Tags
adventures in business, before and after, business, chipping, chippy, dresser redo, dressers, flow blue, furniture, ironstone, Miss mustard seed, MMS, painting, restained, staining, wax
Ok now I am going to tell you right up front this piece was kind of a nightmare…I know that sounds really bad. Well being that I was really in the mood to paint because I hadn’t been in my garage with brush in hand for almost a month I was really excited. I was ready to produce something great the kind you stand back and pat yourself on the back…ok maybe a bit much but it could happen. I had Marian’s Flow blue reveal piece in mind because of the detailing it was my inspiration for this dresser. I especially loved the contrast with Flow Blue & Ironstone.
This is Marian’s Version….beautiful! 
So why the nightmare? Well I know for some of you cold is not California cold:) I get it you might live somewhere that it’s 9 degrees outside or -9…you’d never find me living there. I freeze in California most would laugh at what I wore to fly to Hawaii a sundress…ok makes sense…and some leggings underneath,my woolly knee high socks(the kind you wear in the snow),my fakey Uggs and a sweatshirt. All I can say is I really wasn’t hot at all I was actually perfect! I obviously run really cold but most thought I was crazy. So back to the nightmare it has been really, really cold here and I keep a little heater in my garage just for this time of year. Well apparently it’s not doing me any good it’s not warm enough. This is what happened with the dresser I stripped the veneer which I showed you in a recent post. Next I painted the dresser with two coats of flow blue with bonding agent and then ironstone on all the details I wanted to highlight. This color is really beautiful in person pictures just don’t do it justice.
Then I sanded the top all the way down and re-stained it. I am going to post about how I stain a piece soon. Next I gave the whole dresser a light sanding to get it ready for wax and it was all coming together nicely. Until I had decided to air it out in the sun just kill any “funky” smell you know the routine. I had planned to load it up and move it to the shop that afternoon. I met my husband for lunch came home after an hour or so and it had chipped and peeled up everywhere….bad! Ahhhh! What is happening? I was so frustrated because I needed this piece done before I left for Hawaii. I took a deep breath and grabbed a fine sanding block to see how bad it really was. I literally could have sanded the paint off completely. For the exception of where I pulled up the veneer because that was nice raw wood.
This picture is in my garage it’s not a great pic but you can see there is no paint at all around the base of the dresser.
What had happened? Well all I could figure is it’s just way too cold outside in the garage even with the little heater running. It had to get done plan b was to set up an area in my office since I had an open space from one of my Christmas trees and hadn’t put back the other furniture yet. I went to work in my warm cozy house and it I am pretty sure that was the key factor. My guess is the paint just didn’t cure all the way with the temperature so low in the garage. A tip to add is when painting with the darker/brighter colors be careful when sanding. Ironstone being basically “bright white” I was also dealing with the dust of the Flow blue somewhat discoloring the Ironstone detail. This was also frustrating so I went over it once with paint & kept a damp towel in hand when I did my final sanding to wipe away any sanding dust so it wouldn’t discolor any further. But in the end I am very happy with this piece it is beautiful some may not like all the chippyness but I know someone will LOVE it!
Here it is…..
In the end I do love it and I learned a lot!! Anyone else have an experience with the milk paint to share? I’d love to hear about it!
Blessings, GenP.S. While in Hawaii I rolled my foot on the way back to the hotel room Friday night…not good:( I go to the Dr. first thing today hoping I’m not coming home with a cast prayers welcomed:)
The end result looks amazing! I laughed at your outfit for flying…I just came back in the house after shoveling. It’s -42 here with the wind chill;)
Thanks:) yeah I know I felt slightly ridiculous but I’m happier warm than wearing a great outfit!
What a beautiful Piece! I have to hope I can be as good someday. Thanks dor the inspiration and a good story to go with it, with the bonus tip[ about working in a cold garage. Ours has no heat!
Bev thank you so much:) and yes you will be great it’s just trial and error and trust me I have had many error’s along the way….this one was a challenge and almost one big error:)
LOVE the Flow Blue. Would be great in my dining room.
Praying the foot is better.
Shirley
Thank you, my thoughts exactly! I painted this piece more as a buffet than a dresser:)