{Work with what the trash man gave ya}

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A while back I got this black hutch.  I didn’t really pay too much attention to the condition apparently.  So when someone decided they wanted to buy this cute little hutch, I started to get it ready for paint and it was a mess!!

Seriously – this thing had at least 10 different paint colors over the years and someone even at one point decided that they should just paint over stickers that their kids probably stuck on the hutch.  uh huh, they did.

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So I was going to call my super sweet, most frequent client ever and tell her “no can do on this dresser” – I think it was just too far gone for the look that she was after.  Luckily she changed her mind for another dresser even before I called her – phewww. 

I decided to trash the top part and just work with the bottom.  I have been wanting to paint something red for a while now, and this was the perfect piece. 

I gave the dresser a good sanding, just to get off all the peeling paint.  But – it wasn’t perfect.  There was still lots of texture – so I just decided to work with it.  This would be just the right piece to heavily distress and glaze – it needed to look old and worn – and it did in the end :)

Before…

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Here you can see the many layers of paint.  One thing that made me decide to keep it instead of just trashing it, was that someone once loved this dresser enough to keep on updating it with paint. 

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I painted it a color very similar to Antique Red by SW (SW 7587).  Heavily distressed using cabinet scrapers like I talked about here, then I glazed it with an ebony stain.  I have talked about glazing in the past on this post – but for the most part now, I skip the “glaze” and just brush straight stain on the furniture and then wipe it off.  Either way works – the glaze gives you more time to work with it, the stain sets a little faster.  If its warmer where you live or the furniture has a lower sheen (like an egg shell, flat or a satin) then I would probably use the glaze mixed with stain just to give you more time to work with it.

Here it is all covered in stain.  I did one drawer at a time, let it sit for a minute after I brushed on the stain and then just wiped it off.

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Here you can see the difference the stain makes.  It tones down the red and the stain sets in all the little cracks and imperfections.

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Then, just I just clear coated it to protect all that chippy goodness and painted chalkboard on some old wooden knobs – just for fun. 

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And there ya have it.  Sometimes its best just to work with what the trash man gave ya.  Every piece of furniture is different with all of its flaws and imperfections – but that’s what gives it the character that we love.  Not every piece needs to be perfect – just work with what you got.

**And guess who ended up buying this cute little dresser after it was all done?  Same girl that wanted it the first time!  She took home 2 dressers this week!**

Smile