Moody Blue Dresser

NEW DRESSER! That’s right - I’m finally breaking my radio silence to bring you a fresh flip. A lot has happened since I last debuted a piece so I am WELL overdue to get back on here. Let’s do a quick bottle episode to recap what’s been keeping me from workshop all year:

Jan 2021 Took a new role at my day job and found out we were pregnant with No.2
March 2021 Started house hunting
May 2021 Kicked-off a string of unexpected health challenges culminating with my husband’s mysterious partial hearing loss
July 2021 Moved into the new house
Oct 2021 Had another baby

Whew. It’s doesn’t seem like much when you distill it down to bullet points but it was enough to keep me from tackling many new projects or sharing any of the ones I did. Maybe I’ll get around to posting about those before the new year, but in the meantime I at least have a pop of color to splash on here. Dusting off my old MO, let’s start with a quick before:

 

If you thought that dresser looked familiar, then good eye!

It is from the same line as the one and only 2020 Flip List Item I shared in August of last year.

 

Yup, in the turbulence of the pandemic, I shared one flip list item and then completely abandoned my furniture goals of 2020. I didn’t even pick up the mantle to set any goals for 2021. But, I am trying to be gentle with myself. And as I have stated from the get-go, my annual Flip List comes with automatic grace if I fail or falter.

If you’ve been following my work for a while, you may already know that I often like to preserve wood finishes as often as I can. I’ve been painting furniture since 2013 and have come to appreciate a beautiful wood grain over time - mostly because I can appreciate how much work it is to strip a painted piece to restore it back to its wooden skivvies. I typically choose what to paint on a piece and what to leave alone based on repairs. If the veneer is damaged or a drawer chipped, they I am likely using a high-performance wood filler which will never blend in perfectly if left un-painted.

 

Inspired by MCM Furniture Designer Arne Vodder,

I chose a moody blue. This dresser is serving as a pop of color in our guestroom/ nursery.

 

And this piece had all that and a laminate top. So I painted the body in Nocture Blue by Behr - adding wood legs to match the sculpted divots for the finger pulls which I left in the original wood finish.

To me, a dresser without legs feels like you might as well leave your clothes in a box on the floor. I think the leg-lift allows a piece to not feel as heavy in a space and for-sure makes vacuuming the dog hair easier (if that’s your vice).

I ordered the same legs as it’s 5-drawer sibling but had some challenges upon install. These legs require the mounting hardware to be inset. Which means I need to drill a hole big enough to sink in a threaded brace that I can screw the leg into. I didn’t want the brace or the attachment screws to poke through the bottom of the dresser and compromise the bottom drawer’s functionality so I tried to inset them as close to the corners as possible where the inner frame of the dresser would provide more wood to screw in to.

 

A lot about what I do is trial and error

which is all part of the creative process. Fun fact, I accidentally screwed shut the bottom drawer of this map chest by installing the legs with the wrong length screws. I didn’t realize until the buyer came to pick up - which was t-minus 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave for the airport to go visit my sis. I had NO TIME to fix it and was mortally embarrassed. Luckily the buyer was handy and wasn’t intimidated by the quick fix and was willing to still buy it with a discount.

 

This dresser had a slight lip that prevented the wide legs I chose from screwing in flush to the base.

Leaving the legs like this would completely compromise their stability so I ended up cutting some scrap wood to recess into base.

I could then sink the mounting hardware into the scrap wood and attach the legs safely.

Since our guestroom is doing double duty as a nursery, I styled this piece with some of my favorite children’s books.

The illustrations are so beautiful that I put them on display using pant hangers (another frequently deployed trick of mine).

And in case you’re pondering the dimensions of this piece for scale, it’s a smidge taller than Huntleigh.

I’m a little rusty, but happy to be in the workshop again. As I mentioned earlier, I do have a few retro-active projects to share that got lost in flurry of house-hunting/ moving/ baby-birthing. I hope you all are well and will pop by again for more reveals.

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Gray + Wood Dresser

I know. I know.  It’s been ages since I had a new piece to share.  But the dry spell is over mis amigos - I’ve got a fresh flip to reveal.

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It started with a cute dresser score on facebook marketplace.  It was further out then I usually drive for a potential piece but it was a beautiful commute through some fall countryside so I didn’t mind all that much. Once I saw it in person, I was pleased to find that it really only needed some minimal repair work and an easy-to-execute fresh look:

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The wood was mostly in great condition and I really didn’t want to paint it at all if I could help it.  But the sides and top needed a little wood filler so it was going to need at least a little paint. 

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In my true-to-form fashion, I decided on a two-tone look to mask the repairs I had to make but still celebrate the wood.  I wrapped three sides in True Taupewood - my new favorite greige used here and here.

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If you’ve been following along with our past projects, you’ll notice I’ve been favoring this style of two-tone (wrapping just the outer edges).  But in an effort to not seem like a one-trick pony, this time I decided for a lighter paint to contrast my go-to dark inky color.

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Instead of carrying the paint down the sides of the legs (like I did here), I kept the base and my beloved tapered legs in the original wood finish.

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The original piece also has dull metal handles which I promptly refinished in  gold to bring a little sparkle back to her front.

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Finally, I have a piece to style with my moody Mr. Grocery Bag Man thrift score.

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Plus the wooden fruit collection my aunt won for me at an auction. 

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If you’re interested in a smart new little piece, hit me up for pick up or shipping options.

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Gray + Wood Dresser
Now Available for Sale
32”W x 19”D x 37”H
$495


If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com

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Custom Campaign

Early on into our move, I found a fixer-upper campaign piece for sale on Facebook.  We hadn't unpacked everything and my workshop was nothing more than a junk drawer for empty boxes and miscellaneous curtain rods.  But the price was right (and it was an easy pick up on my way home) so I brought it home without a plan. 

 
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After posting the cabinet in my stories on Instagram, I immediately got a DM from a client who was looking for a cute little storage piece for her living room.  After a couple conversations about colors we landed on an old favorite as our inspiration - this piece from 2016:

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Since the paint color from our inspiration piece was a custom mix, I got the paint color-matched to finally get a name: True Taupewood by Behr.

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It's a warm shade of greige that reminds me of wet potters clay.  

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This color is super moody when it wants to be.

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And plays really well with the bright gold tones of the original campaign hardware:

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Like these brass recessed pulls.

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And corner braces.

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Despite what it looks like a first glance, those pulls aren't on individual drawers - they are actually on a pair of doors that open up into a cabinet.

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For styling, I broke out my with diy chandelier which sadly doesn't have a home in our new place... yet ;)

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This little guy was shipped off to it's new home in Richmond. But, if you are interested in a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com.

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