dresser revisions
a craigslist success story
without the support of HelloKorin and my husband, i never would have done it. i had thought about it often, but actually purchasing and picking up was another story. but we did it - we bought something off of Craigslist.
Jas and i have been in desperate need of a dresser with more storage. our sock drawer was a trooper, holding more than it's fair share of socks, undies and knick-knacks. 4 drawers just wasn't cutting it for both of our folded things so we started our hunt. we found one we love from West Elm, but knew we couldn't afford it, so it became our frame of reference. after feeling defeated, we turned to Craigslist. we are so glad we did. there were BEAUTIFUL pieces both expensive and affordable. we refined our search terms, determined the max distance we were willing to drive and found it. making contact with the seller was the real struggle.
crafting the emails to the sellers was brutal. it had to sound friendly, but not too friendly and interested, but not too interested... it took a couple tries, but we finally found the balance. i would draft a text or email to a seller which usually sounded friendly and excited. then Jas would review each one and remove excess excitement and minimize the friendliness. my thought, i want this and i am sure you're excited to hear from someone who wants your item; his thought, we don't want to pay full price and i don't know you.
i was incredibly nervous to meet someone from Craigslist at their house, but Jas wasn't. we drove to West End and pulled up to a non-sketchy house which already going against all the horror stories i had heard. we met Charlotte, looked at the piece, loved it entirely and agreed to buy it right there. we drove away with our piece all wrapped up and ready to be in our home!
we chose to strip off the wax and paint Charolette had done (sorry!) and were going to stain it. we went into The Home Depot for stain and walked out with a beautiful blue paint instead. funny how that happened. and did you know, you CAN strip paint or stain with a stripping chemical inside an apartment. and yes, this bad boy did take up our entire living room.
we painted the entire piece with 3 coats of a beautiful Ralph Lauren paint, 2 coats of Annie Sloan wax and 2 layers of copper leaf on the feet and drawer pulls. the blue color looks one way in the sun (see middle photo) and another in the shadows (the right and left). the wax gave the final product a velvet sort of finish. and the leaf, well, it just added a little something. it has a texture appearance, but has so many coats of clear that it is incredibly smooth.
we are completely in love with our latest mid-century modern addition! the blue is unexpected, but that's why it's so completely us. so what do you think? would you rock a bright, bold blue dresser? tell me in the comments below.
