Done!

Remember this little yard sale find that I was working on?  

 
Yeah, I finished it.  I started this project with excitement, thinking "I'm going to loooove this project".  I didn't.  It was a pain in the neck to strip and sat there, dejectedly for a while.  I would walk by it and think "Oh yeah, I should work on that ugly thing".  But I didn't...I would just keep walking around it, ignoring it.

After I was sick of stepping around it and having the drawers sent flying by our adventurous cat (and having noticed that I have a ridiculous amount of projects piling up), I decided to just finish it.  After the paint had been stripped off, it was very clear that this wasn't a great piece of furniture.  While I knew that when I bought it, I didn't think it would be that bad.  The plywood is garbage.  It had an orange undertone that no amount of hand numbing sanding would get rid of.  And believe me, I TRIED. My little sander got a workout...and my hand was numb and tingly for a long time after :)  I thought about painting it to avoid seeing that horrid undertone, but when I bought it, I had my heart set on staining it and figured I would try that first.  If it was awful, then I'd get out the paint.

I used my Minwax (dark walnut) stain, which I already had used on several projects ~ my bathroom vanity and a dresser top ~ and loved.  Ladies and gents....this sucker soaked up stain like I've never seen before.  I felt like I had no control over it.  I've stained before and have always had lots of time to wipe off excess stain.  There was no wiping this time.  I would wipe on the smallest amount and seconds later it was gone...it was HUNGRY.  It was blotchy.  I was frustrated but again, thought "Stacey, you started it.  Just finish the stupid thing".

I finished staining the wretched thing and went to clean up.  Then this weird thing happened.  I came back to set it in a place it could dry, out of the way....and as I came downstairs and saw it, I thought "Hey, I don't think it's that bad".  It reminded me of one of those rustic pieces you see in Homesense.  Henry came in and said "Wow, I love it".

And so it went from being this awful, thorn-in-my-side-I'm-going-to-set-this-thing-at-the-curb project, to being a wow,-I-love-this-piece-I'm-so-glad-it-turned-out-nothing-like-I-planned project.  Don't you just love those?

I decided on Antique Brass drawer pulls and I think they are perfect with the finish and blend nicely.

Final tally:

Dresser:  $5
Stain:  $0 (already owned)
Pulls:  $26.95
Total:  $31.95

Since it sits outside the bathroom door (and we don't have tonnes of bathroom storage), it will hold extra shampoo, conditioner, hair elastics etc.....  Many thanks to the Holder family (a daycare family who I had to say goodbye to after 3 1/2 years) for the gift card to Homesense ~ do they KNOW me or what!  I bought that beautiful butcher block mirror and it goes wonderfully with the little cabinet and ties into the butcher block desk on the other end of the family room (another project we'll be tackling soon!).

I love this pencil sketch of the world/hands by my talented niece Shelby :)

 

Here, you can see where the original pulls sat.  The new ones cover it nicely and so I didn't bother to fill them in.

 

And here's a peak into the master bedroom, which is oh-so-close-to-being-done.  I'll be working on making a headboard this week...more on that soon!

So, what do you think?  A hit or a miss?