Month of Makeovers Day 25: I get by with a little help

Have you been sitting on the edge of your seat just dying to know what happened with the massive Empire dresser I abandoned in melodramatic despair on Day 15?

It’s finally gotten a makeover with a little help from ManRay–aka Mr. Janeray.

I was ready to kick the dresser out of the house after I realized it has the Dread Mahogany Stain that bleeds through paint. If you want pink that’s a good thing. I wanted green. Jadeite green.

I was dreading the mere idea of dragging this behemoth outside to sand and prime it before I could paint it. But Luray gave me a painless solution: Zinsser B-I-N Shellac which comes highly recommended by Mr. Darcy, the contractor working on her house addition. No sanding needed!

I skipped going to the gym this morning so I could get a coat of primer on before I had to leave for the day. Small complication: our mother is moving out of the house she’s lived in for forty years. Today was the first day to start loading boxes into cars and hauling them off to her new place. I must be some kind of insane optimist for doing a Month of Makeovers when I knew a Big Move was already on the agenda. Or just insane.

I thought I’d get the glass knobs taken off the drawers while my oatmeal was cooking. Bwahahahahah! Those buggers were anything but easy to remove. They don’t just have a nut on the inside of the drawer, they’re THREADED into the holes. I had to use a pair of pliers to slooooowly twist each and every bolt out of each and every hole. My oatmeal got cold.

At this point it was time to leave the house and I hadn’t even cracked open the B-I-N. This makeover was looking pretty doomed.

I spent the day driving around through three counties with lots of boxes. Then ManRay sent me a text late in the afternoon asking what he could do to help. He’s so amazing. He got on a good coat of the white shellac before I got home. This is what I saw when I walked in the door.

I got the fun job of painting on a coat of jadeite green chalk paint.  And now the Empire chest of drawers looks like this.

Just like I imagined–only better, because it’s real.

I know I’ll see the spots that need more paint in the morning light. It will need to be waxed. I want to finish off the insides of the drawers somehow. And I want to add these fantastic red casters.

And then I have to find a place to put it!  I’m sure I’ll get by with a little help.

See the entire list of projects for our Month of Makeovers HERE.