October 28, 2009

Tales in Painting, Chapter 1

Once upon a time I used to underestimate the power of paint. Though it abounds in many a color, paint seemed too simple a change for any drastic impact to be achieved. That is, until I laid eyes on this dresser...it became clear to me that this sad piece of teenage experimentation art ("art" might be totally stretching it) needed resuscitating, tout de suite!





























What I am ashamed to admit is that this disaster was of my own hand, albeit during my teenage years, even so what was I thinking?!  And to give credit where credit is due, my sister gleefully egged me on with my "bright" ideas and probably even lent a helping hand with the intentionally lacking extra paint coat (if you look closely you might even catch a glimpse of the white brush marks peeking through the kelly green facade, which seemed oh so innovative at the time).  I should've realized my failings upon the movement of this piece into the family garage, where it very efficiently housed various personal and household hygiene products out of sight, out of mind.


However, this dresser's existence was re-affirmed last year when my mother decided that it didn't warrant the space it would consume in the moving truck.  So bye bye mom, hello new-old-ugly dresser.  By this time I was well into my search and restore mode for all things furniture, and now I had a new patient with exciting possibilities...on your marks, get set, paint! 


And without further ado, bid welcome to one of my very first FT patients (post-op of course): 



A clean & simple finish in a Tiffany Blue-ish color playfully mingles with vintage inspired drawer knobs from Anthropologie (one of my faves for furnishings & accessories, not to mention the clothes!), topped off with pictures of my boys. 



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This patient had an amazing recovery if I do say so myself!

October 15, 2009

Reconstructive Upholstery

When setting eyes on this sofa for the first time, one might think what's with the army fatigue corduroy? I was that someone, but despite my pre-judgments I squinted my eyes to sort of imagine what this sofa really wanted to look like. And then I was ready to go all the way. My husband and I cheerfully paid the sellers (I LOVE Craigslist!) and we were off to see the wizard.



First and foremost, the upholstery had to go! Where this piece would look acceptable I couldn't begin to contemplate, so I stopped right there. Onto new fabric...what this sofa needed was something refined, subtly modern with a smooth pattern (if any at all). Then came the work! I won't lie, Julien did the manual labor and loved every minute of it (at least that's what I told myself), while I put in my hours with the design details.




Bye bye separate seat cushion!









After pretty much gutting the thing, the rejuvenation process started with a mild but potent frame exfoliation (aka wood stripping) followed by staining with an espresso finish, giving the suggestively curvy frame a deep and luxurious lustre. Re-cushioning the sofa back, the seat and arms came next.



Oh my, we can see your under wires!



We decided on this great over-sized hounds tooth upholstery in light cream/sable. The contrast with the newly esspresso'd frame was just what I had pictured!




On it's way to perfection...




The edges have been cleaned up, now it's time for some embellishments!





Nail head tacs to clean up the lines...





And of course we wouldn't want to forget tuft buttons!






And just to reflect on the journey this couch has made, here's The Before:




Et voila! The After


C'est fini