Zebra Stripes, Butterflies, Secretaries, Oh My!

A new client of mine brought me this pretty vintage secretary to refinish for her. It was in very good shape, she just wanted to bring a pop of color to her room…

BEFORE

The front had a small amount of veneer loss and some puckering. I filled the missing veneer with wood filler and sanded down the puckered areas.

Here it is after a couple of coats of Provence Annie Sloan Chalk Paint… remember my client wanted a pop of color right!

She wanted very little distressing so I just focused on a few “key” areas, waxed and buffed the piece. I also sprayed the handles with Rustoleum chrome spray paint.

I just love claw feet don’t you?

Now for the “surprise” part… she wanted the inside painted Cream Annie Sloan Chalk Paint which paired beautifully with the Provence. I sprayed the area first with Rustoleum Heirloom White to help get the best coverage for the Cream. Painting inside of these little cubbies is pretty brutal!

Oh, did you notice the zebra stripes? I thought you might… I freehand painted those (pretty proud of myself too) leaving the original wood as the background stripe, they really are just cool!

My client had a special request to create a small butterfly inside of the secretary, the butterfly reminds her of her Grandmother who has since passed on. So I cut the butterfly out of some floral paper and used spray adhesive to attach it to the wood, I think it’s a very sweet touch…

This is the 3rd secretary I have painted in the last 6 months! They really are fabulous and great for storage as well! I wish I could find a narrow one for my foyer!

I hope you dig this project as much as I did! I was not too sure about the zebra stripes when she requested them, but obviously she knew what she was talking about as I just think they’re perfect!

And now totally off the subject… recently I have been noticing that when I am painting I’m standing with my left hand on my hip… like I’m getting ready to start clogging or something… what’s up with that?! I think sometimes I’m loosing it

As always thanks for stopping by…

Until next time!

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June 8, 2013 47

The Red Secretary

Ok… so I know I already updated a secretary for a child, because I thought it was sized just right, but this one spoke to me in a different way so I knew it would be a perfect piece for the foyer! A nice place to throw all of that mail and your keys and then shut the door so you don’t have to see it! I had the piece a while before I could decide what I wanted to do with it… and of course because I was busy getting ready for Lucketts I didn’t take the time to get a before shot! However, the piece was in excellent condition and made out of solid Tiger Oak, it was just a little plain for my taste..

The AFTER

I personally think it’s a STUNNER now! Aren’t those legs sexy?

It is painted in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Emperor’s Silk… perfect on Oak… and I slightly distressed, waxed and buffed it.

I left most of the original hardware, but replaced the wood knobs with crystal ones!

I left the inside unpainted for additional contrast… and a little bit of laziness on my part..

What do you think? I love to read your comments!

Thanks for stopping by…

Until next time!

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May 31, 2012 10

Cute Child’s Secretary

I don’t often make special trips to Goodwill… I just don’t seem to have the “luck” that some of you have and more often than not I leave empty handed… but if I’m near one I always check it out! So I was very happy that this time I spotted this super cute secretary & chair!

; ;

The secretary had nice legs and was a great size (and that’s about it)! The chair was just plain gross, but sturdy, so that was helpful. I had to fill some cracks, fix the hinge and lever on the fold down top and of course sand and paint them both. I couldn’t help but think that this would be a perfect piece for a little girl…being partial to girls since I have three of my own it’s easy to go there! So I picked up some pretty small print damask fabric that has grey, pink and cream tones as well as a coordinating striped fabric for the chair. After the repairs, a good sanding and cleaning I painted both pieces in a white / off white paint I had on hand. I then decoupaged the damask fabric to the inside of the desk, the “little” drawer and the “big” drawer. I also replaced the original knobs with some cute light pink glass ones that I picked up from Anthropologie. I replaced the seat foam and fabric on the chair because what was there was very thin and not comfortable at all!

Well here she is….

I think she turned out super cute!

I coated the desk & drawer fabric with a few coats of Mod Podge for protection and then lightly sanded it down with 250 grit sandpaper to remove the roughness that the Mod Podge left….it came out feeling silky smooth!

Can you imagine how cute this would be in a little girls room?

It would probably never get used but I just love thinking about how it would look in the right space!

I just love it… and you? Kind of wish my littlest one was little enough to have enjoyed this one…

On a slightly personal note I’m SUPER busy working on lots of pieces and I might even have some awesome news to share next week! So thanks for stopping by and as always I love reading your comments!