i screw up.
a-plenty...at home, at parenting, at wifing, at the gas station, at painting furniture.
this week i beckoned the fridge fix-it man so i could pay him $126. 43 to tell me that the freezer door was left slightly ajar over night.
wisely, i made this sign to prevent further costly conversations with fix-it man.
then i left the fridge door ajar for the afternoon.
my second big screw up this week (who's counting?) is laverne. this poor piece suffered years of second-hand smoke and then was tossed to the curb to congregate with the three-legged tables while covered in grass clippings.
then i saved her.
then i ruined her.
and i'm going to show you how she looks because, though i take pride in my work, i feel that our relationship is strong enough to endure the reveal of... ugly.
are you ready? i'll do it fast 'cuz this will NOT painless. trust me... and hold your eyes. and make sure your breakfast is secured in your belly.
ready? no staged reveal this time, friends. no tweaking the color, shrinking the shadows, no background of beat up blue doors from my hoarder.
just the down and dirty...
and ugly.
as my honest-abe-of-a-friend said, "it looks like you don't know what you're doing. like you tried too hard to make it look distressed. like one of those cheesy wanna-be authentic pieces from homegoods."
see? we all need a friend like jenn.
do you recall this dresser from marion at miss mustard seed designs? i sought out a photo of it this week for inspiration when i decided that i wanted to reveal some of laverne's gorgeous wood inlay and details.
i pinned it w/ this caption, "Love it or hate it?" and found these replies.
1. "Not loving that particular mix of colors/placement, and too much distressing for me. I feel like I want to paint it."
to my junky friend who wrote this , i totally agree!
2. "LOVE!!!!"
to the stranger that happened upon this pin, i totally agree!
there's something i love about it... that i hate about it, too. even miss mustard seed herself said it's a love-it-or-hate-it piece!
so, what to do with love/hate laverne....
and her beautiful inlay....
and heaven-sent hardware?
for now... nothing.
nada.
zip, zilch, zero.
laverne and i have decided to take a rest, to sit with her new look because almost 11 year old frack just may be right:
"it's not that bad. maybe there's one person on etsy who likes ugly furniture."
Posts
.JPG)
24 comments:
ok, you know you can count on me to be honest. i like it ok, but i don't love it. i dont hate either, though. i think the issue is that the color is too close to the wood tones.... i think the mustard seed dresser works more because of the contrast. discuss. talk amongst yourselves.
Paint is cheap and it's a beautiful piece. You can redo it into something you love!
Oh goodness...you are going to make her beautiful! She just needs to rest and speak to you! And, Miss Mustard Seeds piece would look beautiful in some homes. Others, well it would just look like junk. It's all in how it's loved. Laverne is going to be loved!
P.S. I agree with Cassie. Maybe an ugly green would be better? Not that I am an expert :).
I think it just needs a coat of glitter.
I love it. and I hate it. perhaps another cup of coffee will change my thoughts once again. I do love your honestly, tho.
I love the color so much, I think you were spot on with that. :) But I agree the distressing looks forced. Could you layer a differnet color over it and then age it with wax or glaze?
Okay... So... Not the absolute best piece I've seen you do - and you know I love my heavily distressed chippy stuff. I'm thinking its the yellow. Maybe needs a pretty blue? Something to make that gorgeous wood pop? I think it needs more contrast. Or maybe just a wash so that beautiful inlay can shine though, but still not be blah wood. It IS an absolutely gorgeous piece though - and the inlay is to die for. Ah, heck... What am I talking about??? YOU'RE the pro. And I know you'll figure out something that we'll all be drooling over. :)
Hi,
I liked your blog and I personally invite you to join http://www.coollectors.com - The World's Free Collectors Zone.
We will also be happy to cooperate with your blog such as adding its link to our site.
All the best,
Diane
info@coollectors.com
Sounds like this has been one of those weeks for both of us. I think you are headed in the right direction. I see a couple of things... I agree that if you are going to use one color and distress heavily, the color needs to be a stark contrast so that the wood grain is enhanced. If you want to stick with this color, then I'd paint and dark wax the body completely, then distress the drawers, and possibly the door, even more, to where there is very little paint left. It would be a contrast between the wood and the paint. In lieu of dark wax, another idea would be to do a stain wash over the entire piece to enhance the wood and blend the wood and paint together. No matter what you do, you will end up with a masterpiece. You are a furniture phenom after all!
