By My Lover's Hands
Jan. 19th, 2004 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
avadWhen I returned from Florida, Mr.B had a quite grand surprise waiting for me. During the week and a half we were apart, he had told me he had been working on 'special projects' which he would not elaborate on verbally. This is a loose term for him, so I did not know whether he was creating a website, a graphic t-shirt, sorting change in ingenious ways or whathaveyou. But wow, I was unprepared for how wonderful a surprise it was.
A little background: when we first moved here, it was our first unfurnished house rental. On a very tight budget and short notice we lucked out in finding just enough furniture to make it work from thrift shops and the Salvation Army. The bedroom furniture at Salvation Army was less than ideal, the finishes cheap and glossy dark brown.. in my mind...I saw how it COULD be...if we just painted and worked on it one day...and we needed furniture...so we bought it. The headboard was the same glossy dark brown..but in my mind...it had so much potential.We talked about it from time to time, what could be done..how we could make it more exotic..in the styles we both longed for..Asia, India...
But we never got around to it. It was there. It functioned. I worked on my artwork, he worked on his work...and we just never did anything with our furniture/decor.
Anyway til NOW. He did it. He took the ball and ran with it,perfectly and further than I ever imagined.
A good friend had once gifted us with two antique carved figures from her family in Indonesia. We have kept them displayed beside candles in our room. Mr.B had the amazing idea to incorporate them into the headboard and sand and paint and antique the entire headboard to match them perfectly, with bits of reds and golds in 'weathered wood'. The result is better than the furniture I drool over in world antique shops, and it is as if we have a god and goddess, two praying protectors above our heads!LOOK!:
In addition(!) he painted all the rest of the bedroom furniture (dresser and nighttables) a gorgeous cherry red just as we had daydreamed together!
:):):)!! I couldn't believe it. SO overjoyed/delighted/overwhelmed. Soon we will get some sort of wispy red curtains...and the bedroom will be so beautiful. And one day, when we are not renting, I definitely want colored textured walls.
...Anyway so that's the story of how I got the best headboard in the world!:) The pictures don't do it justice, it really looks SO unbelievably ancient and full of magic.;)
A little background: when we first moved here, it was our first unfurnished house rental. On a very tight budget and short notice we lucked out in finding just enough furniture to make it work from thrift shops and the Salvation Army. The bedroom furniture at Salvation Army was less than ideal, the finishes cheap and glossy dark brown.. in my mind...I saw how it COULD be...if we just painted and worked on it one day...and we needed furniture...so we bought it. The headboard was the same glossy dark brown..but in my mind...it had so much potential.We talked about it from time to time, what could be done..how we could make it more exotic..in the styles we both longed for..Asia, India...
But we never got around to it. It was there. It functioned. I worked on my artwork, he worked on his work...and we just never did anything with our furniture/decor.
Anyway til NOW. He did it. He took the ball and ran with it,perfectly and further than I ever imagined.
A good friend had once gifted us with two antique carved figures from her family in Indonesia. We have kept them displayed beside candles in our room. Mr.B had the amazing idea to incorporate them into the headboard and sand and paint and antique the entire headboard to match them perfectly, with bits of reds and golds in 'weathered wood'. The result is better than the furniture I drool over in world antique shops, and it is as if we have a god and goddess, two praying protectors above our heads!LOOK!:
In addition(!) he painted all the rest of the bedroom furniture (dresser and nighttables) a gorgeous cherry red just as we had daydreamed together!
:):):)!! I couldn't believe it. SO overjoyed/delighted/overwhelmed. Soon we will get some sort of wispy red curtains...and the bedroom will be so beautiful. And one day, when we are not renting, I definitely want colored textured walls.
...Anyway so that's the story of how I got the best headboard in the world!:) The pictures don't do it justice, it really looks SO unbelievably ancient and full of magic.;)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
it looks amazing :)
Date: 2004-01-19 04:32 pm (UTC)and i actually have a question. did he use a cherry red paint or a stain? i'm trying to find something in between. the hutch that we have is painted white and i want to paint over it without having to strip it...
but i like the way your furniture turned out. so if thats a paint... i could handle that.
hmmmm.
(planning projects now)
tell him i am grateful for the inspiration!!!
b
Re: it looks amazing :)
Date: 2004-01-24 12:28 pm (UTC)The paint is actually called 'tomato red' by BEHR; satin finish exterior enamel paint under $7.00 from Home Depot. Specify color and finish (1 of 6 level sof gloss/ flatness) they type in a couple of codes, some hideous looking pigment spits out and voila! a can of paint... high-tech. Weird color, though- VERY dramatic hue changes with different lights.
Using a white paint as an underbase might be tricky. Maybe prime it first (oxide color, spray can auto primer is probably good for reds). Stains really work best for bare wood...they seem to act up when applied over paint. We used to make our own 'stains' in any enamel color by mixing paint thinner with the paint to the desired thickness- works OK.
Other than that, avoid coarse bristle brushes, they leave brush lines (sponge brushes are pretty effective). Go kick some furniture/hutch arse!
B.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-19 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-19 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-19 08:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-19 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-19 09:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-20 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-21 11:31 am (UTC)Remember, we got em at Salvation Army...cheep. :)It's the paint and an'tweek'ing that made them special.;)
no subject
Date: 2004-01-22 08:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-22 12:02 pm (UTC)no subject
no subject
Date: 2004-01-25 08:42 am (UTC)