A Dresser for Peggy: Some thoughts on custom work

I reluctantly accepted my first custom job in November, with the caveat that I wouldn’t take the project on until after Christmas.  My client agreed.  Yay!

It’s a little nerve racking, painting/refinishing for someone else.  I’ve sold pieces but those pieces have always reflected my vision, rather than someone else’s vision, and people have chosen to purchase them rather than getting stuck with them after the fact!

Nonetheless, here’s the beast below.  Probably a mid-century dresser, stained an unfortunate yellow (“wheat” I think they call it), but with good bones and lines that were lost in all that yellow stained wood.

My misgivings aside, we made the following plan: 1) Strip and stain the carcass 2) Paint the drawer fronts black and maybe yellow 3) Leave the skirt yellow 4) Do something about the broken hardware?

A mid-process shot, completely ugly, if I do say myself.

Stripping the carcass.  Given that the piece was veneered, I hesitated to sand it and instead busted out the Citristrip. Notice my lovely workshop that’s also my entryway.  Yep, I know you’re jealous of my sweet set-up.

I’ve determined that I hate (as in want to throw it on the burn pile and call it a day!) nearly every project I work on. This used to freak me out and I used to mope around and grumble about having to bring it to Goodwill, or ask my husband how many BTU’s we might get from the wood in the winter.  However, I’ve recently begun to recognize this freak out as part of the process, or my process anyway!  But somehow, someway, and sometimes despite my freak outs, it often turns into something like this:

 

 

Do those off-kilter knobs bother anyone else??  I’d take different photos, but the dresser is no longer in my possession. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. And Peggy, she was thrilled.

Not a bad day for the Queen!