Friday, April 15, 2011

GUEST POST from my twin sis! YAY!

Hello people! I am SO excited to have my sweet sister guest posting on my blog today! She is lagging BIG time on creating her own blog, but we really wanted to share her awesome dresser makeover with you. Without further adieu, take it away sis!!!
Hi! My name is Lisa and I am Ali's twin sister. I am the baby (by 32 minutes - lol) so I have always looked up to her for various reasons. She was always the outgoing one, the athletic one, the one that all of the boys loved...and now.......she is the talented crafty one! Sheesh!! Since she has been exploring the crafting/DIY world, I have been following along, shamelessly hoping that some of her talent would rub off on me. Well.....unfortunately, that has yet to happen, but alas, I decided to take a stab at it anyway. We are very much the same (we both like to collect random vintage things) but are also very different (her collections consist of CRAZY swans and I am coo coo for vintage citrus reamers!!), and I am so excited to share my first furniture makeover with all of Ali's wonderful blog friends :)



When I saw her completed French Provincial buffet, I was in LOVE and knew that I wanted a similar shaped dresser for my room but with a modern metallic flare!! I wanted mine to have the same over-all look, but I wanted mine to have a mirror. After searching and searching on Craig's list, I finally found one that I thought would do! It wasn't the cheapest find ($100 & a 50 minute round-trip commute to get it), but it was sturdy, it had dove-tailed drawers, and had an AMAZING mirror attached, so I was SOLD! I am a blog rookie and didn't get a photo of the dresser all put together in it's original glory, but nevertheless, here she is getting ready to become fabulous!
I took the drawers out and considered replacing the hardware, but I decided to leave the handles as-is to maintain the patina-ed/vintage feel.
The mirror was EXACTLY what I had been looking for, and although painting all of the curves seemed like a daunting task, I was up for the challenge (never mind my "distressed" painting jeans in the reflection - haha)
The first step was to prime the dresser. The nice man at Home Depot suggested that I use a tinted gray primer so that the metallic silver paint would look as vibrant as possible. (That is my adorable little helper Sadie in her bed looking on. She kept me company!)
Here she is all primed and ready....
The primer adhered really well and looked smooth and ready to be painted. The metallic oil-based paint on the other hand (which I didn't get a photo of as I was applying it) is now my official nemesis and better watch it's back!!! It was thin and watery and streaky and difficult right out of the gates and it took a TON of time to get it to look just right (ugh!!) Lesson learned, for sure!
So.........without further delay.............HERE SHE IS!!! All done up with her silver metallic sheen!! (again, I am a big blog rookie so I did not get a photo of her before I brought her in to my room). You can also see a peek of my other love, my new upholstered bed in the background. I'm a newlywed and am looking to start a family soon so my bedroom needs to be fabulous (ha ha, sorry for the TMI). Although it was a multi-step, somewhat frustrating task, I am really thrilled with how it turned out! I had so much fun tackling my first re-finishing job (and I am looking forward to tackling another one once my paint-rolling claw turns back into an actual hand!!) Ha ha. Thank you so much fabulous sister for letting me share this on your awesome blog. Happy Friday everyone!!!

XO, Lisa

16 comments:

  1. Wow! I love the metallic look. Beautiful.

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  2. WOW, the dresser is STUNNING!! I absolutely L.O.V.E it! Well done ~ Tina xx

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  3. that is gorgeous, lisa! get your blog started- i would love to see more! and i am sure you are not giving yourself enough credit! :)

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  4. I'm with Cassie...start your blog!! I would definitely follow! one bc you are Ali's twin and B. your dresser is freaking awesome!! I want to see more. Like that fabulous bedroom you have!

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  5. Your dresser looks ah-ma-zing! It looks so glamorous and from what I can see of the rest of your room, it looks beautiful in there! I'd love to get a better look at that headboard ;)

    And as for your "fabulous" bedroom...You should definitely make it fabulous now and "enjoy" it (TMI?) because you certainly won't have time after kids come along ;)

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  6. Your dresser is beautiful, Lisa! You did a fabulous job! I love it. Your bedroom is really pretty, too. Your dresser is perfect with your bedding and love your wall color. You are very talented!

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  7. Very pretty, Lisa! So many talented ladies in our family!

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  8. I love it Lisa. It looks so similar to my Grandmother's furniture...Ali has been trying to get her hands on them for years. ;) But I've been trying to find something to do with the lingerie dresser...and I'm thinking silver is the way to go. Thanks for the visual, I wasn't sure if I wanted silver, and now I know I do. Nicely done.

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  9. Yay!! Thanks everyone!! You are all way too sweet and supportive!! This might be just the push I needed to get things going!! Happy weekend everyone!

    **Stephanie - Oooh...Ali has told me about that furniture!! Do it!! Metallic would look awesome on a lingerie chest!! I love the silver look so much, BUT, beware of the naughty metallic oil-based paint! It's a tough one to work with!! xo

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  10. Love it! Metallics really turn regular items into showstoppers. I featured this today on my furniture round up :)
    http://sunshineandchaucer.blogspot.com/2011/04/furniture-favorites-roundup.html

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  11. I just love it! I think your ready for your own blog! lol!

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  12. What product did you use to paint with? Any tips for using it that may save us some of that hassle you went through? ;)

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  13. I love the silver dresser! You did a wonderful job!

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  14. This is incredible and the mirror is fab. Usually attached mirrors are kind of blah but this is perfect.

    Thanks for sharing :)

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  15. It's beautiful, Lisa!!! Beautiful! Great job!

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  16. I would have never even considered a metallic paint for a dresser like this...and boy was that a huge mistake on my part. This baby turned out beyond beautiful! The mirror is breathtaking and adds so much to the dresser. I might be just a little in love with it right now and am secretly plotting an ambush on an innocent piece of furniture in my home so I can stare at that beauty myself ;) I hope there is a blog in your future soon!

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I think I'm a comment-a-holic :)