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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Campaigning in Our Foyer

This past spring, I picked up a Dixie campaign chest at an Apron Chicks Barn Sale.  It was $50 and needed some brass polishing and a new paint job.

Here is the before:



And after some thought, I decided I wanted to place this piece in our disorganized front foyer area.  Here is the 'everyday' before of that space:

Messy!


After switching around the 'new' campaign chest with the former table, here is what we welcome guests with now: 





I used Rustoleum's new tintable oil based paint for this project.  I chose the color 'Yorktown', but I quickly found that the Rustoleum brochure doesn't accurately display the colors that the tinting process creates.  I ended up going back to Menards to have the color tweaked a bit, otherwise this chest would have been neon blue!!  The paint went on super well.  I did need to do two coats of it, but the finish is glossy perfection (or as perfect as it's going to be done by hand with a brush:)!)  Bill took care of the hardware using Brasso and in a few cases, some gold spray paint.

I still have several more tweaks to make on this space.  In the very near future, we'll be using our mudroom (which is a post for another day) as our main entry into our house, so we shouldn't have such a big shoe pile up in this location.  Also, I'm planning on switching out the mirror, adding some hooks for coats on the side walls of the campaign chest alcove, painting the alcove and accessorizing a bit.  Additionally, we'll be updating the foyer rug, and we'll be tweaking the 'shoe putting on'  set up to the right of the campaign chest alcove as well.

Now, back to work for me!  We've got lots more furniture to transfer from the garage to the house before my husband imposed Saturday deadline for clearing out the garage for winter parking!  Wish me luck:).

Linking up to Miss Mustard Seed.

P.S.  Total Project Cost = $60 for the chest, paint and Brasso

4 comments:

  1. Words of advice to anyone using Brasso to clean up old brass handles.

    **Check to make sure it's brass. As Beth and I found out a lot of things may look like brass, but not actually be brass – rather they are painted or coated steel. A simple test is with a magnet. Brass is not magnetic, so if your magnet sticks to your hardware -- skip the Brasso and move to spray paint (was easier). If your magnet does not stick to your hardware, you’re go to Brasso!

    **When cleaning really old and tarnished brass, let the Brasso sit on the hardware for 5 minutes before trying to rub it off. The tarnish will come off much easier.

    **Always thank your wife for giving such wonderful learning opportunities, for example how to properly use Brasso.

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  2. I so enjoy your vision to see the end product of your DIY projects!

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  3. Very nice restyle that is such a nice piece it looks perfect there. I'm your newest follower!

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