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Kimberly,

I figured out my password! Only a year and a half late. Hopefully this is the restart of the blog.

So this summer has been a little crazy being in Austin and finding a place for me and Ryan to move into. After picking a place, I got really excited about decorating and having furniture that I like. I've always liked older furniture. They're made of real wood, last longer, and much cheaper at estate sales. 

The Chair

I started out with a small project. The chair was a dark brown wood with the fabric below and only $30. I painted it with white chalk paint, distressed it, and added clear wax to protect it. Chalk paint is the lazy person's dream come true! You don't have to sand any wood or prep it other than wiping it clean. The chalk paint was the only thing that went according to plan. The wax dried yellow and the chair leaned forward about and inch because there used to be wheels in the front two legs. I painted over some of the yellow and was left with a little tint that made it seem a little antiqued. Pete, Ryan's dad, had the great idea of buying a broom handle to cut into pieces and screw and glue onto the front legs. It worked and you can mostly not tell. It was much more work than I thought it was going to be. 

The Table

A few weeks later me and Robin, Ryan's mom, walked into an estate sale as they were cleaning up. I was able to get a sturdy table for $40 with scratches on the top. This was by far the hardest of the three pieces that I worked on this summer. I chose to sand the top to take off the scratches and stain the table top any color I wanted. This took about 5 hours of sanding. I was probably doing something wrong, but I didn't stop to think about it. I welcomed the busy work after spending the past week in bed recovering from the wisdom teeth extraction. 

The picture below shows the wood sanded down with the legs coating with one layer of white chalk paint. It usually takes about two coats to cover the dark wood underneath.

Below is the finished product! You can't really see the top, but it's stained deep red. It's in the new place so I had to ask Ryan to send me a picture. The paint was finished off with clear wax, distressed, and then dark wax to made the details in the legs stand out.

The Dresser

I also bought the dresser at the estate sale for $40. They called it a "Lingerie Dresser?" This piece I painted a light blue first, with two dark royal blue coats of paint on top. The idea was that when I sanded, two colors would show through, the wood and the lighter blue. 

Another mid-project picture. I was still nervous about the dresser being too dark.

The last picture shows the dresser sanded down and covered with clear wax and then dark wax along the edges to make the lighter color pop. This was taken mid-move, with missing hardware and drawers. I pushed the drawer in before remembering that it had no handles yet. Me and Ryan had to tilt the dresser and shake it haha. The top has a key and cool little details on the swinging doors. I love old furniture. The dresser was definitely my favorite and didn't take much effort. 

I really enjoyed spending hours each day working on these. It's relaxing and a good break from work. Once I get back to Lubbock (so I stop taking up all of Ryan's parents garage, yikes), I want to start finding more and possibly selling them :) This was good practice for anything you want painted for your wedding too! I can't wait for wedding talks soon!

I miss you and I'm excited to see you in a few months in good ol' Texas. Hope you and Will and doing well.

Love,

Catherine