Stuff & Nonsense

 Let's all celebrate - I finally finished a project.   This pretty little cabinet.  You know I like to name my furniture pieces and first thought of practical names until I decided to go "Frenchy" on her.

There is a lot of storage so Stuff & Nonsense came to mind.  If  keeping her was an option, she would certainly be filled with exactly that - stuff & nonsense.  


Those little bits which seem to collect on every flat surface.

 Stuff & Nonsense's before photo complete with that orange stain and white/gold Formica top.  Remember she was extra clean and well-built. See her when I brought her home here.

 Cabinet deconstructed!

Those are real hammered copper knobs and hinges - the kind you can rarely find anymore.  Cringe alert if you like these.

 Free gift with purchase.

I have stuck my hands in all kinds of critter-infested places, but this made me shiver with fear.  Had to use gloves to remove it!

 Stuff & Nonsense (I can already see that this name is too cumbersome.  From now on she is S&N!) thoroughly sanded in and out including sanding the gloss off the Formica top.  

I added three coats of Kilz (probably overkilz!  Sorry, I had to pun!) and two coats of a lovely taupe before changing my mind to using a flat aluminum spray paint on the top.

 I simply sprayed the inside with leftover shades of white to finish the paint cans.  Then the body, the drawer, and the inside shelves received two coats of a favorite color which has no name - I call it stormy sky.  It is a blue-gray.  I am almost out of it.  I hope it can be matched.

Distressed Donna looks at my progress.  Cropped out of these photos is the multitude of projects I have started.  

I thought doing an assembly line would be quicker, but Sam, my mailman, says I work faster one project at a time.  I think he is just tired of stepping over the extension cord running out the front door on his way to the mailbox!

The arrow in the photo points out Miss Spider who has been very productive gathering insects in her web and building a huge egg sac for her babies.  The newspaper had an article on orb spiders being the harbingers of Autumn and featured one just like her.  She is a black and yellow Argiope.  I like her name!

Yes, I am more afraid of the toilet brush than the spider!

S&N sits primly awaiting her hardware.  

But wait, she is too plain for me.  

I am thinking she needs some bling.

I know you are wondering why the almost same photo as above.  I was still trying to show the blue in this color by throwing a white cloth over S&N.  

A little more contrast, but I still cannot get that color to pop.  


Please feel free to use your imagination here.

 The top came out beautifully - better than I had hoped.  I used three coats of the aluminum spray.

I tested it with a fingernail scratch and it passed with flying colors!

 A French-looking stencil was selected with barn wood gray craft paint.  

Yes, I know you should always wash your stencil after each use.  No, I did not do that.  I have a whole stack of stencils and stamps to wash and put away.  I promise to do better.

After the application of the barn wood in various degrees of thickness the design looked like this.

You know I never just do one coat on a stencil!

Bring on the linen paint and highlight around the curlicues.  I do this very loosely with a liner brush - not really paying attention to the lines.

I always put at least three colors on a design.

Bring on the metallic taupe paint to highlight the design further.  Again I used a liner brush and paid no attention to the lines - just sort of free-handed it.

Be wild.  Be bold.  Be daring.

Don't color in the lines!

 If you answered "yes" to the question of liking hammered copper - real copper, not painted metal, now is the time to cringe and cover your eyes.

My original color scheme of a black body with taupe top would have liked the copper, but my final decision of aluminum and gray needed off-white so that is what happened.  I spray painted copper.

I must confess - I have painted copper many, many times.  It is just too orange for me.  I do love it when it develops a greenish patina, but that requires you removing the protective finish from most items.

 HINT:  When painting the heads of screws and nails, punch them through a foam bowl or a piece of cardboard. 

Here she is - introducing Stuff & Nonsense, the queen of storage.  You will notice I sanded around the edges and the whole body to smooth brush marks.  I even sanded right over the French medallions to make them look old.  Then I applied two coats of Minwax Finishing Paste all over - inside and out to make her durable.  She will be traveling tomorrow to the shop with another piece I hope to finish in the morning.  

After completing Stuff & Nonsense, Chucks went for pulled pork BBQ sandwiches and sweet tea from Carolina Barbeque - the best in the nation.  We ate while watching the Carolina Gamecocks trounced the Missouri Tigers.  Welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!

Painting, BBQ, and football - what a great Saturday in the South!

See y'all!





  .