SASSY BRASS

{I've learned that parents read this blog, so allow me to take them down memory lane this morning in order to segue into the actual project of the week. Thanks! }

It occurred to me this past Sunday, on the occasion of an old babysitter's 10 year wedding anniversary, that it was also 10 years ago the morning after said wedding that my mom and I embarked on an epic drive. We traveled the harrowing road that is the PA turnpike onto the promised land of Mr. Jefferson's University so I could be oriented in the ways of my beloved alma mater.

That's right, freshman orientation.
Or, more accurately, first-year orientation.
On the Grounds (capital G), not campus, in the Commonwealth, not state, of Virginia.
Where the meaning of "Wahoowa" and the words to its chant were seared into my head for-eva.
A wee pretentious, all those special terms? Sure.
But one swig of the orange kool-aid and you quickly change your vocab.

It was quite possibly the hottest day of my life - at that time. (I hadn't yet gone through move-in day, which was straight up God awful.) And yet the dorms that we crashed in for two nights were air conditioned - salvation! - but far too much so. I snuggled with towels, a rain jacket, jeans, and every shirt I brought for the weekend.

(Matt's dorm was one of these I think...)


This was the state of my (would-be) air-conditioned dorm on move-in day. I moved in after air-conditioning season ended.

Later on that year I shocked my hometown friends (and myself, really) by joining a sorority. Egads! In the end I was so uninvolved that the pledges had to ask my name when taking attendance on the off chance I actually went to a meeting.

Ok, ok, charming story, I know, but what does it have to do with my promised painting post? Well, one of the backwards things about Mr. Jefferson's University is it did not admit women until 1970! Shortly thereafter sororities made the scene and houses were soon decked out in pink, green, plaid, and mint julep cups. My house also got several truckloads of new-at-the time furniture. 35+ years later the same furniture still filled the bedrooms and as they say, wait long enough and things come back.

So the bedrooms were loaded with campaign style furniture. And, for those who like to peruse design blogs, they're loaded with campaign furniture too!

Image from Lonny via Little Green Notebook

Now that they're posh again they're kinda pricey and can be a bit hard to find, unless of course you decide to pilfer one from a sorority. If so, go digging in the one in the picture without the columns. There's an anchor out front to guide you.

Anyway, imagine my delight when I found a dresser of my very own for 60 beans at the local Salvation Army last week. Earlier in the year I read a very informative post on Little Green Notebook about how to bring one of these up to date. And thank goodness, because this baby needed it.

Classic late 70s "mud brown with black speckled paint" finish.

A distressed look, but maybe not the kind you want.

Hardware that was filthy or otherwise missing.

Jenny does such a thorough job explaining how to refinish furniture like this that I'll just give you the highlights:

• Sanded with 60 grit paper
  
• Filled in all scratches with wood filler
• Sanded again, then primed with Kilz
• Sanded in between coat of primer and subsequent coats of paint, using a finer grade paper each time
• 3 coats of Benjamin Moore's Hale Navy in semi-gloss
• Scrubbed the hardware with Bar Keeper's Friend, after letting it soak in a bucket for awhile.
  
• Eventually stopped with the child's play of using a scrubby sponge and moved into the big leagues with steel wool. Elbow grease was a must.
• Scouted out a matching headboard from another thrift store to get extra hardware replacements. Total lucky score!

And after about a week of post-dinner craft hours, here's what we've got:

Aside from my own satisfaction, the story ends with Matt expressing how much he likes the finished product and was impressed with my furniture makeover, securing me future opportunities to thrift and revive!