Taking a Break From Spring Cleaning

Spring is a wonderful time of year.  It's starting to warm back up (sloooowwwly but surely) and the cleaning fever is hitting me.  While partaking in the usual spring cleaning to-do's, I'm finding a ton of other little tasks that really should not be overlooked another day.

Meet my armoire.

In 2006 a house fire left my bedroom in a bit of a...crispy state.  Luckily no people or pets were harmed, but all of my possessions were lost.  For somebody that has been a thrifter and a hoarder since the day they were born, I must admit I was pretty devastated.

Thankfully this experience really put into perspective just how much emotional stock I should/should not have in my "things."  I still love all of my treasures, but they are not everything.

I rarely bought anything new therefore none of it could really be replaced, so when the insurance check arrived and it came time to re-stock I wasn't sure where to start.   One thing I knew was that I didn't want anything new.

I bought my armoire, along with the rest of my bedroom set, from a used furniture shop about 8 years ago and have been loving it ever since.  (You can take a peek at the rest of the set in this post.)  A beautiful piece that, like many antiques, has seen some sh*t.

It has moved to 4 different houses with me and taken quite a beating.  One of the doors has been broken off and re-attached, loose trim pieces wobble, and it's covered in water marks from a moving day gone wrong.

This side, pictured below, was the worst of it.  Look how blotchy it is!

In the midst of my spring cleaning, I decided it was high time I spruced this baby up.  I took some Restor-A-Finish and furniture wax to it and I'd say that the photos speak for themselves.

Here's that extra blotchy side after I was halfway through rubbing on the Restor-A-Finish:

The difference between the top and bottom half is pretty clear!  I love this stuff.  It brings such a richness back to the wood that, in this case, I didn't know was there in the first place.  And without any real work.  That's the best part!

Here are two photos of the same door right after wiping it down.

Once I had the wood restored to it's former beauty, those brass pulls were looking pretty awful.  Using a paste of a couple tablespoons of kosher salt and fresh lemon juice, I scrubbed those puppies clean too!

I let them sit in the mixture for a few minutes to loosen up the grime a bit and then scrubbed them with the course side of a kitchen sponge until they shone.

I couldn't believe what was hiding under all that grossness!

I'm so very happy that I finally took the time out to show my armoire some love, but also kind of kicking myself for not doing it years ago.

And I'll end with a flashback to ugly before I show you the stunning 'after' shot...

Seriously, what took me so long?!  I guess it's back to cleaning now, but I'd say that was a pretty productive "break."

Have you guys experienced the restorative powers of Restor-A-Finish??  I swear to you they aren't paying me...I just love the tiny miracles that this stuff works.

Bedroom Set Face-Lift

I was at Home Depot with a couple of gift cards still leftover from Christmas burning a hole in my pocket.  While perusing the paints/wood stains I came across some Howard Restor-A-Finish.  I'd been wanting to try this stuff out for some time after reading about it on a few of my favorite blogs.  It's supposed to revitalize wood finishes and fix minor scratches and markings without the bother of sanding.

My mind went immediately to my poor old bedroom set.  I've had it since 2006 after purchasing the whole set from a local antique store.  I love it just the way it is, but it has been looking rather run down lately and I really wasn't ready to freshen it up with a coat of paint.  I have my dresser and vanity done so far.  Take a look!

Luckily the Restor-A-Finish in 'Walnut' spruced it up just enough to get it looking lovely again.  Here are some comparison shots:

You can see how much drier the sides are in the first picture.

The wood in the center of my vanity gets very dry and dusty because that's where I do my makeup daily.  It conditioned that area nicely and got rid of a ton of minor water marks.  You'll notice in the pictures above that it reduced the ring on the corner and a scratch near the bottom, but did not fix them completely.  I applied my Restor-A-Finish with a soft cloth, which is for minor blemishes.  Had I wanted to repair more major ones I could have used steel wool to rub on the finish, but I like my furniture to look its age a bit.

After wiping on the Restor-A-Finish and waiting 15 minutes, I wiped on a thin layer of Minwax Finishing Wax to seal it in.  Leave that on for another 15 minutes and then buff.  I love the satin-y sheen that it added to the top.  It really makes the woodgrain stand out much nicer.

 

I'm very pleased with the results.  This stuff is so fast and easy to use, not to mention well worth the $8!  I didn't even use up a third of the can on those two pieces.  I've still got a ton of furniture that could use the Restor-A-Finish treatment so call me in a couple weeks.  Until then I'll be buried under a pile of dried up furniture in a well-ventilated room.

Simple Chair Re-upholstery.

Okay, so check out this chair.  I found it at the local antique store for $7.  It may not look awesome now, but I saw that frame and knew it was destined for something much greater...

BEFORE:

Kitchen Cart Remix

I'm really trying to keep on with the house tour, but I've been having way too much fun with little projects.  It's so hard not to finish them and post right away!  This one was a super simple little refresher for this kitchen cart.

I've had it for a while now, but I decided it needed an upgrade.  It's all part of my master plan: embracing color.  You'll probably notice I tend to lean towards black, white, gold, or some other neutral for everything.  It's been brought to my attention several times and now I'm trying to broaden my horizons and spice things up.

BEFORE:

"Tonight, we dine in hell..."

Well, we used to.  It's looking a bit more heavenly these days.

The kitchen opens up into the dining room.  You'll start noticing from here on that each room was just painted a slightly different shade of skin...yum.

BEFORE: