This is the first time I thought I was gonna toss in the towel. I sanded what seemed like forever on the top of this cart. Who ever had this piece before my friend was not very friendly to it. What a waste! They tossed it in the trash as if it had nothing else to offer. This little cart had lots of life in it and I fought it and won.
As I told the story in Thursdays blog my friend found it curb side on trash day. It was so gross and had some kinda green stuff that had soaked into the top of the wood. There were several rings of rust from old metal cans left on top for I’m sure years. I thought all I had to do was sand and stain the top. Add a few coats of paint and clear finish to the bottom then call it done. That is not how it happened at all. I like a good challenge so I didn’t give up easy as a matter of fact I didn’t give up and all. I realized that sanding wasn’t going to get it done and I would have to come up with a design to cover the damage. It was a large area so I would have to figure out something that would make the damage work for me not against me. I started over laying stencils one after the other. I used paint colors in cream, lite teal, medium teal, dark yellow, lite green and black. If you look really close you can see that I used rose gold under all the other colors for the first stencil appliqué. Trust me there is a madness to all this over laying. My friend is a single mom and she has one child. The two birds represent her and her child. The clock is there to represent her time is well spent with her son and the verse at the bottom is because she likes to have bible verses where she can see them daily. All the rest is just there to support and give the design that extra something that makes it all work. If you look close you can see the green that wouldn’t sand off, but now its part of the design. And that is how I won!!
I painted out the two shelves and the legs in black. This cart needed a drastic make over so painting cream didn’t seem to do that. I like the drama of the black it makes a statement and gives the piece weight. Shocking I only sanded off very little areas on the under edge of the cart. I’ll be honest I did sand more off but painted it back because it took away from the top. After all the top of this piece is the show stopper that tells a story. I didn’t paint out the rollers on the legs because one they are plastic and two the cream on the rollers pulls the cream in the design out. After all week, this project is done. I will deliver it to my friend next week. I’m so glad I fought this little piece and won, it was so worth the work. This little tea cart now has a new look. It’s vintage, shabby chic and a redo that is going to bless her home.
I sometimes find myself giving up to soon on things. If it’s a friend, problem or piece of furniture I need to learn patients. Giving up is the easy way out but fighting teaches us so much more about ourselves and those around us. I hope your week was so very happy and your weekend is even more Blue Happy!
