!)

and Better After!

and Curbly.com

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The Birdies on a light fixture or lamp shade!

I received several positive comments about the little bird pillows featured here! They really are darling. I took the pillows I featured to my booth and then made two more for my den.

I also painted the bird silhouettes on my laundry room wall...featured here. ( I would like to add...this laundry room reveal has been "pinned" and featured a BUNCH!!! Awesome!)

When I spotted this little light fixture on clearance at Lowe's, I just knew it would be perfect for the bird silhouettes! Simple metal base and a linen shade. The metal was "antique bronze"... not my favorite but an easy fix! (Kind of makes me wish I hadn't already set my heart on the fixture I already installed in the laundry room! )

I painted the base black. Since it is metal I first sprayed it with the auto primer and then two coats of gloss black.

If you can't easily remove the shade, make sure you tape it off REAL well!

Then the tricky part....painting the birds on the shade.

This post gives you a step by step tutorial on painting on fabric. As I mentioned, if you screw up or get this paint on the fabric, it is NOT coming off. Painting on a round shade is NOT easy. So get comfy and take your time. I basically used the same exact process I used to paint on the fabric for the pillows!

Somehow, by the grace of God, I managed to paint the silhouettes without messing it up!

I painted a silhouette on each side of the shade. When I hung it in my booth, you can see the birds from both sides...AWESOME!!

Dressing up a basic fixture or updating light fixtures is NOT hard. Often it costs way less than going out and buying new fixtures. Here I featured exterior lights I purchased at a garage sale for $5.00...new glass, a little elbow grease and a little paint...as good, or better, than new!!

Don't stop at light fixtures...updating old lamps and paddle fans can give new life to out-dated or boring fixtures! Check out how easy a little "make-over" can be here!

And if you don't know how to take down an old fixture or install a new one, just check out my tutorial here. It is not hard and YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

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FINALLY, a chair before and after!!!

I say FINALLY because as I have mentioned I have "upholstery block." I can pick paint, I can pick stain...but I have the toughest time picking out upholstery. Which is becoming a real problem because I have all these chairs in my garage that need upholstery work!

Anywho, I finally picked an upholstery for these little mid century style slipper chairs....

I was a little hesitant to go with something so "funky." But fact is, I don't think these chairs have a tremendous "value" so it was a perfect opportunity to do something fun with a style I love! When I found a "'50's Paris" themed fabric at Hobby Lobby, I decided to go for it. Who wouldn't love the Eifel Tower, 50's fashion and PINK???!!!

The legs were oak...sturdy but not my favorite, so I didn't have a problem painting them....a little primer and black satin spray paint. I added a little batting but otherwise they were in pretty good shape! And really comfy! The chair didn't originally have any piping, but I added a little black around the base of the seat.

I found a black and white diamond pattern fabric I am going to make little pillows out of of...eventually. I stuck my houndstooth pillow on there just to see how it would look...not so great, but I think the diamond pattern will look awesome!

Personally, I think they are pretty cute...we'll see if they sell...

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Mid century side tables...

I have been working hard to find pieces I know others will just love! Problem is every once in a while I find pieces I absolutely fall in love with and I know I will have a hard time letting go! Especially after working on them all day!

I believe these tables are black oak. The tops, sides and drawers were veneer, but the bases were solid. Really beautiful tables with great "bones."

I primed and painted the boxes. Then I stripped and stained the drawers and bases and coated them with 4 coats of tung oil.

Honestly, it will be tough letting go of these two.

But someone, somewhere will love them....hopefully as much as I do!

FOLLOW BECKWITH'S TREASURES ON FACEBOOK! Now if I can just figure out how to put one of those little Facebook widgets on this blog!

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Wicker chair fit for a little ballerina...

It is so hard to take a picture of a piece of furniture that was white but is now a PALE mist green...but I tried!

It may not appear in the picture to be a huge difference, but it really is! And it is perfect for a little girl's room! Now if I only had a "little" girl....

What is truly amazing about the color I painted the little chair (Valspar, Mellow Spring) is it matches the color of my 60+ year old Universal Ballerina Mist stoneware to a T!

My paternal grandmother wasn't a "china" kind of lady...so this was really all she had. My mom bought the gravy bowl and plate, the serving platter and the tea pitcher at the estate auction after Grandma passed....while she was carrying it back to her car she dropped the pitcher!! So when mom gave me what she had, the pitcher was beyond repair. So I did what I always do...I Googled the pattern!

Turns out it isn't a real expensive stoneware pattern...but the color and style is really beautiful and very "mid-century" since it was probably made and acquired in the 50s. It is a "mist green" with a platinum band...just awesome. So when I found more pieces out there, I bought another tea pitcher, the milk pitcher, salt and pepper shakers, a serving bowl and the sugar and creamer set.

