Ebay!

I have just listed a gathering of my furniture pieces on eBay for sale so follow the links (by clicking on the picture) if you would like to get in on the action and happy bidding!!

First is my all time favourite piece - the KINDER SURPRISE LOCKER which is on at a fantastic sale price starting at only £39.99

Next is my most recent Damsel in Distress which would make a snazzy little drinks cabinet for cocktail supplies! Go on and make me an offer on this one!

Stay tuned as I hope to get the French Grey Single Wardrobe and Dressing Table up soon.

Damsel in Distress

You might remember this display cabinet from an earlier post - believe it or not it was nearly painted a bright glossy red...

After looking through other blogs, I was inspired to do something more elegant with it. This one from The Frosted Gardner caught my eye - isn't it just lovely?!

So, I bought a couple of cans of black matt spray paint as the thought of painting this by hand was too much for me!! I learnt from 'The Mad Hatter' china cabinet that 10 hours wouldn't even come close to how long it would take with a brush! I didn't use a primer on this as I knew that I would be distressing it so I didn't need a perfect finish, also, black gives good coverage. It was more expensive using the spray paint but it was so so so worth it!! I had several coats of it covered in no time and then just used a roller and some left-over paint that I had for the back and bottom.

My next step was to paper on the back with wallpaper paste- I didn't take the back off for this as there was loads of room for me to get at it from the side, so that saved me time too. I used a metallic silver wallpaper which has gold detailing on it which helps to bring out the yellow stained glass on the doors. After this, I had fun distressing it! A final coat of walnut wood stain rubbed on and then buffed off helped to smooth everything over.

This is for sale! I am not much of a photographer but it really does have lovely detailing in real life so if you would like to give it a home then you can do one of the below;
Email me at prettyuniquefurniture@hotmail.co.uk
 Call into Homemakers Discounts Coleraine
Or, click here

'A' is for...Auction!

Excuse me as I write this as I am very excited and still feeding off the buzz I got at my first ever auction last night!! It was run by Coleraine auction rooms and the room was crammed with people, furniture, antiques, mirrors and bits and bobs. I thought it might be a little scrappy - well I didn't really know what to expect, but it was great! After fishing around to see what I fancied I got bidding! All bids started from £2 so needless to say I got these items at a fantastic price, I really can't believe it! I got these three items for the less than the price that I would pay for one if I was buying these at a second hand store!

 This Dressing table is my favourite, I knew instantly that I wanted to paint it a really light pink. LOOK at these gorgeous handles and little stacked legs!

This second dressing table is quite similar and was my first bid of the night! I don't have a clue what to do with it yet.

Lastly is this table, I have been wanting one like this for ages! Don't forget to let me know if you want any of these customised - I can paint in any colour from bright yellow to dark plum, whatever floats your boat :)

Client #1

Last week I had a real milestone with my first consultation with a client! The gentleman was looking for a display cabinet with lights, loads of shelves and painted in his favourite Liverpool (Bright!) red. Homemakers Discounts knew that I had a cabinet in the garage and kindly pointed him in my direction...A few phone calls later and I had my first consultation for a customised piece of furniture :). As it turned out, the cabinet has loads of beautiful detailing down the front panels whereas my client wanted something clearer and plain to really show off his items. After sourcing around locally I couldn't find a second-hand one that would suit, but was able to source some new ones for him at a price that was reasonable. So, he left a happy customer and I learnt how this business works and with a local client who will pass on the word of what I am doing here.

P.S don't worry - I have something else up my sleeve for the cabinet!

Cola to Clean?

At the minute I am working on a display cabinet and am trying to clean up these dingy hinges and nails. I wanted to keep them as they are the original ones although the way they are looking at the minute I might just have to buy new ones.

Do any of you have any tips for this? I tried steeping them in coca cola overnight - didn't work. Then I tried a silver polish which you rub on with a sponge and then polish off - it was a bit of an improvement but the grime is still there!! C'mon and share the wisdom guys!

Lovely Pair

Well, it seems like I have been working on these two pieces of furniture for a looong time but today at last they are finished and worth all of my blood sweat and tears! I purchased this single wardrobe and matching dresser from the Malawi Mercy charity shop and fell in love with their entwined carving which runs all around the wardrobe and down the legs of the dresser. The handles were also a gorgeous design if not a little dull, and the wardrobe had an authentic vintage rail to hang all your clothes on! The drawers run smooth and it was sturdy, solid wood - PERFECT right?

I worked on both the dresser and wardrobe at the same time and stages and in the same way except; for the dresser I used an electric hand-held sander, but for the wardrobe I tried out a liquid sanding agent which you just rub on and then buff off. I found both methods to be quicker than my usual slow sandpaper-by-the-hand-job and to be honest I can't tell which of the two I prefer as they gave the same results, but the electric sander did create a bit of a mess...

After they were sanded, I used a white water based primer/undercoat and a small roller and mananged to get two coats on each piece in one day. Next, I filled in some holes with filler and lightly sanded them as I think this stage really adds to the final result. I wanted a creamy grey shade for these beauties so I decided on Farrow and Ball 'french grey' and I am pleased with the results although it definately has a green tint to it. I applied about two or three layers of paint - it just depended on how the paint took to the wood at certain points. To finish it off and add protection against chips and scrapes, I applied two coats of beeswax which I find gives much better protection than any varnish that I have used.

I thought that the handles, hinges and screws could do with a little TLC so I gave them a coat of black gloss paint and gave them a good week to dry out before putting them back on. On top of this, the wardrobe rail was a little rusty, so used a cream to polish silver with and it cleaned right up! Finally, I applied little felt protectors onto the bottom feet of the wardrobe and took stood back to admire my work :). I think these two have a real romantic, girly, vintage feel to them compared to all the other furniture that I have restored.

The wardrobe and dresser are available to buy at Homemakers Discounts of Coleraine, or feel free to email me for any questions.

p.s a big thank you to dad for helping me on all the tricky bits on this one, and aaron for the photos X

I am linking up to these furniture parties;