French Provincial Dresser Before and After

Early this summer my husband and I were driving around and saw this pitiful dresser on the side of the road. I immediately wanted to pick it up, but said nothing because normally my husband encourages me, with good reason, to only have one project at a time and I already had a table and chairs to work on at that point.

Luckily he pulled the truck over without me even asking:).  I was like a giddy school girl.  I wish I had a true "before" picture to give you.  This dresser had drawers that weren't together and all going topsy turvy.  It was a mess.  However, I saw potential.

I like painting furniture because it breathes new life into old stuff.  I also like it because I get to try new things and if I don't like it, it's not a big deal because normally I sell the pieces.

From what I learned online after picking up this free dresser is that it is a French Provincial style dresser, which was apparently a very popular style in the 70's.

It came to us with broken drawers, mismatched hardware, and it was dirty,really dirty.   I had to scrub off several stains and just the general scum that had accumulated over the years.  I wish I had a picture of the water after I cleaned it.  It was so gross!

Here's the closest thing to a "before" picture.  It had already been scrubbed down and most drawers were fixed and the hardware had been removed.

I had picked up plain white primer/paint in one for free at Ace Hardware several weeks back and decided that this was the perfect project for it.  I put three coats on in most areas and four coats in some where I thought the gold was still bleeding through.

I originally painted the hardware white, but I started running out of white spray paint in the middle of the project and didn't want to buy any.  Then I looked online and found a similar dresser with black hardware.  Luckily I had a lot of leftover paint from another project in black, so that worked like a charm!

Here's the final result.

It's crisp, clean, and perfect for a lot of rooms.

The only thing that I paid for were the two knobs and that was only about $5 total.

Best part.... I sold it on Craigslist for $75!  I'm going to stash the cash to go towards a used Clavinova.

What projects have you been up to?

July- Traveling Goals!

Wow!  June just flew by!  I got a lot of my goals accomplished, :but I know I could have done more.  I think I enjoyed sleeping in too much as usual.  Here's a look back at my goals.
1.  Memorize Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do it heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.  Keep memorized Matt 11:28; Hebrews 4:15-16; Proverbs 12:18, Psalm 90:12; Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 41:10.
2.  Work out 60 min a week.  I have been doing really good at this and have actually been working out more- I feel great!
3.  Visit each set of grandparents once.  I was able to visit all, but one.  The one that I missed I thought we would see at something at the end of the month and then missed her.  I will try to go see her soon this week. However, I did visit with the other grandparents more than once:).
4.  Keep up with read through the Bible chronologically in a year.
5.  We are not at 97% of the goal because my school does lump sums in July, which I find odd.  We are currently at 93.9% of the big goal, which I don't think is too shabby.
6.  Follow Money Saving Mom's 4 weeks to a more organized home.  I definitely fell off the bandwagon on this one.  I did a lot of cleaning and organizing, just not by her schedule.
7.  Complete 3 goals from master summer goal list a day.  I actually completed 41 goals which is slightly less than than the needed 42, but close enough I'm counting it.
~Something that I didn't list, but am proud of is that I read through several books including Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place, which has been on my reading list forever.  I had seen the movie, but the book is even more moving.  I also read through 365 Nights which I would count towards my goal of two wife books this year.

This month is going to be crazy.  My husband and I will be out of the country for a significant portion of the month helping lead a missions trip with a large number of high schoolers.  I also have quite a few professional development days planned at school which messes with things a bit.  I'm going to try and list more specifics for this month.
1. Keep memorized Colossians 3:23, Matt 11:28; Hebrews 4:15-16; Proverbs 12:18, Psalm 90:12; Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 41:10.  Memorize Ephesians 4:1-3 "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."  I believe that our group is going to really face unity difficulties because it is so large, so I am hoping to focus on this verse to prepare for the trip.
2.  Work out at least 60 min a week while I am in the good ol' US of A.  Hopefully I will push myself to do more.  It has really been helping shape my thighs.
3.  Visit each set of grandparents once.  I am hoping to visit the grandparent that was missed last month early this month to make up for last month.
4.  Keep up with read through the Bible chronologically in a year.  I need to print out a guide to use while I am gone.
5.  Honestly, I'm not sure at all where we will be at the end of the month.  My husband will be taking a lot of unpaid days; I will be getting a lump sum of an unknown amount; we will be donating a very large unknown amount to help pay for stuff on the trip; so I will just be glad if we stay where we are for the month.
6.  Print out Money Saving Mom's 4 weeks to a more organized home and check through the main goals for the day.  I'm giving myself leeway that if I don't think it applies, then I don't need to do it.  Also, I can pick and choose days.  I want to work on this on "open days" in July (there aren't very many).
7.  Complete 2 goals per open day from large list.
8.  Post about painting lamps, table/chairs, and dresser projects.  I'm proud of how they turned out and would love to encourage someone to take the plunge into painting.