Smokey Bear becomes The Baroness

"How YOU do'n?" (love that quote from Friends...why did that show have to end?!) I've been down under for the last few days, and no I don't mean visiting the Outback...(I wish!). I was down for the count and under the weather, wishing I was down in the bed and under the covers! But, as we Mom's all know, we have to literally be at death's door to get that! The meds the doc prescribed made me feel just a little loopy. I was afraid if I typed a post, it would have been gibberish! For example, I edited all my before pictures and now I can't find them! I have no idea where I saved them! Thankfullly I had a few elsewhere.

Anyhoo... Ready for another reveal? It's been a while, hasn't it? Remember Smokey the Bear? Yes, Old Smokey has gone through quite a transformation and become.....

The Baroness!

(Lacking smoke, that is)

Here she is, in all her glory!

Talk about a labor of love!

This was the detailing I fell in love with.

The white is Sherwin Williams "Creamy".

I had a sample pot custom matched to the tan color in the fabric, which I then mixed with glaze.



The glazing brings out the beautiful Art Deco detailing.



Like the new knobs?

I wanted to make the inside like a jewel in a box...when you opened it, you saw the real beauty!

This fabric was my inspiration and jumping off point. It was more of my remnant finds.

The inside of the drawers are painted Martha Stewart's "Tide Pool" Precious Metals. Gorgeous turquoise color!

It took me forever to finish this one. Taking on a smokey, repair needing piece isn't fast work. I've had a number of custom orders and they've keep me tied up as well. I just had to go visit Old Smokey whenever I could squeeze in a few minutes, but He has now become a SHE! What'cha think?

Just to review, I found this old chiffrobe/armoire at one of my local thrift stores. It REEKED of fire smoke. Apparently, it had been sitting in a storage unit that had caught fire. The lady checking me out thought I was crazy to take it (that's never stopped me)! I had to strip it down to the bare...and I do mean bare bones, wash it with Murphy's Oil soap multiple times, prime with Zinnser Bin (my new favorite primer) and put multiple coats of paint/glaze/fabric/wax on it, but it's now smoke free. You'd never even know it had such a rank, lowly beginning!

Smokey Bear arrives home (I had to Lysol the car big time)!

Part of me hated to paint this. I think it's walnut! But, I had to do some repair work on places making it a necessity.

The incredible amount of nastiness coming off! Can you believe how thick those layers of paint were? See the white residue? Ash!

I bet this was beautiful when new!

And, just to slow me down a LITTLE bit more, I forgot to follow my own directions to size fabric larger when lining with it! It shrank and I ended up having to find and order more. While waiting on it, I dropped some hints as to what was coming. If you want to know info I didn't include here on any of the process, let me know!

I really enjoy recreating a piece of furniture. I'm finishing up one or two more quick projects to show you (I work on multiple things at once), and then I get to start on my next big project using my fabric remnants I just found! Remember this?

Can't wait to get started using these remnants!

 I'm not trying to crank out a ton of stuff. I goal is to sell one or two BIG pieces a month with my smaller stuff down at my booth. I enjoy taking my time and making each piece a work of art.

fyi:
I have got to reduce the amount of email in my Inbox, so I'm canceling some of my blog post subscriptions. If you notice a drop in your reader number, it's not that I don't like it or am not still keeping up. I just am signing up as a follower instead so I can keep up with them in my Dashboard versus my Inbox.

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