Finally, a weekend.

So, I've been a busy non-blogger for a while. What with some overtime at work (finally!) to picking up free stuff off Craigslist for my sister, I've been getting home later and later and sometimes not getting a chance to eat dinner, even!

But today I had a list of things to do a mile long. Did I get them all done?

No.

BUT I got quite a few done, though I procrastinated by searching blogs on the internet. Typical. Did I mention I was a procrastinator? No? Well, I must have procrastinated on it, then.

What I DIDN'T get done was clean my car and vacuum the house, which isn't too bad, right? Right???

Anywho, today I:

1) Did 4 loads of laundry, including the bedding. Yay! Is there anyone out there that dislikes snuggling into a fresh bed at night????

2) Made a loaf of fresh whole grain bread (no I didn't slave over a hot stove or anything...this is the 2000's. I used a breadmaker, duh) to go with the stew my man made in the crockpot.

3) I brushed the dog. She's such a shedder. She could probably use a bath, but this is when I start calling her HIS dog ;o)

4) I ran out to the store.

And most importantly, 5) I almost finished stripping the antique dresser I brought home some time ago and haven't had the gumption to get started. As in, I was too chicken to brave the cold in our unheated garage. Since it's starting to get a little warmer (although you might not realize it, since we had snow just last week) and I'm in need of a larger cash flow for things like um food and gas, I decided it was time to hustle on it. I didn't get a really good photo of the dresser in it's original state. You might remember this photo, which was the photo from the Craigslist posting:



It doesn't really show how badly the finish was damaged, or the chips out of the veneer on top and both sides. I have a shot of the lowest drawer, though:



It really shows the water marks and how thin the finish is. It damages really easily. I THINK it's a shellac finish. Isn't the applied design nice??

I stripped it with a gentle gel stripper that is meant for antiques and tomorrow (beacause it took all day and now it's FAR too cold to do anything more with it tonight) I will clean it and then sand it when it is dry. Here's what it looks like right now:



Even thought the sides and top are veneered, it has some nice figuring and will look great with the finish I have chosen, if all goes well :o)

Tomorrow I will scrub the whole thing with thinners, then let it dry, fill the chips with epoxy and sand it. It will be getting a lovely, deep reddish brown mahogany stain (which is probably as far as I will get tomorrow), then a seal coat, and then it will be getting spray glaze in black which will be rubbed off everywhere except around the edges - this will hide the chips in the veneer (that I have yet to fill) and will give it a nice rich look. After that I will apply a clear semi-gloss top coat in a water-based finish with a gravity feed HVLP spray gun. I've had some luck with Varathane's professional finish through my new spray gun - I used it on a cute 2 drawer antique with original mirrors that I use as a bed-side table. It looks very nice, if I can say so myself.

Wish me luck in getting some of it done tomorrow, as I'm heading out for dim sum with my sister and then to a Japanese shop in Richmond to browse the cute bento boxes with her and some lady friends....who knows when I'll squeeze in the dresser.

I'm SUCH a procrastinator!!