Happy Tuesday! I hope your week is off to a fabulous start! I spent yesterday catching up and relaxing, which was much needed after this weekend. (I’ll fill you in later in the post). First, I want to catch you up on a dresser I’ve been hiding from you! When I shared my photo painting, you got a little sneak peek…
Well, I promised you’d see it soon, and here we are a couple months later and I’ve finally had the time to photograph it properly for you! Our bedroom gets most of its natural light from one dormer window (it has another window but it faces west), so the wall of the room this dresser sits on is a challenge with shadows and lighting. I needed to take the photos on a sunny day at exactly the right time which is why the delay. 🙂 But I’m excited to finally share it with you!
I was so excited when I found this dresser at my local thrift shop for $30 as I had been on the lookout for a long low wooden midcentury dresser for our master bedroom. This piece was perfect! (BTW have i introduced you to Ruby, my new used flex? My kids and I love her! Emmy named her. She has a cute butt, as you can see below).
The dresser had a very glossy top with a few deep scratches, and it was missing much of its hardware. I began by removing all of the hardware and drawers, and giving every surface a light sanding.
Once it was sanded, I wiped it clean with a dap rag and allowed it to dry.
I used a rag to apply General Finishes Java Gel stain to all surfaces, working in sections. I love this type of stain because your piece only has to be lightly prepped by sanding- there is no sanding to the bare wood or stripping involved. I let the gel sit only for about 3-5 minutes before I wiped it off. The can recommends longer, but I didn’t want this piece to be as dark…. I wanted darker edges, and more of a patina warm look. I wanted it to maintain its vintage look.
Once I finished applying and wiping all of the gel, I applied a General Finishes Satin Wax. I wanted to keep it to a low sheen, and I knew I could apply their topcoat, but I figured I would give this a shot with the gel stain. I ended up really loving the final result.
As for the hardware, I loved the brass backplates that the original hardware had, but it only had half of them. I searched all over ebay and etsy and restoration stores and was not able to find anything similar within budget. I decided to give this piece a little bit of a quirkier look and keep the plates on the bottom drawers, and I used lion head pulls to complete the look.
And here it is now, in my bedroom!
I love how the warm wood tons of this piece now works with everything else in the room, adding an organic feel. 
As you can see up close- it’s not perfect, but I love it just as it is! It has the patina and charm I love still in a new richer tone!
And the hardware really makes it for me, too- I love the quirkiness!
And the three backplates on the botoom row make me happy. It sort of has a sequential hardware affect…. bottom row with lion and a backplate, middle with the lion, and top with nothing! (Well, the wood is the handle, but no brass!).
And speaking of shiny animals, I want to introduce my latest in the collection, which comes in the form of a bobcat.
I am proud to say I completed my very first half marathon this past weekend! The bobcat is the Kiawah Island animal, so it was put on this year’s medal, which was perfect for me!
Chris and I headed over to the race at 6 am to be ready for an 8 am start. He was just coming along with me for support and to take my bag (and keep my nerves calm!).
I ran it alone and unfortunately there was no place for my family to get in to see me except at the very end. (Although Chris snuck up to see me at mile 1, but I didn’t see him!). There were a couple of tough moments for me, but I thought of all of my friends and family at home cheering me on. My mom had given me a special token of luck that had belonged to my Godmother who had been a runner. She’s no longer with us, so I added the charm to my earring post and wore it during the run, and I thought of her, my own guardian angel. I listened to music, and at the two hardest moments, the two songs I needed to hear came on….. “Heros” by Alesso, and “I Lived” by One Republic. This songs inspire me to keep going, be the best I can, and live my life to the fullest.
All in all, it was a great run- mainly flat, and a very well marked route and there were so many runners that I was always with a lot of people. I felt very good right up until about mile 10 when my feet really started to hurt, but I knew I was only a few miles away at that point, and I kept going. As I ran the 12th mile, a man who had finished was on the side cheering and he told me I was doing great and only had a quarter mile to go. Shortly after that I saw Chris, Sawyer, and Chris’ brother, Travis. Chris yelled “Only about a half mile to go!” I just looked at him and say “NO! That man back there just told me a quarter!!!!” I don’t know who was right but I chose to believe the first man. 🙂 I rounded the last corner, and I saw the finish line. I knew that my mother in law, Pam; my sister in law, Jill; and Emmy would all be there waiting for me and I looked for the posters I knew they had made. Once I spotted them I ran to them, slapped their hands, and ran and crossed the finish line….. the feeling was AMAZING! I felt great at that point, even though my feet hurt and my legs were tired, I felt really terrific otherwise and recovered quickly. And I’m signing up to do it again next year.
Pardon the horrible picture of me, but I wanted to share it because I am hoping you can see the JOY on my face. I had just run 13 miles, the sun was beating on me, and of course I had no makeup on….. but I felt nothing but happiness! It’s an amazing feeling to push yourself harder than you ever have before.
In 2015, I am hoping to push myself even harder. I can safely say I won’t be running any marathons, but I would like to challenge myself to run faster and harder. I know I can. The truth is, you really can do anything you set your mind to. It just takes perseverance and belief in yourself. What will you push yourself to do?
