This is my kind of piece. I love the soft, matte, sunbleached look to the wood. All the special yet subtle details. This is one you'd give a second glance to when you enter a room (or even walk over to to admire!). Stunning and truly one of a kind. One that will make a room...a piece you could design around. Honestly, I just revived this piece (which took A LOT of work let's be honest) but all these details were already there (just hidden under a really thick layer of dark stain).
As a side note, this post does not contain as many pictures as my normal posts because, originally, I thought I'd make a video instead. Unfortunately, it turns out that was too ambitious for my timeline (and knowledge on video making...I may update this post once I get it down, though). Regardless, this piece still deserves to have it's story told...
BEFORE
As you can see, the stain is so dark it hides the pretty details! I felt the piece was a bit "overdone" with the back so I simplified it by removing it.
PREP
The plan was to strip this piece down to it's original wood. Whenever you do this, the process is much longer and more tedious then if you were to simply paint it. It involves sanding with multiple grit levels and tools (orbital, Dremel, square, and by hand). It also requires paint stripper for all the grooves (I use Citistrip and find applying, then wrapping in plastic wrap for 24 hours works prior to scraping/using steel wool works best). This actually took weeks to do because I had to get all the right supplies and also I had to make sure I was in a patient mood with a good chunk of time :-). I didn't want to rush the process and ruin the piece. FINALLY, I had it all off and looking good!
REPAIR, STAIN, PROTECT
There were small areas where the veneer was slightly damaged on this piece but no way was I going to go the paint route (the veneer is sooo beautiful). I used a furniture repair kit that comes with all sorts of stains and colors that you can mix and create various looks to get a custom match for the areas. I actually had so much fun doing this and the finishes were spot on!
On to the stain...which I really wanted to keep the natural beachy look without veering yellow or orange (which can happen when you apply the top/finishing coat). To negate this, I used a white wash and then I sanded with a super fine grit sand paper to blend it all together (didn't want the white chippy look either!). It turned out sooo beautiful with hints of gray, mauve, neutral brown tones and creams. Simply a favorite of mine! To seal, I used a matte finishing wax.
*photos here are the process of white wash/sand as I work to get the finish just right...it took several rounds of this to accomplish a blended, soft look (I'm a bit of a perfectionist...)
Initially, I had planned on using the original hardware. I cleaned the pulls using this method of boiling in vinegar water then using a product called Barkeeper's Friend. Lot of mess and soar arms/hands later I had these orange brassy toned pulls that didn't look great with the piece. I was so sad! SO then I tried to age them a bit with a sulphur product and that was a disaster as well. I took all this as a sign and found beautiful soft toned brass pulls that fit the piece perfectly. They are thin yet heavy (heavy solid hardware is what I look for).
*pics show the process trying to save original hardware (last pic shows what I'm trying to get to with pull displayed below plate...this didn't work so I ended up replacing original pulls with new pulls...no regrets!)
To finish, I lined the cabinets and drawers in a "flying flock" print that matched the wood tones and gave this piece that final touch of light, airy, free and beautiful vibes that I was going for. I just love the way this turned out!
Thank you for reading! Feel free to message me with any comments or questions!
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