Refurb Projects

When Chris and I moved to Virginia in 2009, I had some time on my hands before finding a job. Having the time can be a good thing, and other times, not so good. For me, when I have too much time to myself, I have a tendency to over analyze my life and not in a productive way. I think about all the things I should be doing besides, for example, watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or some other junk reality TV show. Honestly, it's really awful television, but sometimes it's so hard to turn it off:

Back to Virginia...So with my time, I found several pieces of furniture that we had that I wanted to redo. Some pieces took longer than others, and I thought I'd never finish. I can't say enough how rewarding it is once you get done finishing a piece. No matter how big or small, it's always awesome to see the transformation from before to after. Also, you basically have a brand new piece of furniture, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. Love that!!!

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{After}

Here is the first piece I took on..A cedar chest a friend gave to my mom, in turn, gave to me. My dad and I made the mistake of putting a polyurethane that turned it yellow after we painted it originally. UGGGLYYY!! I lived with it like that for years. Finally, having the time I refinished this piece and decided to stain it rather than paint it. This one took me the longest. Stripping, sanding, conditioning, and staining, and sealing...it was never ending.




The second piece I did was a dresser I acquired from my grandmother's garage. I absolutely LOVE this style of furniture and the fact it was my grandmothers. Very Art Nouveau.  It was in pretty bad shape. Originally stripped years ago and painted as well. I ended up painting this one an off-white and now looks so much better. Just a little paint, huge transformation.

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{After}

My last piece was a small chest my parents purchased for me at an estate sale. It was a pinkish stain that I lived with again for many years. I decided I wanted something fun for our entry in VA, so I decided to paint it a  pretty apple green. I then added some fancy knobs from Anthropologie and what a difference.

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{After}

{Knobs from Anthropologie}

Here is a recent piece I acquired from a sidewalk sale.

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By no means am I finished with furniture refurbs. I was definitely on a roll in Virginia. Now, I'm at a point where I have no other furniture pieces that I want to change anytime soon. I ran out:) If you like to see more, visit my Facebook page!

I'd love to hear about pieces you've refinished and transformed yourself. Don't you agree, it's pretty rewarding, right?? Hard work, but somehow really enjoyable.