Being the "family historian" and "archive fanatic" that I am, I carefully wrapped the broken pitcher, put it in a box, and wrote the story of why there was a broken tea pitcher in it and how I acquired a replacement.... with a Sharpie...on the box! Hopefully my family won't think their mom was crazy for keeping a broken tea pitcher in the attic (trust me, they have enough reasons!)

This week while I was sniffing around a new antique shop in town, I found another set of salt and pepper shakers!

Now that I have two sets, I don't mind using one...at least I know I have a replacement if they get broken!

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Oh. My. Goodness....I can't believe I found one....UPDATE!

Okay, I told you about my absolute obsession with the mid century Lane Acclaim tables. So in my quest for all things "mid century" I stumbled upon a line of furniture that literally makes me drool....Brasilia by Broyhill. Manufactured in the 60s, this line of furniture is absolutely one of the most beautiful and desirable mid century designs floating around right now! I have always wanted a piece of this line, but honestly I could never find one in my budget!

So when I found a Brasilia hutch online for an unbelievable price, I just knew something had to be wrong with it it! It was at one of my favorite flea market haunts, White Elephant. Even though I was exhausted and already in my pajamas, I called my son, who lives a few blocks from the flea market, and told him to go stand guard in front of the hutch until I could get there and inspect it.

Beautiful. Near mint condition, less a few bumps and bings...but honestly, that is to be expected from someone in their 50s! And even though I really don't NEED or even want a dining room hutch, I just couldn't pass it up! Maybe I can trade it for the bedroom hutch I REALLY want!

I took a few days off this week but Monday morning, that puppy will be on it's way to my house!

It is now in my garage...it ended up costing me about $1200 damage to my truck! The hutch is still in mint condition...the trailer I used to bring it home can handle a lot of abuse...but the truck...not so much!

Today's lesson....do not forget you have a trailer on your truck and back out of the drive way. The corner of the trailer can do some serious damage to a side panel. Just another helpful hint.

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Dressing up an old dresser....

I'm tryin' here! Smarmy comes easy..."witty"...not so much!

But it dawned on me....I have never posted my dresser makeover!

I use to have this HUGE hulking dresser in my office/dressing room. It was a "matchy-matchy" to my bed and highboy...which I love, but the dresser was seriously huge and just seemed to shrink the entire room. So when I was out digging around for the desk (featured earlier) I found this sweet little dresser and said to myself "Why not!"

I LOVE the style.....kind of a mid-century modern with walnut veneer. The top was laminate, so I knew I was going to have to paint the entire thing...and I did. But later I found a picture online of an identical dresser and they had painted the top and sides, but refinished the wood veneer drawers...GORGEOUS! And you know how I loooove anything wood, especially walnut! Live and learn...maybe next time!

As with most of my furniture, I had a piece of glass cut for the top...lets me clean it with Windex!

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My home office....

I will try to post "before/after" projects as I muddle along and try to figure this all out. I always have something new in the works, but a lot of the "old" projects are fun and interesting....and hopefully inspiring!

Last year I decided I was fed up with my old office....big clunky desk, big clunky dresser, big clunky mess. The problem is, when I first bought this house 13 years ago, my "style" was more traditional...now I am to the point where I want sleek and more "mid century." Honestly, if the only cleaner I had in my house was windex, I would be happy....which might explain why I put glass tops on all my furniture!

Anywho, I was digging my way through a little "junk" shop one day and stumbled upon a desk and a dresser with distinct "mid century" flare. I couldn't get it in my truck fast enough! This led to a complete transformation of my entire home office!!

Once I got the desk home and stripped down the nastiness from the top, I knew I couldn't paint it. Less one little cigarette burn (a reminder of WHY I shouldn't start smoking again) it was beautiful! So I coated it with 4 applications of my favorite tung oil and kilzed and painted the bottom of it. I had the "modern" hardware leftover from my masterbath remodel, so I slapped it on there to save my nails. The desk chair has been in my attic for 13 years...and honestly, I have NO idea where it came from or how long I have had it. But again, after stripping it down, there was no way I was painting it....solid mahogany under all the dirt and grime! So it too got a few coats of tung oil and a new seat cover.

One of the things you will see I do through out my house, is decorate with things I love. The large diploma on the wall (to the left) is my great grandmothers University of Arkansas diploma from 1920. The little bulldog statue on the desk (left corner) is one that sat on my great grandfather's desk umpteen years ago....both worthy of display!

I will feature the dresser, refurbished paddle fan, and the sitting area (including the antique wingback chair I was literally carrying to the street when I decided to experiment on it) in later posts....this room is loaded with "charm" and almost every piece has been refinished, reupholstered, repurposed or reinvented....stay tuned!!!

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