Grey distressed armoire

When I redo furniture its always cool and happy because I'm doing mostly things that I have a vision of how they are going to turn out. Then I sell them and all is good.

However, when someone asks me to redo a bit of their furniture in a certain style - I panic. What if they don't like it? What if after spending hours (sometime days) I have to do it all over - i'll end up upsetting someone (and believe it or not I really don't like doing that!)

This next project had me filled with dread because it had to be quite specific!

This was how it started out - actually a really really nice armoire. But just wouldn't 'go' with what my customer had in mind for her new look bedroom.

She purchased this bed / headboard

 Modern shape / lines etc - and a completely different finish to what was above.







My brief therefore was to make the armoire 'go' with the bed, with a grey / black finish maybe.

Originally I was going to strip it down, and attempt to bleach the wood and then wash it in a grey /white / brown - but tbh that idea scared the heck out of me. I thought it foolish ultimately to try and replacte this finish because no matter which way you roll the dice, the armoire is traditional and the bed is modern.

 So this one went like this, sand,  a coat of high adhesion Kilz latex primer, 2 coats of latex cabinet in a custom mixed mid grey, then a wash with a dark brown, a wash with a black, some picking out of detailing with some white acrylic on the door / drawer edges, a touch of distressing in the door panels and finally 2 coats of verathane.

I was also requested to line the backs and the insides of the drawers and my customer picked out this lovely paper by blue mountain at Lowes.

Beautiful hey - until I got to the store and you realise it isn't grey at all in the background - it's actually a metallic gold / silver colour :( And seeing as my nearest Lowes that stocks half decent paper is in either Calgary or Edmonton (both of which are a minimum of a 2hr drive away one way,) I had to take the chance and get it.

Luckily it actually worked and my customer loves it :) Here it is lacquered and ready to go

In other news I managed to ditch my new vehicle on Monday, totally my fault - took a corner too quick and ended up stationary, wedged in 2 feet of snow. Clever me hey!

Thank heavens for neighbours / family and tractors!!!!

That unfortunatley lost me a whole honking day of work trying to get towed out and so on, but as with the previous entry and the snow day - it meant I got to finish the armoire above!

I also decided to make a headboard for my bed., apart from I didn't actually make one if that makes sense. I'm one of those "have to do it right now this minute" type of people. So when you see something or have an idea, I scramble around my supplies looking for the necessary ingredients to make it.

So the heaboard called for barn wood, 2x4's and 4x4's. I have a shed load of barnwood. But unfortunately slightly lacking in the 2x and 4x department. So with me still reeling from the ditch incident  - I was rooting around and came across a barnwood mirror that I made a ways back. 

You can't really use it as a mirror because the wood was pretty warped which in turn twists the glass ever so slightly - making it look like on of the fun house mirrors you get at the fairs. So it was stuck in the basement.

I added a shelf and supports and mounted it jut above the bad :) I suppose it'll do for now. But mark my words I WILL go to town and make the headboard (though I'll have to repair the wall that I screwed (leaving a few holes in the process because I couldn't be bothered to get the stud finder out <whistles> ))

I've also gone off the grey colour in the bedroom (been there all of about a year!!!) - I think my husband will legitimately kill me if I paint it again though lol

Well thats what we have right now, I do have another dresser makeover (ordered from the same customer at the same time from the same set of furniture as the armoire - but a different finish)in progress.

This will be the next entry and I'll try and get it in before Xmas.