D.I.Y. A.D.D.

I probably should finish one thing before starting on another. But, you know... there's all that time spent waiting. Waiting for paint stripper to work, for stain to dry, etc, etc.... Besides, I get bored easily. Must have a short attention span.

So I have three projects on the go at the moment.

1. Lamps. So far, the bases have been primed and painted matte black. I need to give them a coat or two of satin poly, I think they're turning out OK:



2. The tallboy. This has been a bit more time-consuming than expected, but it's coming up well. I may not have it finished till next weekend now; there just aren't enough hours in my days. Sanded and stained - might give it a wipe over with black tint before sealing. Hmm...





Can I call it "vintage"? I bought in in 1981 or thereabouts. ;)

3. This was an unexpected bonus. I was trying to buy this vintage pot cupboard a few weeks back on eBay and was outbid. I shrugged and figured another would turn up sometime. Then yesterday, I got a second chance offer. Yippee! The seller described this thing as "a bit of a mess" and I knew it would take some work to strip, and boy, was I right!



I don't know who committed these atrocities, but first it had been painted white......then pale pink....then purple (looks like they ran out of paint before finishing that)...


....then had silver leaf applied...



...and some black spray paint around a leaf stencil on one side.



I don't know if the greeny-blue is another layer of paint, or if it's just the result of a reaction between the paint, silver leaf and the chemicals in the stripper. Whatever, most of it is off now, but I still have some work to do. This was about an hour after applying a nice thick layer of Citristrip:



The cabinet itself is in pretty good condition - one small hole in the door has been filled, and other than that, there are a few minor dents and chips that just add character. The door latch and hinges may need to be replaced, but that's no big hurdle.

Stay tuned.