A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Love Romeo and Juliet.

Ok, not so much the theatrics of double suicide, but William Shakespeare had a way with words.... 

Anyways, I tend to disagree with Juliet. I think somethings need names. Somethings just ARE a Steve or William or Henry. Hard to say Shakespeare's sonnets would have been taken as serious had the man gone by "Bill Shakespeare", but I diverge.

I personally enjoy thinking up creative names for things that once were discarded or left to sit unloved and often ugly. I mean who can stare at anything and not see it take on its own persona? So after working on Carla this morning with my three year old apprentice, I realized she isn't a Carla, I'm not sure what she is, she is definitely more a Joan than Carla, but I'm leaving her name be, and focusing on her gorgeous dovetailed drawers that are getting stained Dark Walnut by Minwax. So now I ask.....

 Who wants to name furniture with me?!

Trial and error and trial again

So I have this love of all things rusty and chippy and antique and it's all gorgeous in my eyes. But I am learning as I continue to paint, "Not all things are created equal". 

Not all pieces are solid wood with gorgeous dovetail details on the drawers. Not all pieces have gorgeous turned legs or will be from the Queen Ann or Baroque era. Some as I know are much later dated pieces and thus exhibit a much different style. These modern century pieces are like the younger siblings, who may not be the first born, but still in their own right garner just as much attention. 

But back to case in point. I have been working on a Cavalier Stow Away chest/desk. And by working I mean I have stripped the teal paint job (where I then discovered a coat of polyurethane). I have sanded it with 80 grit followed by 220 grit (which unknowingly closed the pores of the wood). I have stained it (my go to Minwax Dark Walnut). And as of recent, I have painted it Miss Mustard Seed's milk paint in Linen.

Which brings me back to my original post title which is trial and error. This piece... This 1940's Stowaway chest with her (she's a she. I named her Carla) sharp straight lines, and brass square drawer pulls is not a chippy, milk paint kinda girl. She is meant to shine new, shine bold. She is an attention grabber who is meant to have a great smooth coat of paint that does not show her age, but rather allows her to shine. 

So as I write this post, I am sitting in my garage waiting for the stripper to set so I can peel her back down to wood and start over again. With Benjamin Moores Advance paint in a high gloss white. Wish us girls luck. We will endeavor on. Eventually she will be gorgeous again