Nautical Chest

We had been in our house for less than a week when our friends across the street had a garage sale. They know how I am about furniture and so they let me come early and have first pick! I walked away with two pieces of course. One of which was a beautiful chest of drawers. Early American style and solid cherry. In a word: GORGEOUS!!!

It's gorgeous the way it is for sure, but I needed the stain a little darker and there was no way I was going to strip that much cherry wood. Cherry kind of gives me fits...

So I stripped the top.

Tried staining the top with dark walnut and got nowhere!

So I tried again with kona and finally achieved the color I wanted and consistency in the finish.

Just beautiful!

Then I had to finish painting this sucker. It is NOT light weight and we've been so busy around here that my husband hasn't been able to help me move things lately. I've become quite creative with moving techniques and developed some decent muscles lately ;)

Sometimes things are just meant to be. I really didn't want to put the wooden knobs back on, but funds were low after the move and all the incidents that have happened. I went digging in my hardware drawer. You see, I can't throw things away when it comes to design stuff. Lots of people want their hardware replaced when I work on their furniture and they tell me to toss the old hardware...I can't do that. So I have a little cart and it has a nickel and chrome drawer, a brass (both shiny and antiqued)

a wooden drawer, and an odds and ends drawer consisting mostly of hinges, door stops, and other such supplies.

 I found these and there were exactly eight!

So I polished for a bit and they shone a little but it wasn't really what  I was looking for. So I whipped out my handy-dandy little gold leaf pen and went to town. I love them! I love them so much that these went from being the temporary knobs to the way this piece will be forever!

So far I haven't been able to do much work on the master bedroom here. The nightstands are almost finished and this chest is in place, but otherwise this room has a long way to go!

Ahhhh, but that chest. It's so pretty and just what I wanted and it makes me feel like this room isn't so far from being complete anymore.

Then I stop and remember the list: chairs to be painted and reupholstered, cabinets to be painted, walls to be painted, bed to build, window treatments to make, ceiling to plank, new carpet to install (because my husband wants carpet in our master and I'm a nice wife), and a master bath to renovate.

That's just one room out of many...but it's so fun :)