Saturday, February 18, 2012

The Many Shades of Gray

It is incredible to see what people get rid of.  I have the total opposite problem.  I wouldn't say that I'm a hoarder, but please don't EVER look in my garage.  Someone gave this beauty up to the Salvation Army in Washington, D.C.  I snatched her up as quickly as I could. 

Let's call her Bertha.  She's a little wide in the hips, but her overall character is to die for.


Some people get writer's block.  I get painter's block.  I couldn't figure out what color to use today.  Bertha deserved something spectacular and I couldn't decide on a color that would suit her perfectly.  Yellow seemed too bright.  Blue felt a little depressing.  White was too boring.  I kept grabbing paint cans.  (Again, no hoarding here, but I looked through all 37 cans in my garage.)  FINALLY, I decided on gray.  


However, there was one slight problem... I didn't have enough of ONE gray, so I had to get creative with my mixing skills.  Did you know that gray + gray + gray = GRAY???  Might have to teach that one to my fourth graders.  I mixed the two lighter grays together and then poured a darker gray into the combo until I had the perfect shade.  While I was pouring, I had another idea - this one will be shared in a minute - I don't want to ruin the surprise! 
 

Bertha is already feeling sexier with her new and improved look.


Ready for the surprise?  Wait for it... Okay... It's not that big of a surprise, but while we were pouring the darker gray into the lighter grays, I had a vision.  I wondered what Bertha would look like with her drawers painted the darker gray.  Her larger drawers were very plain, so I thought that this would give Bertha a little POP! 

I couldn't get one of the drawer pulls off because the screw was stripped, so I decided to just paint over them.  Nifty little trick on knobs... Screw them into the bottom of a box to help you paint them all the way around.  This gives them a chance to dry without messing up the edges.  


Here is the new and improved Bertha - 


And now she's officially ready for her close-up.



 Happy Junkin'!

Sarah

22 comments:

  1. She is very pretty! And we are all so glad that people give away these kinds of pieces to Goodwill & the Salvation Army so we can "rescue" them! - Susan

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  2. I think 'Bertha' looks very pretty now! Love the 2-tones!! I've given you the Versatile Award! Thank you for your inspiration!
    Blessings!!

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  3. Well Bertha turned out pretty darn good. You would never know she was one of the Butt sisters.

    ~Bliss~

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  4. What a fabulous piece. I love it. Hugs, Marty

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  5. Bertha is a beauty! Awesome job :)

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  6. You know, Mrs. Dumped, that since Bertha was found in Washington, DC, the only right thing to do is to let her go home. The Salvation Army is not that far from my house, so I'll be happy to be her new home. I'm only doing it out of the kindness of my heart, you know. It's not because she's stunningly beautiful and would look perfect in my bedroom or anything. What do you say?

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  7. What a wonderful transformation! :) I love it!

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  8. You entertain me no end! And Bertha has been reborn. WOW!

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  9. Bertha is wonderfully transformed. What a find. Love it!
    Mary Alice

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  10. I love redoing furniture, myself. I am a new Linky follower and would love to have you come by and follow me also. Best wishes, Linda

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  11. I love that you NAMED it!

    Stopping over via the blog hop! So nice to meet you! New follower :)

    Lindsey
    outofalabaster.blogspot.com

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  12. Thank you so much for participating in the blog hop. Wishing you all the best in your bloggy endeavors. Cheers!

    Kelly
    www.livelaughrowe.com

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  13. It looks great, nice job!

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  14. I love the two tone!! So cool!!! You're right- Bertha's a treasure! Whoever dumped her would be kicking themselves if they could see her now!

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  15. Turned out perfecto! Just got back from a cruise to Mexico, keep adding "O" to the end of everything :)

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  16. I love the color choices. The contrast really sets it off. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. I love the finish on this dresser! I just wanted to let you know that I gave you the Sunshine Award because you inspire me ! It's just a little award for bloggers to give out to other blogs that bring sunshine into our lives.

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  18. You are very creative. I cannot believe you can do that, I know it take a lot a patience and time. I wonder how much money to spend to make it happended?

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  19. Bertha looks great! Glad I found your blog via Agy's.

    http://doingmemindbodyandspirit.blogspot.com/

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  20. Come back! Where are you? Your adoring pblic misses you!!!

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