Re-dressing The Dresser

I have re-finished a lot of furniture…but never have I done a home made treatment.   I have used paint, stain, ink, fabric, paper and metal…but never have I looked into my kitchen cupboards to re-create a piece of furniture.  

A few weeks ago, I was looking online for a way to distress wood, to make it look old.   I happened upon a few sites that gave several different techniques that would weather wood quickly.   Intrigued, I tried every last one of them.   I was disappointed in all of them.   None of them gave me the results I was looking for.   So…in my usual Tootsie fashion, I mulled it over for a few days. 

Everyone knows how I love rust.   YES I said RUST.   I love old rusty metal things, that I can use in my decorating adventures…I just love it.   I love rust pretty much anywhere and everywhere…except on my Truck.  lol   I decided that I would age some wood…and I would do it using a coctail of rust, vinegar. baking soda, and strong black tea.

I poured a jug of vinegar into a pail, threw in a rusty piece of metal and added a sprinkle of baking soda.   It started to bubble immediatley…the vinegar was eating the rust off the metal and turning it to a wonderful shade of brown.   The tea was hot, super strong and a glorious shade of deep brown…It was time.   I just needed to find some wood to age!  I poured the tea into the bucket of vinegar water and was ready to get to work.

I did a few sample boards to see what the concoction that I had brewed up would do to them…Spruce changed to a glorious color of gray…so did cedar…it got very nice and dark…almost black.   Pine changed to a soft shade of brown-gray…I think I found my new favorite treatment!   I NEEDED to try this Tootsie Brew on a piece of furniture!

My Cowboy had this dresser sitting in storage.   It needed to be fixed up.  It isn’t in the “worst” shape…nor is it “old”…but it is something he likes, so he wanted it fixed up a bit.   It is made from solid pine…and had a varnish treatment on it.   I was absolutely “up” for the challenge to make this small dresser over.   It would need to be done in such a way that it would look like it belonged in the Minburn house that we are renovating and transforming.  

I eagerly pulled out the electric sander, and got straight to work!

I sanded for a couple (3 1/2)  of hours, until the dresser was completely naked.   None of the varnish was left at all….It sure did come out white!

There are a few blemishes on the front of the bottom drawer, but for the most part, this piece is in good shape!

I then pulled out my Tootsie Brew…of vinegar, rust, baking soda, and black tea, and got busy painting it onto the dresser.

Waiting for that coat of “brew” to dry seemed to take FOREVER!….

….but it was worth the wait!   I am loving the way this wood is aging!  

I sent my Cowboy a photo of his dresser thus far.   We both agreed that maybe I should try another application of the “brew”   just to try to darken it up a bit more. 

So…I applied another coat.   While I waited for it to dry, I worked on the hardware.

I bought a can of hammered metal spray paint in a brown color…and sprayed each of the drawer pulls. 

By the time the drawer pulls were dry, so was the dresser…and I could marry them!

OH YEA….This looks GREAT.

I love the new look for this dresser…it is rustic and aged…it’s not shiny, it’s not pretty…it’s gorgeous!

It is a great change for this inexpensive dresser.  I am so happy with the way it turned out…and best of all…my Cowboy loves it.  We are both looking forward to putting it into the 108 year old house we are fixing up!

If you would like to read about the 108 year old house project…you can find links to the first 4 chapters at the end of this post.


What do YOU think?   Did I do this dresser justice?   Did my “brew” age it?   Don’t forget to weigh in with a comment!   I’d love to hear from you!

Until Next Time…  Happy Junkin’/ Renovating/ Decorating!

*)*)*)… Beware the true intentions of false people

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

www.tootsietime.com

Did you miss a post or two in the 108 year old house series?
Article #1  If The Walls Of This Old House Could Tell A Story…The Saddest Chapter Is About To End.

Article #2   If Walls Could Tell A Story…The 108 Year Old House…On The Inside

Article #3If The Walls Of This Old House Could Tell a Story…The Small Bedroom In The 108 Year Old House

Article #4 If the Walls Of This Old House Could Tell a Story…The Master Bedroom

Hey YOU...Teenage Boy!!! Keep It Clean!

