It's now my mission to one day have a complete French Provincial bedroom set again. What I thought was just okay in high school is now the object of my affection--those cute little curved feet, and dips, and dreamy hardware. Siggghhh.
However, vintage French Provincial has now become trendy, so finding pieces at a reasonable price that are in decent condition is difficult. Lucky for me, I like to search for treasures.
Before I started joining BFF on her weekly thrifting adventures, I'd tag along every once in a while in hopes of finding a French Provincial dresser. One day, we visited what we have affectionately nicknamed the Sketchy Thrift Store. It's located in a less than desirable part of town, but it's huge and usually had good stuff. We walked in, headed toward the furniture, and what should I see across the room but this beauty:
It was like she was sitting there, waiting for me. "It's probably at least $100," I told BFF. I'd been searching Craigslist for weeks and definitely had sticker shock--who knew my childhood bedroom furniture would one day be such a hot ticket item? I walked quickly toward my treasure and was greeted with a price tag that said $32.50! $32.50!! I ripped the tag taped on her right off and headed to the check out right then and there. Tying her into my car and driving 35 mph home was interesting, but we made it home safely, I brought her inside and named her Charlotte.
I should point out at this time that I have a penchant for naming all of my furniture, my plants, and my Christmas tree. We all have our quirks.
This was the first piece of furniture that I'd ever tried to redo, so I consulted a few websites and came up with what sounded like a simple enough plan: sand, prime, sand, paint, ta-da! The actual process was a bit more taxing than that.
I borrowed an electric sander from BFF and my husband and I set out to redo Char in one day. I laugh hysterically at this now--we both definitely didn't realize how time consuming this would be. We (and by we, I mean mostly my husband) sanded the dresser with 80 grit sandpaper using an electric sander. After we (meaning he) were done, I sanded the edges and more intricate parts of the dresser by hand. We then primed the dresser with oil based primer (we used Kilz). PSA: Oil based primer is some serious stuff. If you get any on your skin (which you inevitably will), you'll need paint thinner to remove it.
I let it dry overnight. The next day, I lightly sanded with 220 grit sandpaper. This is especially important if you have any spots of drips or accumulation. Then came the first coat of paint (finally!). Our bedroom is black, white, and gray, so I decided to paint the dresser gray and the hardware white--I used Creek Bend by Behr in a flat finish. I used a roller on the top, sides, and drawers and a small paint brush on everything else.
I covered her with two coats (impatiently waiting in between coats) and then moved on to the hardware, which I sprayed with a glossy white. After the dresser and drawers were dry, I put the hardware back on and was very, very glad I was finally finished! Here is the finished project--my only regret is that I didn't put any type of top coat on it. After a couple of months, it shows a little wear and tear and definitely needs a few touch ups. One of these days I will take everything out of it, touch it up, and add a clear coat to prevent future wear. Overall, I love how Charlotte the French Provincial dresser turned out and am very pleased with my first attempt at a furniture redo!
No comments:
Post a Comment