Reborn in teal (if only we could all do that)

I'm playing a but of catch-up on the postings, but luckily I've been emailing freestyle ideas and photos to myself even though I haven't been sharing them in a timely manner. Bear with me gentle reader, for thy patience shall be rewarded with the brightest of tables.

Do you remember this mix-and-match coffee table found with a warped top? I sanded the top down (very inefficiently as I recall) and painted it white to hide the monstrosity sanding job underneath.

It was a fine coffee table and footrest for many days, but eventually I reached a point where I didn't need the coffee table anymore, probably because I was going to move (again). Such a realization coincided with a friend wanting a low table for her office to hold plants. Perfect.

Recipient Friend wanted colorful, and thus, teal spray paint joined the party.

Not the most even first coat, but that's how things go when working in a new medium.
Eventually we got to a good point, or we ran out of spray paint, by now I don't remember.

Now she lives in glossy teal splendour, with a window view and some plants for healthy decoration. Not a bad reincarnation as table reincarnations go, or so I am told.

Happy freestyling!

Dresser it up in my love-of-green

Does the song pun resonate with anyone? Or is it two steps too removed? If you find a perfectly nice solid wood piece that's just not right for you, try dressing it up in some paint.

I found this perfectly nice wood dresser, wait, is that a thing that other people say? If something is "perfectly nice" is it perfect? Or nice? Or just a modified, more superlative, type of nice? Which doesn't make it any better....

To recap:
I found a dresser.
It wasn't broken.
It had all it's parts.
It was a manageable size and I felt like I was going to want a dresser.
Perfect.

I lucked out and had a friend with an SUV around to help me move it. After that I was on my own.  I removed the bottom front scrollwork-piece in order to lighten up the shape, to modernize it a tad by giving more clearance above the floor. Also I thought it would let me cram shoes underneath if needed....

Then some sanding (blech), and a bit of spackle on the old dresser pull hardware holes. I didn't know what I was going to do for drawer pulls, but I knew I didn't want to re-use the old handles because they clang about when used. Then off to find the most vibrant emerald green paint possible using only color swatches at the hardware store. Didn't want it too yellow, or olive, or hunter green, just wanted it to glow.

Here it is while being painted. I was happy with the color after seeing it on the piece. Going with a lacquer-style finish would have made it more glow-y, maybe I'll try that in future.

After the paint was dry I agonized over hardware pulls, sort of. I wanted some trendy art-deco-inspired gold pulls with inlay, but they were like $30/knob at that store with really cute and curiously expensive clothes and housewares.... Guess who didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on drawer pulls for a dresser saved from the junk heap? To compromise on the vintage-inspired look that was dancing around my head I used white ceramic knobs that I already had, salvaged from some previous and forgotten furniture. 

It was fine, not exciting, just.... perfectly nice.
That's how it stayed, until I saw the beetles.

SCARAB BEETLE DRAWER PULLS.

GOLD SCARAB BEETLE DRAWER PULLS.

A combination of Egyptian mythological references, art deco (maybe?), and the catch-all category of nature-y, in full bling. 

Extra bonus is that these drawer pulls are durable souvenirs from a vacation. 

Functional and fun and a reasonable amount of euros per pair.

Now it looks fully dressed.

Happy freestyling.

Back in the saddle, scrounging the sidewalks and ending up with ridiculously large things to carry

Life's twists and turns mean that sometimes I am away from the blog for one reason or another.  The past year has seen a few locational changes, and continuous lessons in 'this is what you have, make it work somehow.'  No complaints about that here, such challenges go along quite well with the freestyle ethos. Waste not, want not, appreciate the abundance around you.
Practice gratitude, and as always - see the potential.

It's also ok to mutter under your breath about the weight of that potential when you decide to pick up this shelf and start carrying it.

It sounded like a good plan, just carry it down a block or two until you reach a busy street. Even though it's evening surely a cab will go by.....
Yes, they went by, and didn't stop. Or they didn't see me waving. Or they didn't want to pickup a woman with a shelf on a random Tuesday night.
Who knows. I do know that I made it to the subway, yay for elevators!

I knew right away I was going to paint this shelf, to cover a little repair and to match the rest of my apartment. I used Benjamin Moore Decorator's White in a pearl finish.
 Why pearl?
Because the hardware store was out of the glossier paint in the right size and base, and I didn't want to wait for a restock.

I dutifully, and reluctantly as always, sanded down the piece to rough up the finish.  There are no photos of that step. I dislike sanding.

After the first coat of paint it was clear I would need a second. It was also clear that I wish I had a little roller, but they didn't have any good ones at the store, so again, I made do with a brush.

Here's the finished product, styled with some odds and ends. The floor lamp behind the shelf is also a freestyle find from ages ago.

Eventually this painted shelf will get filled with books, because really, if I only wanted a place for a globe and some knickknacks would I even need a shelf in the first place? 

Happy freestyling and sidewalk finding!