Stripped Down and No Place to Go....

Come on now! Don't be thinking dirty! Did you really think the girls of Sandpaper would put up a post about something naughty? OK--naughty, no. Dirty--maybe.  BUT, not in the sense you think. Dirty as in dirt, mud, messy, unclean...you get the picture.  Alright, maybe you don't get the picture. So here is one for ya:

What a BEE-YOU-TEE! This baby was just calling our name. It is massive and has TONS of character. So we scooped her up and brought her to our workshop. (OK, so we don't have a workshop but Kath O's garage will do for now.)  One day! One day very soon our shop will be come a reality.

Once we got her home in ole' Bessie, our old white trusty van, on a crummy- wet- dreary- June day, the ideas started to spew.  We really didn't have a particular design or color in mind. So, we started a deconstruction project because we wanted it to be open shelving.  Could we buy a cabinet that actually was open shelving? Absolutely! Would it be as much fun transforming it into what exactly we want? Heck no! So we got to work.

Since she came in two pieces, we took her apart.  Once we did, we noticed there was a little water damage to one side.

Even after sanding the top, it just wasn't looking or turning out how we wanted so we decided to buy a new top and put it on. 

We then pulled all the doors off and glass on the sides to create the open shelving look.

As you can see in the second picture, the bottom shelf was damaged so we put new wood down.  We also had to reinforce the shelves with metal brackets.

Once we finished prepping it, we decided to paint the inside shelving with Graphite.  The outside received Old White.   Here she is with one coat of each.

At this point, we left her to sit because we devoted our attention to the Amber Gold Salon project seen in our previous post.   When we finished her project, Amber expressed the need for a display cabinet.  We immediately thought! HUTCH!  She needs it! So...we went and spent the next week paying a lot of attention to tailoring it to match Amber's decor.  

We took the gold metal door designs and re-purposed them on the side panels. We used a staple gun to secure them. LOVE air compressor tools:)

We lined the bottom shelf with some really pretty paper that matched perfectly. (This is a pic prior to us laying it down permanently.) 

We sanded and antiqued the Old White and then waxed it with clear wax and detailed parts with dark wax.

We special ordered glass for the shelving, since it didn't come with it, and put the original hardware back on.

We delivered the hutch to Amber's this past week and just love how it looks with her product line. It also complements the mirrors at each station. 

(Products couldn't be put on the top two shelves because there was a delay with the special order glass.)

We are thrilled with how it turned out! We also love the fact that the hutch found a place to go, instead of sitting in our workshop with no intended purpose.

The Old and the New...

Don't you just love finding hidden treasures? Perhaps when changing the laundry, you find a dollar and your think "HOT DOG! I just got paid for doing my own laundry!"  Maybe, it's an old photo found in your dresser drawer that you haven't seen in ages and transports you back to the good ole days.

For me, it's finding a piece a furniture, opening the drawers and figuring out it's history.  For example, this dresser was brought to Sandpaper for painting for a little boys room.  Their mom found it at a local thrift shop.

Looks a little worn and once loved but in great shape. As we were cleaning and pulling the drawers out,  (and there were many of them) we found this:

From what I can read, it says: "Do it yourself kit, Jan 1961..." Then it lists an address from Moskegon, Michigan. I also, found another inscription with an email address with 2013. (I didn't include it because I didn't want to publish it.) How super cool is that!  So here, 52 years later, it makes it's way to a new home.

In addition to painting the dresser in Napoleonic Blue, we painted their bunk bed set.  This came to us unassembled.  It was also fairly new. I would say not older than 5-8 years.

Not everything that you want to paint/change/personalize has to be old. If you want a new look, just paint it or even spray paint it!  There are so many colors, products and ideas on the internet that will help you get your desired project finished.

Their room turned out super cute.  Their mom even painted a cute little lamp table for them and it matches perfect.  And you don't have to spend a lot of money to refresh the walls.  They happen to find a can of Oops paint at the local hardware store and gave it a try.  Looks perfect and planned, right?  What boy wouldn't love to wake up here!

All Things Pretty and Gold

We are very lucky and proud to say that Amber from Amber Gold Salon included us in her new venture in opening her own place.  Please visit her on the above link and like her page.  

If you have had the pleasure of meeting Amber, you know that she is super sweet, pretty and just a great person. AND.... she does great, super-fabulous hair.   When you visit her salon, the atmosphere is the same as her personality~ open, classy, pretty and just all around lovely.  Amber and her husband John worked so hard to get the salon open early, and we loved that we were part of it.

Let's start with the pew...OH the pew... Hallelujah!  What a gorgeous piece of furniture!  It's heavy, durable, beautiful and well...  was a little too holy.  Amber found this piece on her own and received a great deal on it.

This the before.

















And the after...

