Furniture Makeover! From boring, outdated armoire to very hip, modern and oh so tres chic Barmoire!

What is a "Barmoire," you may ask?  It is a fancy name I came up with for an outdated armoire, like so...

...that is repurposed into a new (looking), modern Bar, complete with sliding wine rack drawers, mirrored tile, fancy (and eco-friendly) lights and a wooden glass rack overhead.  As in, like so...

Here's are a few close ups of the components:

the inside

battery operated, eco-friendly L.E.D. lights add nice, soft mood lighting at very little expense to you and the environment

...and the sliding wine rack drawers are a nice place to store your favorite bottles of Chateau Bluh Bluh Bluh, '57 (obviously, I'm very knowledgeable about wine).  

the finished piece complete with glass knobs.

So, before you throw out that hulking or outdated piece of furniture, you might ask yourself, "Hmmm....I wonder if I can use that for something else?"

Mid Century Green and Chrome Chairs on Apartment Therapy's Scavenger Roundup! SOLD!

I was browsing through Apartment Therapy today and, lo and behold, on today's installment of Apt Therapy's Scavenger Roundup, I see the set of Mid Century Chairs that I currently have up for sale on ATLA classifieds and Craigslist!  Perdy kewl!

Almost makes me want to keep them...

...but then I'd have to find space for them...

...and... seeing as I already have eight chairs...

and four more would make twelve....

...in a place where I'm the only one around......

....hmmm....
...maybe I could...
...bolt them to the ceiling???...

Fine.  I'll just sell them...(grumble, grumble)

So, uh...if you wanna' see them...I guess I'll show 'em to you...whatever....
...just email me through my stupid blog...or...whatever...whatevs...

New (Vintage) item up on Craigslist! Vintage Swedish Grey Dresser --Sold!

Just recently completed some big custom jobs I was working on this summer and now I'm starting to put up more vintage and mid century items on Craigslist and Apartment Therapy LA classifieds:

Here is the latest: This is  a Vintage Swedish Grey Dresser in solid wood, with turned wooden knobs and brass hardware...

As you can see, I had a pair of these but the first one sold in about three days!  The second one, (pictured in the top left photo) is in very nice condition and awaits its new home.  The solid wood drawers slide in and out easily and this is ready to be put to use now (as in, right now!).

Some detail of the hardware:

...and one last pic for the road...

 Check out the Craigslist ad for this here and on Apartment Therapy L.A. classifieds and/or email me through here to see this Swedish beauty!  Thanks for looking at my blog!

Update:  8/24/10 This item has sold!

Antique Dresser -- From Hidden Gem to Swedish Jewel

Before

This antique, solid wood dresser was sitting in a closet (literally) for years when a client showed this to me.  The construction was very well made, the finish still in fairly decent condition for it's age (1930's, most likely) and the original, thick brass hardware, was still nicely secured and worked perfectly.  When I asked her why she had such a nice piece of furniture in the closet, she answered, "I hate the look of it.  The brass hardware is dated and it's too dark.  It doesn't really fit in any part of my home."

While I would always recommend considering refinishing a quality piece of furniture to its original finish first (which this piece really didn't need) or selling it to make room for something you do like, this piece had been in the family for many years and was not something she wanted to part with.

In that case, updating a piece of furniture so that you can actually use it (and not have it hidden) is often the best option.  We talked some more and she told me she needed a dresser for her child's room and thought to use this one but again, she thought it too heavy, dark and severe looking for a young girl.  I agreed.  But how to make it fit?  Painting such a quality piece a bright "kid's" color would be a no-no, but a sophisticated neutral is sometimes the right way to go.  So, we decided on a slightly distressed, dove grey finish, in the Swedish style.

Here's the result:

After

Sometimes, painting over what seems like perfectly good wood is better than hiding an outdated but functional, well made piece of furniture.   And since the original finish was still in good shape (acting as a protective layer underneath the paint), should she change her mind in the future and want to refinish it, stripping this would not be that difficult as the paint will not be going on (and into) the wood itself, but rather, over the finish.

Now this looks like more of what it actually is: a family heirloom that has been around for years but that is so well made it has stood up to the test of time beautifully and with some character to boot.  The paint is applied in layers, distressed carefully, and then waxed by hand, using beeswax and natural pigments to make it look like this was found in the attic rather than hidden in the closet.