The 80's Called and they Want Their Furniture Back...

Way back when I showed these two pieces we acquired...for free. 

I had finished painting them, but had not put the new handles on the doors, nor had I put the new backing on the two units. I finished them shortly after the post, but I never got around to featuring them again. 

Not only did the two units get new paint (Coco and Duck Egg Annie Sloan), new oil rubbed bronze handles and a new bead

board back, but they got moved to the other side of the room. 

I swear there is a big entertainment/storage unit in Ballards catalog that is almost the exact same color as the Coco sans the Ducks Egg. I love the Ducks Egg showing through. Ballard's should take note! Ha! 

I especially love how my globe collection that sits atop the entertainment unit brings out the colors of the furniture exactly. 

Let me remind you how the two pieces looked the day we got them. They had been my sister-in-law's and she wanted something new. When she came to my house this past summer she did not even recognize the pieces. She wanted them back! 

I used our saws-all and cut off the dated piece of trim that was on top of each of them. There was also some brass trim that went around the bottom doors but I could not get it out. So I just left it and used my chalk paint to paint right over....and it worked perfectly! 

The backs that came with them were just that flimsy press board. I replaced it with bead board. 

The room where we put this unit is behind the den (which is behind the living room). We don't really have a name for the room, but I guess it would be considered a study. It is the room where I hang out the most. You can probably tell by all the vintage classroom material. This is the room where we have the big computer which I still use frequently. I keep all my photographs on an external hard drive on the big computer. I use my laptop to peruse everyone's blogs. 

I also have vintage Oklahoma memorabilia in the room as well. I thought the long side of the piece was the perfect place to hang the old Oklahoma banners. It breaks up the long side and has great muted colors. (Those are vintage Oklahoma postcards framed beside it.)

When I painted the two pieces, I painted them completely in the Duck Egg chalk paint first. It did cover it pretty well, but since I knew I was going to put another color on top, I did not make sure it was painted precisely. The wood was that shiny 80's wood (?) and the chalk paint went right over it with no problem. I then painted the Coco on top of the Duck Egg and only painted one coat of that. There were places where I went back and did a second coat, but not very many. 

I then used Minwax in the "Natural" color and waxed both pieces liberally. Then I took a soft sand block and sanded off places I wanted to sand. Some I went just to the Duck Egg and some places I went down to the wood. I buffed the wax and it turned out exactly how I had hoped. 

I used the bead board from Lowe's that comes already cut into the half sheet. It was the exact size we needed for each of the two back pieces....IF we nailed it up going horizontally. I thought that worked out great and gave it a little different feel. I put a little of the Minwax Natural on the bead board just to take the "whiteness" down a notch. 

Since the room is full of muted colors, the piece blends in perfectly. 

It has loads of storage, display and even great space on top. 

I'm SO glad my sister in law decided to update her living room!! 

Linking to:

Open House Thursday

Furniture Friday

Tutorial Tips and Tidbits

Metamorphosis Monday

Wow Us Wednesday