With the Fourth of July in the middle of the week, entertaining 4 kiddos w/summertime activities – I have been a little bloggy MIA lately. I have also been busy working on this…
Buttercup’s Armoire
Although I LOVE crafts and posting about them, my true love is refinishing furniture. I love to see the transformation process and although I am no expert at it, I thoroughly enjoy the time spent on each piece.
I have been searching for an Armoire for Buttercup’s room for quite some time, but didn’t want to spend a ton of money on furniture right now. You may recall that we converted our dining room into her room, so she does not have a closet.
I finally ran across this piece at a garage sale last weekend:
I spotted it way in the back of the owner’s driveway and told my girls that if it was less than $50 I would take it.
Well to my surprise it was only $20 – SOLD. I also saw a baby bed over by the trash can and asked if it was for sale and they threw it in for free! (Don’t worry Mom and Holly, no real baby plans here!) Don’t know why I need a baby bed but look how cute the head and foot board pieces are! Adorable and I have been itching to try my hand at something creative with it.
The garage sale Husband even offered to follow me home and deliver it for me since I didn’t have our truck with me at the time. Awesome!
Now, to explain my new purchase to My Love. He always rolls his eyes at me when I come home with something big and there was no way of hiding this one from him. He would have to jump over it to walk into our back door.
Here was my no-brainer solution:
I am no genius, I know but it was worth a try, right?
Well it worked!
He was actually impressed at the purchase and gave me some pointers on the best way to fix it up.
It definitely needs some TLC, which I am willing to give it.
I got out my very own MyLove’s trusty tools and got right to work. The weather was perfect all week last week but is forecasted to rain for the next seven days here. I was determined to finish sanding so I could bring it inside before it gets wet.
So I sanded, and sanded and sanded and this is where I am now with it.
I like the hinges but they need a bit of work as well!
They are now soaking in paint stripper as I write!
I am super excited at how it is progressing so far. It looks like pine and although my original plan was to paint it white and glaze and distress it, now I am debating whether to stain it.
Here is the dilemma, Buttercup is BEGGING for me to paint it purple! I convinced her that I will only paint the inside purple but she chose a purple color like this:
UGGGG! What to do what to do!
We need to compromise, I don’t want to break her little heart but after spending so much time on it already I hate to paint it crazy!
I need to think a bit on this one!
It’s now in the house, safe from the rain elements ready for a good wipe down and cleaning.
What are your suggestions?
!!!HELP!!!
This is when I find myself in the fetal position. Ohhhh what to do??
I'm sure you'll come up with with something creative. I get a lot of ideas online. I don't do well with furniture, not enough patience! But it's a very nice piece for twenty bucks. I'll be interested in seeing what you do with it!!
Love Di ♥
I just stumbled upon your blog and I LOVE it. So fun. I am a huge yard-saler as well. And you made quite a great find! I'm impressed. $20 and transport! Awesome. I love the baby bed as well. I don't have any ideas for you for the armoir, but you could use the baby bed as the back of a bench.
I'm always in the market for more yard sale tips and tricks. One site I've been using is http://www.yardsalesearch.com. I love it because it maps out a route for me. Just wanted to pass that along to a fellow yard-saler 🙂
great find for $20.00, I dont know about purple. Maybe white and distressed, then stain would look good to, maybe with purple stencil design, like floral with vines and leaves. anyway I'm sure it will come out gorgeous!!!
like the idea for bed, using it for a bench, awesome!!!
Paula
That is an amazing find for $20! I'm with you, I would hate to paint it purple after you've put so much work into it… and it could be so beautiful with the right colors!
Exactly what I was going to say, Chillin' with Quillin'….Paint the inside white and with purple flowers or polka dots. I'd paint it, not stain, but I'm into painted furniture right now instead of stained, so it's just a preference thing. Can't wait to see what you do!
I always think you should do what you want but painted furniture is on trend right now. I like the idea of painting the inside but maybe you could make fabrice panels for the back of the shelved in a purple print fabric (just wrap cut out cardboard). Then they can easily change when the purple period has passed (trust me it will, I have a post-purple daughter!). Great find for $20 and tons of storage in those things.
Robin
Robin Flies South
You are so cute! I am new to blogs and making comments, but I am already addicted… About the purple – what if paint it inside and out a distressed white and then put baskets that are painted purple in it to store all of her precious stuff??? That way, you could change out the baskets as her color choices change. It is a really fun piece – you scored big! Thanks… Lynn
This is a great find…SCORE!!! I love your blog. You are so creative and have a great writing style. LOVE your organized craft space (especially the home depot bucked for wrapping paper storage!) and I love your duct tape boots. You are very clever and I can't wait to see what you do with this piece. I'm following you on GFC so I don't miss a thing. have a wondeful day!
Marilyn
4you-withlove.blogspot.com
Great bargain! I love your site and clever ideas. You're genius! I would give wallpaper or wrapping paper in purple a try on the interior. If I recall correctly, the Nester used a hot glue gun to apply beadboard as a backsplash in the kitchen as it will peel off when you decide to change it out. Might be worth a try to keep everyone happy!
I tracked down the link for you for reference.
http://www.thenester.com/2010/08/making-over-a-renters-kitchen.html
She's pretty fabulous, too!
Judy
ugh that's a tough one. Here's my answer, paint this however your heart desires and tell her you have plans for something else "EVEN BETTER" in her room. Then go out and find a nightstand or small dresser, heck even the baby bed as headboard and paint it the purple she's after! WIN WIN I SAY! 🙂
Could you maybe do "nice" on the outside and do purple on the very back inside and inside the drawers where it won't be as visible?