Second Chance Charms

A couple years ago a neighbor came over to see some of my pieces that were waiting to be picked up from clients and one that was for sale. I’ll never forget her response, “oh Becca, when you said you painted furniture… I had no idea”. She ended up purchasing, one of my all time favorites, a black distressed Victrolla with stained legs. 

After a few custom pieces later, I am excited to be able to do another project for her. I love her style. Its retro meets vintage. She embraces color and the pieces I have done for her in the past show that. Here are a few of her pieces I’ve refinished :

To add to her collection of Second Chance Charm furniture she found a desk at a yard sale and couldn’t pass her up. I agree, what an incredible find! Refinished in Sherwin-Williams Coquina. All panels, drawer faces and desk top have been sanded down and sealed for a natural look. Hardware kept as is. Love!

A couple weeks ago on a gorgeous Saturday morning my husband surprised me with getting the kids ready and taking us out for some donuts and coffee. On our drive back home he decided to go straight instead of turning left into our neighborhood. Suddenly the kids spotted the garage sale signs and next thing we knew the garage sailing had began. It’s the simple things that one can do to show his love. He knows I enjoy the spontaneous garage sales- its the only time I find things, it seems like!

We found this gem for $10! He was badly beat up. His top was completely detached. His paint job was chipping off- and not in the way of farmhouse chic. The owner said he had belonged to her grandmother and she was ready to let go of him. As I purchased the lone man I did give her one of my cards and told her what I was planning on doing, in case she had second thoughts 😉 . If you are out there reading this- I hope you find him to be handsome once again, I sure do! He is for sale! You can check him out at Shop Selections.

As I was sanding down his top I couldn’t believe my eyes! Look what was hiding underneath the maroon paint! I knew his base deserved glaze to showcase his detailed beauty- Tall, dark and handsome is this fellow!

Refinished in Sherwin-Williams Black Fox and glazed in Rock Bottom. Original hardware polished. Top stained in Dark Oak.

This bistro set is the 16th piece of home decor I have done for this wonderful client of mine, year to date! Last year in 2015, I did 22 pieces for her. In every room of her home you will find a Second Chance Charm somewhere- even the bathroom! From a silverware box to patio loungers; her house is a Second Chance museum. And to think it all started in November 2014 with refinishing an old dresser my clients father had bought his wife before leaving for World War II. I remember her reaction when she came to pick up her mothers dresser; actual tears of joy! I was so elated because how that moment felt to me. To her. For this dresser…  he was headed for the dump and I saved him!

As I was in the midst of taking the old fabric off the seat cushions to a children bistro set that this same client found, look what I find beneath the pink fabric, everything vintage and girlie! I sent a picture to her and we agreed, its staying! This print is what they were searching for for me to reupholster the chairs in. I’m happy its in excellent shape, it’s meant to be!

Refinished in Sherwin-Williams Dover White and kept the hidden vintage fabric from underneath.

I got a message from my client about her finding a piece of furniture for $30 on the swap pages and if I can go check it out for her to make sure the potential is there. Vintage Drexel massive heavy hutch, total retro style. I go there to pick it up from this lovely gentleman who tells me that he bought this piece a long time ago and at one point he even had the matching dinning set. They hung on to the hutch for many years because they appreciated its beauty and how solid this thing was. After some time collecting dust in the garage, he and his wife decided to sell it. One of his glass doors was broken and some of the veneer was chipping off the top sides.

After seeing the space that my client wanted to place this piece in, we were excited to get going. I got the beveled glass fixed by a local shop I use. She picked the Sherwin-Williams color Greek Villa with a light distressing to match a farmhouse dinning table she recently had made. Bronzed all the original gold hardware for an updated look. She chose to have the backing finished in Sherwin- Williams Black Fox. I used a crosshatch brush technique to give this piece definition and its own character. It came with three glass shelves and two lights up top. I really hope I get a customer photo of this piece once he is all home and decorated!

During my color consultation my client chose the color Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams. I’ve been wainting to use this color on a piece of furniture as it has been nominated for the 2016 color of the year by Sherwin-Williams.

My client inherited this gorgeous oak hutch from her mother and wanted to make it her own by having it match Her Style. Refinished in Alabaster and distressed to perfection! All original hardware updated in bronze.

Custom trunk refinished for my client whose style is “Day of the Dead”. This was completely out of my comfort zone but exciting to do. I had to Google ‘Sugar Skulls’ to get an idea of this style! 

My client had picked out two colors she wanted to incorporate but left it up to me to design. I’m thrilled with the results! She picked Sherwin-Williams Forget Me Not (purple) and Touch of Sand (cream), I incorporated the Tricorn Black for the “outline look”that I feel really sets this piece apart from other styles.

My client found this trunk at a garage sale finished in a white and distressed.

My client scored this hand painted in black, lightly distressed wooden dresser from a garage sale and wanted to showcase her in the guest bedroom.

After our color consultation she chose to have the dresser match the bed frame. The bed frame is crackled in cream colors with chips of grey coming through.

She didn’t want the dresser to be too busy with a crackle finish as the bed is busy enough so I went light to give it the sense that it matched but was its own statement piece! I color matched the crackles from the bed frame to Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa and Napery. Stained the top of the dresser in grey to bring out the grey in the bed frame. Picked out new grey metal flower knobs from Hobby Lobby to match the detail in the bed frame for the final touch!

A perfect piece to show you two very different styles! Once before a distressed matte black girl and now a chic chippy goddess!