I'm kind of with Cassie; I think that the color, not the technique, might be the problem.
Funny I just happened on your post today, and on that Miss M dresser yesterday. I thought, wow, I love the color she used, but I kind of want more paint and less wood showing. I guess she's right, it's a love it or hate it piece; I find myself wanting to finish it, like she got a phone call in the middle and forgot to go on with whatever she was doing.
Yo. It's da colah. The upside? Doesn't look like a dogs dinner revisited, so you're one up there.
Glitter? Maybs. Perhaps a stenciled vine or two. hahahahaha... or a rooster.
Oooh, oooh, oooh, but you know what I LOVE?
You WENT for it! Holla, holla!!!
Hmmm...in the interest of honesty (which you love, right? RIGHT?) my first thought was maybe the inlay shouldn't have been painted over. Paint brings out detail in the shape and carvings of a piece, but just covers up inlay.
You're going to hate this, but I'd strip the paint and either re-stain it, or paint it leaving just the inlay unpainted, or do a very sheer wash, then do some distressing if you must. Or not :)
Whatever you end up with, it's going to be amazing and unique and totally you!
I agree with Gwen. A stenciled rooster is exactly what this piece needs. Cock-a-doodle-do!
I think she needs a bolder color so there is some contrast like Shari was talking about. You'll figure it out just like the fridge door...lol!
Don't you hate it when this happens? I once wanted to burn a console table I painted that didn't turn out. (I now use it as a work bench.) The inlay on this piece is so beautiful. One option would be to strip and stain the doors and paint the body. I love a piece with a mix of paint and stain. You are the furniture whisperer. When it speaks to you, you'll know what to do.
Chevron! Everybody is doing it!
I agree with Shari, I think if you want to keep the yellow (which isn't horrible)and run with it you should add a coat of stain or dark wax to separate the tone of the wood more from the paint color. If you aren't beyond stripping the doors again and leaving the body painted that would be great too. I hope you aren't losing sleep over this because I would be if it were me. Good Luck and thanks for sharing.
here's one for ya - When I couldn't get my dryer to work I called Mr. Powell next door. I told him my dryer won't turn on! He said, shut the door first. The dryer door. True story.
I don't love the yellow.
What if you did a glaze wash to darken her up a bit? Then the distressing won't stand out so obviously as "sanded and not really aged"
I think you need to distress it where it actually would naturally wear for it to look good.. But in Laverne's case, she is sanded on the door fronts while the edges (where she would have really worn with time) are still yellow.
I think she can be saved!
Ok, so I don't like its current state....BUT I have one almost identical to it (mid century inlays) that was in very poor shape (mouse poo, missing veneer, etc) that is now in my bedroom, holding most of my clothing. I painted and then stained it to look antiqued. It came out ok. Email me, I'll drop a pic of it to ya. Laverne CAN be saved!!
I say paint Ms. L. Up with coral and write vintage Hollywood glamour stuff on her in ivory.
Bliss
fabulous suggestions! since i've never had a vision for her. i'm wondering why i didn't pose my dilemma BEFORE i took a brush to miss L?
with my upcoming move, my goal is to NOT purchase even an ounce of paint as i have heaps of cans around me (which is why she became gold in the first place!). i'll inventory my goods, ponder your comments and get to work.
cock-a-doodle-doo to you!
You know what...I kinda liked the golden color. Since you already did it, instead of stripping first or anything, why not just remove MORE paint first and see if it gets better. I've seen some with a lot taken off and when done just right (which I'm sure is quite tricky-but I bet your up for it) looks fabulous.
Post a Comment
you want to comment? really? you know what that means, don't you?
yep, i'll probably hunt you down and comment on your blog and then follow you and then comment on your blog and then reply to the comment you left on my blog and then... i'll forever stalk you.
still here? okay...good luck to you, my new best friend!