If you were celebrating Passover or Easter I hope you adjusted to our new normal and found ways to be thankful and connect (Zoom, Google hangout, etc) with family and friends. For many years, we have hosted an Easter dinner for ten or more people. This year, it would have included my younger son Kevin, his girlfriend, my mother-in-law Audrey and our dear friends the Kamp’s who have celebrated Easter with us for at least a dozen years. Add in myself, my husband Matt and oldest son Brian and it would have been a wonderful group. Even though we could not all be together, I found comfort in the fact everyone is healthy and we were able to connect on Zoom. My husband is an amazing cook and even though it was just the three of us, he cooked enough for ten or more. I am not complaining we will feast on ham, lasagna and mashed potatoes the entire week! Yum!
This week I continued to work on the dresser for the master bedroom. As I was refinishing it, I found a mark inside one of the drawers. After my husband and I researched it online, we found that the trademark on the piece (see below) dates back to 1923. It turns out that Limbert Furniture was a very reputable manufacturer of quality furniture. No pressure!
Because I stripped the top of dresser and drawers last week. I was able to start sanding right away. I used 220 grit sandpaper and a setting of 3 on the sander.
These are all three drawers after sanding. The color is beautiful!
I like the color of the natural mahogany wood so much I am not adding any stain.
I put three coats of Minwax Polycrylic protective finish on the top of dresser and drawers.
I decided to paint the body of the dresser with Annie Sloan Versailles Chalk Paint. It has a green under tone that I though would go well with the red in the wood.
I used a small brush to do the areas nearest to the refinished top.
See how close the edge is to the top.
You can really see the green under tones in this picture.
I was worried that leaving the top and drawers wood would still make it heavy for the room. But, the details like the scalloped bottom soften the piece.
After the chalk paint is dry. I apply Annie Sloan clear wax to seal it.
I prefer a brush to apply the wax it gives a more even coat.
I work in small sections. First, applying the wax then wiping to get any excess wax off.
I took another rag and wiped it all again making sure there were no areas that felt tacky.
The next step is using dark wax to give it an aged look.
Using the same brush I used for the clear wax, I dip it in the dark wax taking a very tiny amount of wax at a time.
It is much easier to add more dark wax than to take off .
Put the dark wax where it would naturally wear.
After the dresser was complete, I turned my attention to the hardware. It was too dark in its present state. I wanted to get an aged patina look. I pulled out all my Annie Sloan paints and went to work.
I started with Annie Sloan Provence chalk paint. It has the look of copper patina.
I then brushed on the color I used on the body of the dresser. Annie Sloan Versailles chalk paint.
Once they were dry. I took a slightly damp cloth and began to wipe the paint away revealing the metal underneath.
I did this method with all the pulls and then finished it by putting a little clear and dark wax on each.
This is how it looks on the dresser.
This is the finished piece. It fits right in the room now. No more heavy feeling.
It looks great with the mirror I refinished a while ago.
This side view shows how the dark wax aged it.
In case you forgot what it looked like before. This is matching highboy the next beast I will be tackling!