I am the mother of one Teenage Boy….I love my Duchy (pronounced “Doochie”) dearly but am glad there is only one boy in my house!   He is messy and absent minded...moody and MUCH too tall for his own good...but he is always going to be my first and only Baby Boy!

(he is NOT going to like that I wrote that part....hahaha!...but after the mess I just cleaned up...he deserves it!  hahahahaha!)
 

While he was away over the Easter Break, I set myself up for a HUGE job…To clean up and re-decorate his bedroom.   The decorating part was easy…it was the cleaning part that got my goat. 
I did not take any photos as I was far to mad to think about photographs of the pig pen I was in.  It was only a few weeks before that I had helped him clean up and get organized…so this infuriated me.  He was probably lucky that he was all the way in Arizona and his angry little mommy was in Alberta!

I worked for several hours in Duchy’s room…and finally I began to see the light at the end of this tunnel…The room was clean…it was organized…and it was ready to decorate!


I didn’t have time to do all that I wanted before he got home…but I did make it look like a teenage boy lives here!



I re-positioned his bed…moved pretty much all his furniture around.  Got rid of a couple of pieces…the x-rocker and the big pirate trunk full of super heros…had to go.   So I deleted them.  He has a lot more room now.



He still has all the teenage boy “essentials”   he has his extra loud speakers for his stereo system…and his sports mementos…



He has storage for his clothes etc….I do want to re-finish this old dresser one of these days.  The newer one that was bought for him when he was younger is not in good shape anymore, and isn’t worth fixing right now…this one was much more functional…and solid..so it is what we will keep.



Tootsie had to get creative with this window…hanging a curtain over it made the room feel like a dungeon.   I am a firm believer in natural light when possible, so I used my imagination.   I had a couple of plastic garden fence things in the greenhouse that I was aching to use in a fun way…I cut the pointy parts off the bottom…(the part that goes into the ground) and hung it on his window!    I did not remove the film stuff that was on the glass when we moved in, as this window is going to be changed possibly this spring.


The addition of a fake plant and some old boxing gloves finished that area nicely!   I love the look of the window now.



I hung his two hockey canvas’s on the wall over the headboard on his bed…

…and turned my attention to the other side of the room.



His closet was a mess…but it is now all organized.   the long door is where he hangs clothes…the short door has his playstation and games as well as a little flat screen t.v.   There will be rules about how much gaming is going to be allowed to happen, and if they are not followed…there will be a lock installed.  



Now, I know you are itching to see better what’s going on beside that closet aren’t you????



Well….beside the closet, there is a small shelf with baskets for stuff…all organized…nice an neat. (yes there are some Easter candies there…he has a little sister that still believes in the bunny…so it is mandatory that he play along… ha ha!)



I know…I know…that basket shelf wasn’t what you wanted to see….THIS is what you wanted to see!

I attached 4 empty clean paint cans to the wall and filled them with his favorite cookie!

Yep…fortune cookies…Duchy LOVES his fortune cookies…and I really love that they are in these cans!   I hope he thinks that it’s as awesome as I do!



The cats sure do miss their kids when they are away…Ginger spent a lot of time in Duchy’s room while he was gone. She normally stays closer to Georgie…but when they are way….Duchy is IT! ha ha!


At least I got photos of this room BEFORE he gets his hands on it. It will never stay this way, and I am ready for that…I can always live in the photos! ha ha!!


That is all I have to share today!  What do you think?   I like the room…and he LOVED it!   I hope he keeps it at least a fraction of how clean it is in the photos!!  


Stay Tuned….Busy’s room is next!

Thank you all again for the wonderful display of support you showed us all last week.  We are all grateful to you for the prayers.  To see the update on how my Dad is doing...click here


Until Next Time….Happy Decorating!


