Saturday, July 24, 2010

Only a little bit of sewing...

In last year's makeover post I mentioned wanting to get hold of a Queen Anne style bedroom suite. I finally did a few weeks ago - two bedside tables, a mirrored dressing table, and a bed. (I reckon from the 70s, going by the maker and what I could find out about them - they're made by The Prestige Furniture Co, Reservoir).

It's brown shiny veneer, so I knew I had to paint it - I thought either white, black, or pink. I decided on the black, with pink handles. I found some great repro medium pink glass handles on eBay - sent from the USA, with great quick (and cheap!) shipping, and really well packed... (Rousso's Reproductions - NAYY but highly recommended).

I didn't want to have to do all sorts of sanding and so on, so I went to the paint shop and got a recommendation for Zinsser 1-2-3 Bullseye (what a name!) which you can paint straight over varnish - and so it did. I painted 3 coats of gloss black over the top (all water based, much easier than oil).
So, here's the first part of the suite:


As you can see, I also whipped up a doily for it - some leftover pink linen from another project, some crochet lace from the shop up the road, and Wednesday's days of the week kitty from Embroidery Library (embroidery machine, I have been neglecting you!)

Now to paint the rest of the suite, which also involves fixing the busted leg on the bed... that will be interesting. I'm not sure if I'm going to upholster the bed - I'll paint it first, then see how I like it.

3 comments:

kitty said...

Ooo that turned out much prettier than I imagined, and I was imagining very pretty!
Can't wait to workshop the fabric choices with you...

Carol said...

Love the pink glass handles. I've never thought to use something like that and I do a lot of tarting up of old furniture!

delamare said...

Lovely! Clever clogs!