Herringbone Inspiration

Let me start this post off by giving credit where credit is due. When I get "crafters block" as I like to call it, what do I do to stir up new inspiration? Why Pinterest of course! Not to mention perusing through my favorite blogs. That is exactly where I fell in love with the idea for my latest dresser project.

Ann Marie over at http://www.twicelovely.com/ created a beautiful waterfall style desk using a herringbone paint technique that was to die for. I knew right away that I wanted to use it on a piece.

Now here is where I apologize once again for not taking any before pictures, or for that matter during pictures. Apparently I let my excitement over starting a new piece get the best of me. So sorry. I will do my best to describe what I started with and what I did to transform it to the after. The color is actually much richer than the photos depict, but you get the general idea.

 Awhile back I bought two dressers on the same day from two different people, both with the legs cut off. Now I don't know why someone would do this, but I figured it would be easy enough to fix. This was the smaller of the two and besides the short legs was in pretty good shape. The plan was to paint the drawers in a deep blue paint from my stash and use some antique walnut Polyshades for the body.

 Now I followed Ann Marie's technique except that I couldn't handle the randomness of my crooked lines. I ended up using a straightedge for everything. First I used a silver paint pen to draw the straight up and down lines at two different widths. Then I began drawing the diagonal lines at random widths. Believe it or not, it actually went pretty quickly. One thing I did learn though is one pen isn't enough! I actually ended up using three!

 I debated about whether or not to distress the painted drawers or not and decided to just do the edges and add some brown wax to help tie it all together. I added some basic brushed silver knobs to tie in with the silver lines. My hubby did help me work with the shortened legs, cutting them even to a point that seemed logical and then adding some old wooden wheels I had saved from another project. I am very happy with the finished project. Although the shape is somewhat petite, it isn't overly feminine. Thanks Ann Marie for the inspiration!




Linking up to these lovely ladies:

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