*)*)*)    Relationships are precious, don't take them for granted. The worst feeling in life is, when someone you know becomes someone you knew.


(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•. www.tootsietime.com

I am linking this post into Under $100 linky party at Beyond the Picket Fence

No More Little Girl’s Room…It’s ALL Va - Va - Va - Voom! bedroom makeover part 2

In my last post, I shared the beginning of a huge makeover on my oldest Daughter’s bedroom.  In that post I showed how her dressers looked before I started the challenging task of making a little girl’s room look more like a funky Teenager room!   If you want the full scoop, you should begin your reading by clicking on the photo below.


This is the point where I left you all in suspense as to what this teenager was going to see when she first returned home.  

Shall we continue???   Lets get busy…we have furniture…now we need to decorate!

With Georgie getting a larger bed in her room, she needed a headboard.   I didn’t have time to go and junk one up for her, and living in this small town, there isn’t much for shopping for such things.   I needed a fast and easy solution to this problem! 



While I was out and about one day, I happened upon a dollar store.   As I was walking around in there looking for some bamboo stakes for the greenhouse, I decided to walk down an isle I don’t usually bother with…and came upon these wonderful little plastic squares!   They came in a package of two and they included the little wire clips that join them together!   They were a buck a package and they were perfect for my Georgie’s room!  I bought several packages of them (and a couple of other little odd’s n ends that would be good for this project ) and headed for home!
First thing, I got busy joining the squares together and hung them on the wall where I had decided to place her bed.



Loving the way these looked…I proceeded to dress her bed!



NOW do you see WHY this room was such a challenge for me???   I love the colors…but I never decorate my house like this…I use these colors in my gardens!   This room was not an easy task for this Tootsie.   I am more prone to decorate with a soft, muted, shabby style.

Next up…was the walls, her little bedroom window.  


Georgie LOVED the curtains I had made a while back for her little sister’s bedroom…and she really wanted some like that in her room…so I made her a chicken coop valance similar to the one I had done for “Busy’s” room.   The difference is that I made Georgies’ in her colors.  

This bedroom is in the basement of our house…so the window is teensy and not terribly easy to dress.  I tried to put up curtains, but they looked ridiculously ugly, so a valance hung on a curve is the way it will be!

The walls…



I hung a few of the wall words sayings…(which are a bugger to keep stuck by the way)…and then decided to make some original wall art on her wall out of watering cans!



I had originally planned to make several of these for her wall, but because they turned out to be quite big, she got only one, as I didn’t want it to start to look too tacky!   She did get several sayings…and…



…a funky wire dress form wall hanging.



So far…so good!   NEXT!!!



Remember this paragraph from the first part?
“When I ask Georgie what type of bedroom she would like, she simply would say “lime green with black.   Walls can be either color.  I also want horses and cool stuff in my room mom…no ruffles or old lady stuff like you use in the rest of the house please” “
Well…I had to keep that in mind…so the horses stay…for now.  


The other little vanity dresser did get a little more funk…and I sneaked a little of  my style in there too with the flowers…lol.    I added a shiny black framed mirror and….



Yep!   I added a Lava Lamp!   I just know that will be her favorite part!



Again…I still need to do a new cover for her chair…but otherwise this little vanity looks pretty spiffy!




After a lot of work, sweat, cursing and swearing, Georgie finally has her newly updated teenager room…Tootsie Style!
Like I said before...
…nothing like watching a Tootsie step right out of her element!

There is still baseboards and trims to be added and she is getting a new window this spring, but for the most part, this room turned out much better than I had planned!   I left a wall blank except for a bulletin board, for anything else that she might want to add…or that I find in my travels that would look sensational in here!

Well…what do you think?   Do you think she likes her new look???

SHE LOVES IT!   Yay for me!!!   I TOTALLY ROCKED IT!

Stay tuned...there are two more kid's rooms for me to share!

Until Next Time…Happy Decorating!

*)*)*)   Remember that at the end of the day, you need only be satisfied with the performance of one person - you.
(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•. www.tootsietime.com