the night(mare) stand

I don't know why I didn't just leave this thing the way it was, since everyone seems to be distressing the heck out of all their furniture and making pieces look like if they weren't just run over by a lawn mower, they were missing a heck of an opportunity.

But I started this project long before I really knew what a blog was or that crappy chippy/shabby was the current trend.  I wanted it to be all sparkly and pretty and new.

Now I pretty much just want it to die.

This is another piece I got from my sister.  Thank goodness I've become her own personal dumping ground.  No, really...because how else could I have this much fun?

I started off with this super-duper EASY and MAGICAL paint stripper.

LIES.  ALL LIES!!

I'm so glad I took pictures with all this green crap on, because goodness knows I need the reminder so I'm not so foolish again.  Next time I'm just adding another layer of paint.


Stripper.  Right.  I can strip too, but at least I never promised it would be magical.

 

I got so disgusted that I threw this little piece of hell in the basement where it lurked for months, making lewd gestures at me when I wasn't looking.

I know it did.

If I didn't hide it away, I was going to take a sledge hammer to it.  

Since I was then devoid of a nightstand, I had to move my jewelry armoire to my bedside.

What a pain in the dog's butt.

It's too tall, the surface is too small, and YES...I have to open the lid to get my jewelry out, which means every day I have to remove my lamp, alarm clock, etc.  Then start all over again. 

Enter the cardboard box.    

Because you haven't truly lived until you've had a cardboard box for a nightstand.

For real.  Yes, that's a Ped Egg.  I now have smooth feet.

I won't mention the vaseline.

My husband was going to paint my new nightstand but thought better of it.

Months later I brought Mr. Nightmare back upstairs to continue my torture.  It sat in the kitchen for another month, untouched.  Baring its teeth at me.

When I finally took it outside, armed with a sander, steel wool, and stripper wash, little progress was made.  Philly came upon his damsel in distress and immediately took over the project.  (Freaking YAY!!) 

HE'S the magic man!  And here's his magical tool:

   

What the hell did you think I was going to show you? 

After the first hour or so, I looked up into my husband's safety-goggled bug eyes, and I meekly whimpered, "I love you..."

He replied, "And it should be clear and obvious that I love you."

He despises this sort of work.  I love him even more.

Here's what it looked like when he finished:

  

It's in pretty rough shape and needs some filler, but I'm not documenting that part here because I completely hate it and it's boring (and I suck at it). 
Next step: Primer and More Paint.

Brilliant.

Out comes the crusty old can of ASCP Old White for my body, and the new can of Paris Grey for my drawers.  How apropos.

I wanted to try dark wax for the first time ever, so I experimented with one drawer front.  First I put clear wax on, then a thin layer of dark and immediately wiped it down.  Turns out I hate it.  Maybe I'll like it on something else, but it just made the gray look like mud.

 So I painted it over and just used clear.  I had the same issue with the Old White.

 However, I knew it needed something a little extra special.  After all, we've been through a lot together.

I had some Martha Stewart Metallic Thundercloud that I used for the hardware.  I decided to also paint the "medallions" to make them pop.

I also found a nice frame image from Karen at the Graphics Fairy, and added my own text inside.  I transferred it and painted it with paint pens.

 It was my inaugural paint pen party.

And Voila...

Let me reintroduce "my little piece of hell."

For those of you who aren't Magali, yes, that really does say, "my little piece of hell."

The progression:

I'm glad I didn't kill the nightstand, but I never want to go through something like this...

 Ever.

Again.


Even with my obnoxious sense of humor, this piece was featured!

 

      

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