We did have to fill in a few cracks with wood filler but decided that the old character and charm from usage of the years looked great - even after the first coat of Duck Egg Blue.  We love this color in Amber's salon.  It gives it a great little accent of color and is super welcoming to sit on.  To accentuate the ornate detail on the sides, we distressed it and clear waxed it.  Hopefully, the more clients sit on it, it will antique it more creating an even more beautiful and natural look.

Then ~ we have the receptions desk.  WHAT A WHOPPER!  This, too, is a gorgeous piece of furniture. As you can see in, yes, that's holy water behind it.  (I'm sensing a theme here.)

Amber also found this piece on her own, but we helped get it home.   Two lovely gentlemen that helped us load it and one we lovingly called Mr. Noodle.  After about an hour and a half, the monster took a trip down the interstate on a dreary, rainy day.  It was packed into the back of a Toyota Sequoia ~ barely.  

We had to tie down the back hatch but there was no damage done to the car or the desk.  We had a lot of laughs and giggles as we transported it home but it fit perfectly in its spot.

Here she is with a first coat of graphite.

Our original plan was to finish it with a silver finish but Amber loved the way it looked just the way it was with just the graphite paint.  We sanded and antiqued the details of the desk and gave it a few coats poly.

Finally, we had this bar/cabinet piece waiting for a home and we think it fits perfectly at Amber Gold Salon.  We painted the body Cream with clear wax and the top is Graphite with dark wax.

So now, we are working on another big project for Amber for display of products.  We are hoping to get the final details finished this weekend but we won't keep you in suspense with a sneak peek...

It's not nearly finished in this picture but it will fit perfectly. We can't wait for everyone to see the finished product.

The Truth Is.....

So, we have a little confession to make.  It was my sister that brought it to my attention tonight and after a little thought ~ yes ~ I have to confess....

We love our pieces so much at Sandpaper, that we have a hard time parting with them.  Because we love what we do and love the results, we just happen to find a place for it in one of our homes.  Take this lovely Ethan Allen table that we refinished....

Yes.... that found a home in Kath C's home. And this...

Well, let's just say that it matches Kath O's home decor perfectly. 

There are times, we will paint something for someone and just wonder, hmmmm.... "How can I keep this" or perhaps, "I need one for my house too."  For example, this Duck Egg Blue set with the drawers lines in pages from The Notebook probably could have taken up residence in one of our homes fairly easy.

Truthfully, when our customers get their item or pick out an item, nothing beats the happy, giddy look on their face when they see it.  It is truly the best feeling. We have a passion for making someones old or out-dated items part of the family again. Sandpaper would love to help you out, so keep us in mind.

Let's face it! Furniture and items in our home are part of our family.  Not everyone talks to their furniture like I do (I kid, I kid.....well... OK...maybe not) however, everyone likes to take pride in their home, even if something is repainted, repurposed or just moved around.

I switch up my furniture arrangement from time to time to give the room a new look.  If you are bored with how your room looks, what little things do you to spruce it up?  Do you change the pictures on the wall out or around? Change your throw rug?  Go all out and repaint the entire room?  We would love to hear from you!  Please leave a comment below with your tips or tricks.  
KO

Sandpaper- What the.....

So what is Sandpaper? How did it evolve? Well, it started with a weekend girls trip to the Country Living Fair in Columbus Ohio last September.  Four friends starting out for just a weekend of fun, relaxation, and hopefully, furnishings for our homes.

The CLF was fun but we left feeling like we needed more. So, along the way, why not stop at the Pottery Barn Outlet in Jefferson Ohio? (Que in the angel chorus).  What a most fabulous place to spend the afternoon!  It was like Christmas Day all over again for all of us. We all left there with something.

We then decided to hit up the local HomeGoods. Again, heaven on earth!  We don't have a HomeGoods in our area yet! Yes, YET!  They, at this moment, are working on that now. WOO HOO. (I bet you wouldn't believe it if we told you that we googled HomeGoods and made it our rest stops.;)

We then found the Springfield Ohio Antique Market. What a lovely lovely place.  Needless to say, we came across ALOT that we all wanted to take home.  Old furniture, doors, paint, tables, etc.. We were very happy girls. AND... yes, OH yes, we traveled 30 minutes out of the way to find a UHaul to bring all of our treasures home. As you can see below, I am not fibbing:

So, from here, we spewed ideas for the entire 4-5 hour ride home.  Credit goes to all four of us for coming up with the ideas.  However, the two of us, Kathleen C and Kathleen O, are making it a reality.  (Yep, not a typo. We are both Kathleen's.)  Our husbands have been BFFs since they were four years old. I tease them that they aspired to marry a girl with the same name.

So here we are making our way towards our ultimate goal in getting a storefront.  Thank you for supporting us and viewing our blogs and Facebook Page.

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Welcome to Sandpaper! Where we love vintage items and refreshing furniture.