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/ By Jo
/ October 12, 2020 October 11, 2020
I knew Kayla was coming…I knew Karl would be here. I thought the dresser that is destined to be my ironing station would go up the stairs so I quickly painted it and tried to have it ready so when the stars aligned, the kids would help me get it upstairs.
If you remember, it looked like this…
…and my illustration for it was this…
Here it is painted with no top yet.
Thankfully with a little pushing, prodding, and heavy lifting, it went up the stairs.
I’ve been on a roll getting things done in the garage….Remember that garage sale where I bought a ton of furniture pieces? Well this is yet another piece that I bought there. Before I bought it I did a lot of debating…a LOT! It was marked at $75. That’s more than I typically spend on a piece to re-do and sell. A lot more. I liked it…I liked it a lot but then the internal debate started…would someone else love it. UGH! Who knows? I don’t want to be out $75.
Then another guy came to the garage sale. He had his wife on the phone and was talking about the furniture. He was driving a trailer and was picking some furniture pieces. I quick grabbed the lady who was operating the sale and said- “I want all of these things (and then pointed them out)…will you shoot me a deal?” I could visibly see that the guy was angry as some of the pieces he was talking to his wife about were the pieces that I had taken. I didn’t know what he wanted…  This the garage sale life. He got a couple dressers I wanted so I think we were even.
The lady ended up giving me what was equal to $5 off the piece so I paid $70 for it.
As you might have noticed from the picture above you can see that were was some damage to this piece. Here’s a close up picture of the top. UGH.
I showed Hubby and he wasn’t thrilled with my purchase. He wasn’t mad. He definitely didn’t think it would be a money maker. When buying it is my real goal was to try to learn from it and at least get out of it what I put into it. But after his lack luster thoughts on the piece, I had all the motivation I needed to fix it right and actually turn a profit.
Hubby wasn’t much help on suggestions on renewing the top so I just did what instinct called for….sanding. I sanded and sanded and sanded. I used different sand paper weights and sanded until my arm vibrated. I sanded for almost two hours. Those water marks were deep.
I ended up giving up on completely removing the worst mark but it had GREATLY improved. The dark marks were gone. I didn’t think it needed to be perfect as it is a vintage piece. If it was too nice on the top then the bottom might start to look bad. There’s a fine balance and I thought I had found it….now what to do about staining the top? Do I varnish it? Hmmm.
I asked Hubby if he had any light stain around. We don’t do light typically so we had none. He said, “I do have that scratch (Old English Scratch Cover-light wood version) stuff you like in a light version”….Hmmm. That was my only option so I decided to give it a try….
About a month ago I was driving home from visiting Kayla. There’s a tiny little town called Lamont that has a little antique shop. Well Kalissa was with me and we stopped. I ended up spending $38 for this shelf. I’ve been needing something for childcare toys. I’ve not liked what I had. I wanted something antique/old looking. This, I thought, would be perfect.
I did have a few things I didn’t love. She the white smudges on the center of the shelves?
Check out the photo below….Paint drips.
So time to fix it up….I wanted an old worn look so decided a razor blade might do the trick on paint removal. I didn’t want to lose the finish on the wood so no chemical removers.
Now to long ago Kalissa and I had a girls morning…we wanted a whole day but when you have a little one and dad is watching him, you take what you can get. Â I think we both needed a little time to recharge. Â We ended up in Decorah and found the cutest little shop. Â Well it’s not exactly shop. Â It’s in a carriage house behind a home just off of Water Street. Â I have a little paper I got and the description says, “In the little barn behind the old stone house on the corner of Water and John Street”. Â The name of the place is Just Precious Vintage. Â It was SO-SO CUTE!!
The lady that runs the store was so friendly and helpful. Â Â I took a ton of photos but forgot to take a picture of the outside of the building and her super cute “glamper” that sat in the driveway. Â Here’s a whole bunch of pictures of the goodies inside. Â LOVE this spool cabinet!
She had lots of lace for sale and she made decorating with it look easy.
The shop is tiny but LOADED with goodness.
Kalissa and I were constantly saying “did you see this…did you see that?”
Look at that button jar!!
Cute little thread display….
I have collected so many of these things but I never take the time to organize them into a display…someday I hope.
