Anthropologie 'Sura' Inspired Dresser

May 25, 2015 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

Happy Memorial Day US friends, stateside and overseas! A heartfelt thank you to those men and women and their families who serve or have served this beautiful country we call home.

I cooked up a little Before+After to serve on this special day - one that wasn't even in the works a week ago! It all started mid-week last week when the Anthropologie home catalog landed in our mailbox. I was taken to another world at every flip of a page, but when I got to their 'Sura' collection, it was more than swooning; I was immersed! I snapped this pic of the page:

So vibrant and edgy! I love a good all-over patter and knew this was one to try. I got on Craigslist to see if there were any decent candidates to experiment with. Hello, modern four-drawer dresser! Welcome to The Garage!

Now, what to use for my stencil? I thought about carving my own stencil out of cardboard; a method I've used before and have liked. But I didn't like the idea of painting the design on with a brush. I wanted it much more uneven, worn, and faded looking. Anthro used actual triangular pieces of wood turned all different directions and with a beautiful white washed stain. I wasn't going to cut a zillion wood triangles and fit them together like a Rubik's Cube. I hate those things. Instead, I cut some sponges down until I got the size I liked for the height of the drawers.

Sadly, about 5 sponges were harmed in the making of this transformation. But when I got the size I wanted, this makeover was a breeze! I brushed the paint, (Old White by Annie Sloan Chalk Paint), onto the sponges, and just pressed them onto the drawer fronts at random. Then I painted the body in Old White and called it Done!

By not overloading the sponges with paint, the pattern went on exactly how I had hoped, (which doesn't always happen)! A little crackly, uneven, and true to the faded finish of my inspired Anthro pieces.

Here's a little behind the scenes action of StyleMutt Home at my house; whenever I'm staging and shooting photos, there are usually at least 20 children behind me in the bodies of 3, that need one thing or another. They'll be happily content until the camera comes out. This one was tired of waiting for (more) snack behind the camera, so he put himself front and center. Well played, young one. Well played.

It's a bold pattern, yes, but the right piece fell into my hands following a heaping dose of inspiration. One can't just ignore circumstances as perfect as that, right?!

4-drawer dresser now available for sale
$295
40.25"H x 35"W x 19"D
Contact me with questions or interest!

Thank you all for stopping by and have a fun and safe holiday!

Before + After ||Warning: Graphic transformation details ahead||

April 29, 2015 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

Guys. (well, mostly gals). When I saw this piece on Craigslist recently I tried to do a handspring and almost twisted my ankle. No joke. That's how much I loved it, had to have it, wanted it yesterday.

Please note that is NOT my garage, it's the seller's pic. Not that I have any right to pass judgement on a messy garage... Anywho, pretty epic piece, right?!

And after some TLC and socialization with the world outside of a garage, here's our beauty after!

This makeover had it's highs and lows and I'm not going to spare you any graphic details. Consider that fair warning!

To start, I texted my go-to-gal, Cate, and shared an up close pic of this piece's freckled veneer. That is, indeed, veneer - but it's in SUCH amazing condition that I knew it could stand its own. However, it had freckles! It looked like my arms and legs in July - COVERED in freckles! Fine on people, not furniture. Cate suggested dulling the freckles by rubbing the piece down with a gel stain, and it worked!!

That Cate; she's one brilliant chick! Love running things by her for her opinion and advice. She never fails. Seriously, I think she's batting 1,000 - every pitch I throw she swings a home run idea!

After I stained the body, I was ready to tackle the shelves and cabinet door. I wanted glossy white but was really not interested in using my highly praised Glidden Trim Door Furniture paint. I love that stuff but it's seriously thick, and trying to get it inside every corner and crevice was going to take a lot longer than I have patience or time for. So I tried this:

Gave all drawers and door a coat of Rust-Oleum Paint & Primer In One. Worked beautifully as a solid first coat.

Here comes my favorite part - I tried for the first time Rust-Oleum's Gloss Protective Enamel, (in white), and it's like the SPRAY FORM of my beloved Glidden paint! It's oil based, sprays even and lays thick. When all pieces were dry, they were so smooth and solid - you couldn't scratch if you tried.

Luckilly, I had an opportunity to test this most amazing paint after this happened:

Some bird out there is patting the feathers on his back for this near bullseye. Don't set pieces out to dry under a large tree, folks. Lesson SO learned! To clean, I ran a high pressure hose over this while simultaneously scrubbing with a thick bristle brush. I figured I would have to start from scratch and re-spray this piece. What a pleasant surprise when the water just beaded up and trickled right off and the bristles made absolutely no damage to the finish at all! I am so pleased to say it is now squeaky clean and Rust-Oleum has made me a die-hard fan for life! Amazing product, Rust-Oleum; bravo!

Last to tackle was the awesome custom hardware. This piece would have no other hardware. There are wooden 'notches' made just for these pulls to fit around, so it's already a perfect marriage. They were pretty dirty and dingy, so I cleaned them up and gave them all a coat of Rust-Oleum metallic gold spray paint. They looked a little plastic-y afterwards, though. So, I grabbed a can of dark wax, (by Annie Sloan, but you can find dark wax in most hardware stores now), dragged a thick artists brush around in the wax, and dabbed it into the crevices on the hardware. I covered each piece thoroughly, then took a paper towel and just 'blotted' to remove any excess wax. I let the wax cure for a day before adding the hardware back on the piece

Love the authentic look that the wax adds! Beautiful, isn't it!

Cleaned up nice didn't it. ;)

So excited with how this piece turned out - it made a marvelous journey with a little crap along the way, but all the best journeys have their fair share now don't they.

This pieces is now available for sale in the DC metro area!
$675
69"L x 30"H x 17.75"D
You can email me at chelsea@stylemutthome.com if you have any questions or want to snag it!

Thank you all for stopping by!

Card Catalog Table - || It's ok to be naked ||

April 22, 2015 Cate | StyleMutt Home

Before I go any further and you start jumping to nudist conclusions, just keep reading... It all started with a trip to my local ReStore where I scored some vintage metal finds: a task lamp and a two-drawer metal card catalog.

Neither were in great shape: the task lamp was an amputee without a base to stand on, one card catalog cabinet was two-toned and looked like it had heterochromia (a condition where your eyes are two different colors), and the other had hilariously uneven handles. I ended up only getting my blue-eyed/ green-eyed cabinet since something about it made me smile. And so I brought home more misfits to my island of misfit DIYs...

I'll have to save the lamps transformation for another post, but when I started on the card catalog, I knew I wanted to build a base for it and turn it into a table. And that's when I got naked...

Naked wood.

Was that anticlimactic for you? Well I am not sorry. I think a nude wood is totally worthy of a peep show ;) The days of our grandparents furniture modesty is over: you don't need to fill your home with dark and heavily shelacked finishes. That's right, the modern home has gone naked. There's something so simple and beautiful about light, unfinished, natural wood. Just look at these drool-worthy photos in the raw:

I mean, how tantelizingly neutral is all that nakedness?!

I fashioned this beautifully minimal base from a couple of unfinished square dowels. I was actually planing on staining the wood base until I got it all assembled and realized the natural blonde pulled out the bleached labels in the original drawer pulls - I just love how it makes that mysterious handwriting pop!

Someone may find the mis-matched drawers to be a draw back, but I find it beautiful and quirky. Wherever you are drawers J-S and T-Z, I hope you look as cute at this guy!