today’s first before & after comes from d*s readers krist + travis. they found this “pile of sticks” on roadside garbage night and thought there was something of promise waiting to be created. a lot of love and a little bit of elbow grease and the pile of sticks has turned into a lovely new gingerbread chair. great work you two!
[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an image here with your (low res, jpeg) images!]
next up is a dresser makeover from abbey at aesthetic outburst. this dresser belonged to abbey’s mom when she was little and had been stored in a barn for a long time. so abbey and her husband took it upon themselves to refinish it. she picked out the dark navy paint (valspar’s corduroy black- her favorite color this year) and he did all of the ‘dirty work’, including sanding it down, repainting, and polishing the drawer pulls with a wire brush. now it has a beautiful new home in their daughter’s room. thanks for sharing, abbey!
37 Comments
Call me sill, but I really like the dresser how it was before too ! !
heh heh. chair before picture is priceless.
oh man, that chair was a diamond in some serious rough, no?
It is warming to see how different eyes find beauty and purpose in something that has been relegated to the trash.
Hmm, I think I may use this thought to carry on today.
i almost cannot believe that chair was salvagable…
is that a word?
That corduroy black is a seriously beautiful color! Great work with the dresser and the chair too!
go abbey! love the corduroy black, and those drawer pulls are gorgeous!
it makes me smile so wide that kris+travis took a pile of chair junk and restored it to chair glory, so sweet!
the best ‘before’ shot i’ve seen. and i love the little sneak peek of that blue and white rug. so sweet.
Regarding the chair — there’s refurbishing, and then there’s raising from the dead! Unbelievable!
Wow on both! I am speechless on the chair what a wonderful job!
The blue paint on the dresser is fabulous. I wish I could pick colors that would look that stunning.
B-e-a utiful!
The chair… seriously, I didn’t recognize the before as a chair at first! I thought “pile of burned firewood.” Great save!
The dresser is fab too. I guess some people will always prefer the before – to each his own! – but the finished product is just lovely in that space. Love that she saved the original hardware and cleaned it up.
This is a great combo. LOVE the color of the dresser!
Is that a painting of Susan B. Anthony?!
Thanks, everyone! The painting is Susan B. