Quality: Looking for the best!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend! I have had an awesome few days off of work. I took off Wednesday through Monday to celebrate my birthday (the big 3-0!) and just have some time to relax. Ryan surprised me on Wednesday with a mani/pedi, I got a massage on Thursday, and a haircut on Friday, so I am definitely pampered and rested!

Yesterday and today I was happy to get going on some of the projects in my garage. The past couple weeks have been hard for me to get anything done since I had a horrible cold that knocked me down for about ten days- it was not fun and I couldn't do any painting during that time. It was great to get back at it, and I can't wait to share the projects I'm working on now.

I also had some great inspiration from a very thoughtful birthday gift from one of my best friends, Allison. She got me this amazing book that has all the info I need for different painting techniques, tricks and tips, along with a fabulous before-and-after gallery. My family got me a gift card to Home Depot for painting supplies. I can't wait to try some of these things and it definitely inspired me to get back into it!

One thing I learned early on from researching and looking at furniture is that it's super important to be very particular about the quality of a piece for refinishing. The main things I ask before I even go look at a piece is if it's solid wood and if the drawers have dovetail construction.

I'll be honest- at first I didn't even know what dovetail meant. When I purchased the MCM set that was already painted, the ad said "dovetail drawers," so when I went to pick it up I asked. Dovetail drawers look like this:

This makes the drawers strong and stay together well. After I learned about dovetail, I went through my house and looked at all the dressers we own, and found out there is one that does not have dovetail construction. The dresser is sturdy though and has worked great for us, so just because it's not dovetail doesn't necessarily mean it's horrible. At the same time, just because it has dovetail drawers doesn't mean it's superior quality either. Dovetail is definitely preferred, but I still need to check out the overall quality of the piece. Although I can be pretty handy, I'm not inclined to spend lots of time on fixing furniture beyond some wood filler or tightening some screws, so I try to make sure all the drawers work properly and won't need too much love.

Sourcing furniture on Craigslist can be pretty hit or miss. For me, if I take the time to go out and see  a piece, I really want to come home with it and am not so good at looking it over. Once I saw a great looking dresser for $25- great deal!- even though it was way out in Sparta. Ryan and I headed out there only to find the drawers were half falling apart, not dovetail, and it was laminate which was coming off in places. From that experience I learned to ask the basic questions before making the trip to see something, no matter how good of a deal it is.

I picked up this pair of nightstands after the Craigslist ad declared "solid wood!" When I arrived, I could tell they were not solid wood, but they were cute, sturdy, and a pretty good deal so I took a chance on them.

The tops needed some extra sanding, but they were pretty smooth all around and turned out really nice in this cream color with aged copper hardware:

They sold right away, so sometimes the particle board furniture isn't all bad. But, I am going to stay away from it in the future- real wood is just so much better. There are so many pieces posted every day on Craigslist and available at thrift shops, it's worth the wait to find something great rather than picking up something of poor quality just because it's a good deal or looks cute.

Another thing I would like to stay away from in the future is furniture that comes from a smoking household. This dresser was solid wood, dovetail drawers, stamped by the manufacturer (another big plus) and beautiful!

I saw the ad on Craigslist and it didn't even have a picture, but it said solid wood and it was an amazing deal. Ryan and I headed out to get it, and walked into an apartment absolutely FULL of smoke. Since it was a nice piece, we took it home. I aired out the drawers and frame outside for a couple weeks before even beginning to work on it. I knew just the color I wanted to paint it- Arrowroot- based on my inspiration picture:

(Courtesy of Chrissie's Collections)

I would have loved to stain the top like the picture, but after a little sanding I quickly gave up on that idea. Maybe someday when I find a dresser that isn't painted already and I can try staining the top.

This one needed a lot of sanding to even out the paint that was peeling in places, but it turned out awesome!

After painting it, it still had some of that smoke smell in the drawers. I put some scented baking soda in the drawers for a couple of days, but then they smelled so much like the strong scent of the baking soda which was almost worse than the smoke! So then I just sprinkled plain baking soda in them and now it's much better. I would still rather stay away from smoke-filled furniture. It's just one more reason why someone would maybe not want to buy it, and there are so many other pieces out there that it's not worth it.

I still love how this piece turned out, and I think it would be perfect for a little girl's room or nursery! It's currently for sale and waiting for it's new home.