Here's A Story...of A Lovely Dresser

One of my favorite things to do in designing a clients room is finding that special token piece, whether it's a pillow made of a hand printed fabric, a vintage lamp or a piece of furniture.  Sometimes that token piece adds a higher end feel to a more budget conscious design.  Sometimes it adds that one-of-a kind personal touch that no showroom or catalogue can replicate. I think that is what make a room feel really special.  


Here is such a piece I recently did in my client's daughters bedroom.  We decided the width of the wall really dictated a wider than normal dresser. We talked big box stores, but then the choices for finish would be limited.  Wood stain would darken the compact room too much, and white just seem a bit blah.  


As luck would have it, I found the perfect dresser on Craigslist almost immediately.  It had lovely traditional lines that complimented the vintage bed handed down to my client, and once painted, it wouldn't seem so serious for the pre-teen and toddler sisters sharing the room.

I selected a two-tone semi-gloss lacquer treatment for the dresser to liven it up.  To keep the room light and airy, I chose the body color to be one shade darker than the wall color, Sherwin Williams Enchant, while the drawers were painted Sherwin Williams Heavenly White.  Most of the original hardware was kept but sprayed silver, and I found some whimsical knobs at Anthropologie for the center drawers.


Here is the revitalized piece in the room:

In the next couple weeks, we will be finishing up a reading nook with a new window seat and wall mounted bookshelf, and I'll be sure to post more pictures of the redesigned room!

Some Contrast For A Quick Fix

With the Hurricane turned Tropical Storm Irene blowing its way through New England today, we are staying indoors and bunkering down for the day.  Its been a newspaper, movie, and clean-up the house kinda day.  I thought it also might be appropriate timing to fix a real eye sore in the house.....our back door.  This was the state of the sloppy-barely-primed-paint job our landlord had done at some point. Add to that a few years of dirt build-up:

Its bothered me since we moved in, but I just didn't think to do anything about it.  I finally decided to prime the door again a few months ago, and the new primer at least took care of the cracks and dirt showing on the door.  I figured at some point I would get around to selecting the right black or gray paint....The pantry needed something dark to ground all the stark white going on.  As luck would have it, I was at my local hardware store a few weeks back and decided to check out the "oops" paints they have from time to time.  Low and behold there was a little quart of charcoal gray sitting there calling my name!  I picked up the $5 can and thanks to Hurricane Irene, here is the finished door today:

I love my new door! Now if I could just snap my fingers and have the rest of the pantry freshly painted.......