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!

Vintage Kitchens Abound

Well, over at House & Home Magazine's blog, Michael Penney was blogging about retro pink kitchens.  The look oh so feminine and fun, but who would be courageous enough to do it!  He included some of kitchens of yesteryear, and to my shock I saw this picture:

Now, I knew my kitchen was original b/c of the state of decay the cabinets were in (you might notice a missing drawer face in one of the shots),  but when we looked into renting this place I loved all the vintage charm and light it had.  What I didn't know is that it actually still has the original hardware as well!  Look at the picture of my kitchen!  I have to say the cabinets & hardware are really a love/hate thing for me.  Everything is pretty beat up and dated at this point in its 90 or so year life, BUT I would so much rather have the kitchen I have than some dark wood veneered cabinets from the 80's, or even 90's. I'm a sucker for a white kitchen.   I suppose there probably was a cool retro stovetop at some point as well.....too bad it has been replaced only for the fact that these stoves give it that oh-so vintage vibe.