Tag Sale Find(s)

For my local friends, if you've never been to David Hardcastle's monthly tag sale, you're missing out!  When I lived on that side of town, it was super-duper easy for me to shop.  Now, I have to plan out my trips.  (My kids HATE going anywhere after school, so when I need to run errands, I have to bribe them with candy and treats - I know, I know.)
Anyhow, when we moved, very little of our furniture fit in our new house and NONE of our bedroom furniture fit.  We managed to get the queen size sleigh up, but to get the closet door open, the bed had to be pushed up against the wall.  If I had trouble getting my husband to make-up the bed before, there was no way he was going to now!  I lived with it as long as I could (about two weeks), and ordered a headboard and frame.  (This is not a tag sale find; however, it is a Target sale find, and I - Love - It!)

(Yes, I realize that nightstands, even if they are mismatched, should be the same height, but this is what I already had.)

Then I had to find a solution for my Daryl's storage problem.  It had to be small and still provide plenty of storage for all of his t-shirts.  So, during one of my monthly visits to David Hardcastle's tag sale, I ran across the cutest desk.  It was a three-piece corner desk, but the middle piece was just the right size and had three drawers.  It was perfect!  Even better, the piece was made by Ethan Allen and was only $50!

I knew I wanted to paint and distress it and had some leftover gray and black paint.  I started by sanding.  I didn't sand it down to the bare wood but did rough it up pretty good.  Then I gave it a couple of coats of gray satin paint (leftover wall paint).  I read that using a foam roller left fewer brush marks.  It really did.

After one coat of paint.

After my two coats of gray paint, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees.  I had to finish my project in my kitchen.  So, I don't have anymore pictures of "the process", but these were my materials.  

I chose this for a couple 

of reasons: 1. I've used Valspar before and really like it.  It has the paint and primer all mixed together, so even though I was sanding and putting two undercoats on, this couldn't hurt.  Finally, it was cheap!  It's just a quart (I know, pictures can be deceiving, but it was just $2.00!)

I did a lot of research, mostly on blogs, on painting and distressing furniture before I attempted this little project.  Several DIY sites recommended using the Minwax Paste Finishing Wax.  It was a little pricey, about $12 for the can, but a little goes a long way and it left a great finish on the dresser!  I need to see what else I can use this for because I have quite a bit left over.  

If I had it to do over, I wouldn't have painted the two coats of gray.  Instead, I would have just let the underlying wood come through when I distressed it.  The look of it is okay, but the gray comes off as silver, creating a much more modern look than I was going for.

The other problem was I couldn't find any drawer pulls that really worked with the black and silver gray.  And even if I could have, I don't think I could have AFFORDED them.  WOW!  Those little buggers are ex-pen-sive!  So, I ended up buying a $4 bottle of spray paint and just painting the original pulls silver. 

   

The finished project.  I'm still trying to decide on the mirror sitting above it.  Just can't make-up my mind.  

Overall, I'm happy with my first painting project.  Start to finish, the project cost me around $65, including the piece of furniture.  Not bad.

Here's another tag sale find.  I bought this when we were at our old house but didn't have a place for it there, so it sat in our garage for about two months until we moved.  I love the primitiveness of it and the storage it provides.  

I must remember to straighten that lamp shade!