High Boy Dresser ReDo

On Christmas morning I got the urge to resurface the high boy dresser I inherited for Baby Cruz. Let me give you some background. In many families one-of-a-kind jewelry or real estate is past down through from generation to generation. Well in my family it's antique furniture. I have inherited many unique antique pieces that have enhanced the traditional decor of my home. One such piece is a high boy dresser that was my Aunt's (now my aunt is in her sixties- she had this dresser as a teenager). The dresser was given to my mother for my little sisters' room and my mom saved it for me. The dresser is the perfect addition to Baby Cruz's nursery because the curved lines of the dresser complement our Bratt Decor crib.

The French Drexel Touraine dresser's original color was a creamy ivory/bisque color with greenish trim, all the original brass hardware is intact. The Cabriole legs and scroll feet are what I love the most. As you can see one of my younger sisters decided to place stickers on the dresser to "enhance" its aesthetic value. Well these damn stickers were hard as hell to get off. I did the wrong thing and used the end of a pair of scissors to scrap it off. Of course it left hideous scratch marks on the surface of several of the draws. 

Instead of using regular paint I decided the job would be easier to use spray paint. I went to the Home Depot and purchased the cheapest spray paint and primer they sold.

Before priming the wood I removed the hardware and hand-sanded the entire surface of the dresser. It was a tedious job I tell you. I wore a mask to cover my mouth and nose because being 7 months pregnant I didn't want to inhale any dusk and toxins. After one coat of primer the drawers looked like this:

The trunk of the dresser I didn't get a before picture, but here it is after I primed and painted it.

With just primer:

Here are the draws after primer and paint:

And now for the finished product ...drum roll please...

Yes I know the scraping of the stickers is very noticeable, but I'm satisfied with the finish product. On to the next project . . .

Housekeeping Rant

Lately I've been feeling bad (mentally) because of the condition of my house. Both my brother-in-laws came to visit and basically said the same thing. One said, "Wow it looks like you guys just moved in." The other said, "Ummm okay Nida I don't want to step on anything soooo where should I put this." I laugh out loud when I hear remarks about my house keeping - it's been going on since we moved in this house some six years. I never really felt bashful about it until now. I blame it on my pregnancy and the surge in hormones. Typically I arrive home from work at about 4:45 p.m. and all I want to do is lie down and relax- which is what I do. At about 6:30 p.m. I'll get up to prepare dinner- I cook 3-4 days a week. By 8:00 p.m. I'm exhausted and prepare for bed.

Prior to being pregnant my routine was the same, except I was working two jobs so I was much more worn out. I have had conversations with my sisters, mother, mother-in-law, and husband about my lack of tidiness and they just don't seem to understand. My mother's favorite line is "what will you do when the baby arrives?" Well suh after waking at the crack of dawn to prepare for work in another state (NJ to NYC) I just don't have the wherewithal to clean house. Vacuuming and dusting please! I know they are necessary evils, but every week?! The same goes for washing clothes. I'm terrible I can go without washing clothes for a month- yes quite trifling! I'm used to buying new clothes instead of washing the dirty ones. 

As I told my brother-in-law, if I didn't work then you should be worried because then I would just be a shiftless you-know-what.  So let me paint a picture for you so you don't think I'm living in a pigsty. My bathrooms and kitchen remain spotless because they are the breeding place for bacteria and germs. Every other room in my house is littered with books (romance novels), stacks of paper (my research), and clothes (clean- because I wash and leave them in the laundry bag). Nothing really has its proper place, so a big pile on the floor is perfect. : ) Its funny when my husband complains about my stacks of books and papers I tell him to hire a maid. Of course he refuses so the problem persists. What's a girl to do?!*

Enough about my lack of house keeping. My brother-in-law volunteered to paint Baby Cruz's nursery, so today he and I went to Home Depot and purchased $160 worth of painting supplies for him to complete the job. Because we won't know the sex of our baby until he/she arrives in March I decided to paint the room in a neutral grey color- Winter's Day to be exact. See below.

On the wall:

Martha Stewart Living Paint 1-Gallon Semigloss Interior Paint ~$27.97 per gal