Now this set wasn't lookin' so pretty when I first laid eyes on her. She was tired...
She was begging for some love & attention.
Here's the transformation from ugly duckling to glam goddess <3
First, I had to fix the veneer. It was a mess! Wood putty came to the rescue in many spots.
I had to replace a good majority of the dresser top & it was also missing one of the front angles.
My husband cut a duplicate wood piece & attached it to the frame, now you can't even tell!
I did not want any of the old paint job to show thru when distressing. So first I painted over with black, then white, then the final duck egg blue chalk paint by Annie Sloan. It was my first time using this blue color, but I am really happy I did. Duck egg blue, you make me swoon!
Now on to distressing! I usually distress a lot more, but this girl was telling me something different than my former pieces. I wanted to keep her smooth matte finish, so I didn't use antique glaze either (another first for me). I left only the white showing thru in the distressed spots, to bring together the white of the vanity chair. My husband & I had a disagreement about the chair. I left the body white because I wanted the chair to stand out, to be in the spotlight. There is only one way to get this across to my man, or any man for that matter.
"This chair is like the Delorean in Back to the Future. It is the time machine." And something with this kind of power deserves to stand out!
That's something that happens a lot in this business. Not everyone is going to like what you have created. And EVERYBODY has an opinion about how they would do it better or differently.
Every single time I am in my booth
I hear people talking as they pass the spaces how an item would be better if only....
To those people, so do it! Create something the way you want! But this is the way we wanted it, this is our hard work. It takes a lot of passion to keep this job up, so maybe you should try it out for yourselves & see what it's like behind the scenes of an antique mall. Just sayin...
Almost done transforming this beauty to her final stages of glory! For the final protective coat, I used Shabby Paint's Vax product. With VAX- you just wipe it on with a sponge. No hard work, no buffing, no streaky mess, AND it is more durable than wax. YES, it's like magic.
Speaking of magic, isn't Hobby Lobby just full of magically beautiful items?!! This is the store for all my knobs, including the gorgeous mercury glass knobs used on this vanity. The drawer pulls on a piece really bring painted beauties to life. I don't know what I would do without Hobby Lobby!
So a few days later & after many hours of hard work, I am very proud of my "Elsa" vanity set. (Yes, I name my finished pieces, don't you?) You can view her for yourself in my booth, Tin Roof Junktion, spot #FF5 at The Depot at Gibson Mill in Concord, NC. Take a seat & venture back to the 1930's....
