Caribbean Upcycle

Mr. Dump and I were headed to the beach a few weeks ago and (like we do on every road trip) did a little junkin' on the way.  It was a typical Saturday morning.  Mr. Dump was at the wheel and I was sitting shotgun with my eyes peeled.  With every neon pink, yellow, or green sign, my head would whip around as I grunted for Mr. Dump to stop.  Depending on how much coffee I've had, we are typically by the signs before I see them.  But not this time.  We were sitting at a light, and there it was - the dark black arrow.  "There, there!" I shouted.  Side note: We were not having much luck on that particular day and I could tell that Mr. Dump was losing steam.  Mr. Dump (who was also very anxious to get to the beach) screeched into the turning lane, hoping this would be our last stop.  After we turned, we kept driving, and driving, and driving until finally THERE SHE WAS!  This beauty was sitting in the front yard...

I HAD to have her and was out of the car before Mr. Dump came to a complete stop.  I have been looking for a piece like this since we started this crazy hobby.  The man running the sale was clearly ready to get out of the heat, open a cold beverage, and get his junk (my treasures) off his yard.  After some brief haggling, we carted this around all week at the beach and brought her home.  I decided to tackle this piece while Mr. Dump was at work.  This is how you manage a heavy piece of furniture by yourself...  (and now we all know why muscle relaxers stay in the front of my medicine cabinet!)

Her top was in pretty good shape.  I had hoped to stain it, but discovered that it was covered with a layer of veneer...

She was pretty grimy from her former life by the sea, so I scrubbed her down and let the sun continue to disinfect her drawers while I went to town on the rest.

Since I couldn't stain the top, I loaded on a layer of primer to give it a little extra protection (plus she was used to wearing sunscreen)...

 

Then came the hard part...  What color would I use???  I have been trying to use up some of the paint in our garage, so I looked at and thought about every color.  None of them were good enough for this piece.  I had a color in mind, and that color was not in my garage.  Even though I was sweating from head to toe, I made a trip to Lowe's to find the perfect color (and hoped that I wouldn't run into anyone).  The first color that I picked up was the color that I had in mind... Caribbean Splash.... PERFECT for my sunbathing beauty!

Pretty soon I was back to work... I lifted her onto the sawhorses (don't ask me how - I think it was my super-strength determination)... and painted several coats with my sprayer...

After painting the drawers, I had to decide... to distress or not to distress??

Here she is now... Perfectly blue... Perfectly distressed... and Perfectly waiting for a good home...

Her side view...

It's not the beach.... but here she is waiting patiently in our booth...

She seems quite happy with her new life...

Time to go outside and sweat!

Happy Junkin'!

Sarah