Seeing everything in a new light

Ms Salt here. Have you noticed that once you have been bitten by the refinishing bug you look at everything in a brand new light? I am now purposely checking all resources for nasty looking furniture that is beautiful on the inside. What would a coat of paint do to our trashy little dresser, or that sideboard we picked up for next to nothing? I can't wait to find out.

So what am I waiting for you say? The things standing in my way:
Work (the kind that pays the bills)
A kitchen renovation
Chauffeuring to and from hockey games
Events to attend (hockey again)
Dogs & kids always seem to need something

But Pepper and I will be getting together soon. In the meantime we are accumulating lots of great items to refinish. Take a look at the sweet chairs Pepper just scored.

6 Bass River Chairs in their original antiqued blue/gray finish
Photo courtesy of the chair's previous owner, via Kijiji

Well, shake ya later
Ms Salt

Learning as we go

Ms Salt and I have decided to try our hand at refinishing some furniture and maybe we can actually sell a few pieces too while we're at it. We've both been checking out lots of DIY blogs lately and are both sufficiently inspired to get our hands dirty too. As soon as Salt told me she was interested in seeing what we could do, I jumped in with both feet. I probably made a considerable splash since I tend to really throw myself into any venture I get into.

I'm the Pepper in this duo, and she's the Salt; nicknames given to us by a work colleague in Rochester a few years ago. Salt and Pepper have been working and playing closely together for about 10 years. We like getting together and crafting handmade cards, teaching workshops, traveling and shopping together and we are game to try our hand at this thrifting and furniture business too.

We've bought a couple of pieces to start on, namely a sweet mahogany sideboard that we scored for $50, a child's chair for $10, a few plaster frames for a couple of dollars each and a few nick-knacks too. Stay tuned to see what we do with them!

Details of the large rectangular plaster frame, first coat of primer on over the old gold paint

The plaster mirror frame before primer was applied. This piece is very heavy.

Painting primer onto the plaster mirror frame

Shell detail at the top of the plaster mirror frame

Mahogany sideboard we picked up for $50. The only thing we have done to this piece so far is to spray paint the pulls and knobs with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze.

A little metal basket we picked up at the SA Thrift Store. I love how the primer accentuates the embossed flowers on it. I think this will be cute spray painted in a light turquoise with the wood handle done in black.

Ms Salt painting primer into the tiny details of the big gold plaster frame. This took us about an hour to put the primer on. We may have to think about switching to spray primer.

A vintage cast iron door stop, also from the SA Thrift Store. I love this and felt it was my find of the day. It has since seen a coat of primer too. What colour do you think we should paint this?