As I said in my first post, my style is classic with elements of antique. I think that old finds or refurbished pieces are beautiful and give any room a history. When I was brainstorming with my mother about what I wanted to do with my new apartment in Nashville, she told me she had an old piece in our basement that I might want to refurbish. Here it is below and to the right--an antique sewing machine probably from the 1920s or 1930s. My mom bought it in the 80s from a friend at work and it has been carted around since. It was in very bad shape and the sewing machine had, in fact, fallen out of the base of the wooden top; however, it has beautiful lines, sturdy iron legs, and probably a very exciting past! I figured I could strip off the old finish and use it in my new room as a bedside table or accent piece.
I started by taking a trip to my local Home Depot. I had never done a piece of furniture, or stepped foot in a hardware store for that matter, so I walked in like a deer in headlights; nonetheless, the men at Home Depot are
very helpful (especially if you're wearing a smile!). I was pointed in the right direction and told to purchase stripper, a pack of steel wool, stripper remover, a scraper for the edges and hard to reach places, and a good pair of gloves. I will tell you from first hand experience, that the stripper
burns if you get it on your skin, so be careful! I took the piece apart so that it would be easier for me to finish each section. After about 5 hours, I got the dark brown, caked on gloss off and had a fresh piece of wood (below)!
I took the finish off this piece, the base, and both drawers of the machine...then took a day of rest before I headed back to Home Depot. I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to finish the piece, but I new I wanted to give it an antique finish and I wanted it to be neutral enough to work in any room. I chose to go with a white finish with a brown gloss. First I had to sand all of the pieces, then prime them the pieces with Kilz, and finally let them dry over night. Afterward, I painted each piece with "Polar Bear," and I made sure to cover any hinges with painters tape.
When the piece was painted, I used a "wet brush" and a "dry brush" technique to apply the gloss- which was named "Tobacco" color. You first paint on the gloss with your wet brush and then spread it out with your dry brush. This method gives the effect of streaking or very fine lines of brown atop your white. I made an effort to put a little more gloss in the creases so that they would be darker when they dried. The picture below shows the semi-finished product.
After the gloss dried for a day, I then applied a semi-glaze to seal in the paint and gloss and also to give the piece a little shine. Below is the final product, now proudly displayed in my room! I love how it looks so unique with the iron pedal which was used to push the needle up and down into the fabric. The materials cost about $50 altogether, but I have leftover Kilz, paint, primer, gloss, and paintbrushes for my next project so the investment was well worth it.
As I said in my first post, my style is classic with elements of antique. I think that old finds or refurbished pieces are beautiful and give any room a history. When I was brainstorming with my mother about what I wanted to do with my new apartment in Nashville, she told me she had an old piece in our basement that I might want to refurbish. Here it is below and to the right--an antique sewing machine probably from the 1920s or 1930s. My mom bought it in the 80s from a friend at work and it has been carted around since. It was in very bad shape and the sewing machine had, in fact, fallen out of the base of the wooden top; however, it has beautiful lines, sturdy iron legs, and probably a very exciting past! I figured I could strip off the old finish and use it in my new room as a bedside table or accent piece.
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