I didn't plan it ... but I like it!

Hello out there!  I hope your week has gotten off to a good start.  As I write this, I'm a little dizzy from fumes--the work has finally started in our house to repair the damage from the bathroom flood--so if I start to get incoherent, you'll know why!  As part of the repairs they are re-staining all of the molding in the front part of the house, and whatever they are using to take the current finish off is smelly and strong!  I have all the windows open in my office, and doors and a fan going downstairs, but it's still getting to me.  Hopefully the workers don't get woozy too--otherwise who knows what I'll find when I go downstairs?!

Next week the dogs and my husband and I move out while they refinish the floors.  The kitties are staying here, but they'll be closed off in our walk-out basement and we'll be coming in twice a day to check on them and feed them.  Well, two of them will be at least. 

Our crazy cat doesn't get along with the others, and has her own "suite" upstairs.  My husband--who is even crazier than I am when it comes to the animals--doesn't want to stress her out by putting her downstairs.  So she's going to be shut in an upstairs bedroom.  Now you may be wondering how we'll get in to feed her and clean the cat box since we can't walk on any of the floors on the main level. I had the same question. Hubby plans on using a ladder and climbing in and out of the upstairs bedroom window!  I know ... he's nuts!  The problem with our cats is they were all from feral litters, and even though we got them as kittens, they revert back when we try to put them in a carrier or cage.  They just freak out, so there is no way we can board them like we will the dogs. This is one of the reasons why I've put off having the floors refinished for nine years.  Personally, I think she can handle herself in the basement for three days, but it would be hard on her. Hopefully my husband will get through the ordeal unscathed if I can't talk him out of it!

Anyway ... I'm rambling. (Perhaps a sign of fume brain damage?) My real purpose of this post is to show you my corner cabinet project.  I was sure I took a "before" photo of it when I bought it, but damn if I can find it.  So here it is in process:

It's mahogany corner cabinet I bought on Craigslist last year for $30.  A shelf was broken, and there was some areas where the veneer had come off, but other than that it was in good shape. It started out with a federal top piece, but I removed that to make it more "cottagey."

When I took the photo above, I had already filled in and sanded where the veneer had come off, and had fixed the shelf rail.  I taped it off, and painted the inside with ASCP in Coco--one of my favorite colors.  I also painted the moldings on the front it Coco.

I love the combination of Coco and Old-White.  I used it for the first time on this piece:

So I painted the outside of the cabinet with Old-White.  I was thinking of doing something on the door panels and the panel above them, but I hadn't decided what yet.

You can kind of see a pinkish hue here where the stain from the piece bled through.  When that happens, all you have to do is go over it with clear varnish and paint it again.

Here's the thing.  I was doing this piece for Lucketts, and I was a bit behind schedule.  Like, I-was-doing-this-the-day-before-move-in type of behind schedule.  To top that off, I had some areas where I had to repaint because some of the original stain color bled through (which you fix with varnish - see photo caption above). To speed things along, I decided to just paint the panels Old-White as well. But there was a bit of a problem.

I was out of paint.  The can was scraped clean.

I didn't want to use the Coco on the panels because I thought it would stand out too much. And I didn't want to use any of my lighter colors because I wanted to keep the piece neutral. So I jumped in the car and drove to the nearest ASCP dealer, about a 30-minute drive away. I ran in, grabbed the paint and hurried home. 

That's when  I saw I picked up the wrong color.

I picked up Pure White instead of Old White.  And I didn't have time to go back to the store to exchange it.

I decided to try the Pure White.

At first I didn't think I liked it, but it grew on me. The subtle color contrast made it different.

I distressed it, and liked it even more.

The Coco border of the molding separated it enough from the Old White so it didn't look like a mistake.  It looked like I actually planned it!

I finished it with clear wax, put back the original hardware, and off it went to Lucketts.

It was bought by the daughter of a friend of mine to put in her little girl's room, and it's totally sweet in there with the lavender butterflies on the wall.  But it's neutral enough that it can go into her big-girl room when she's older, or in a guest room, kitchen, dining room, or because of its scale and the fact that it fits in a corner, it can even a bathroom to hold towels and toiletries.

A happy accident! 

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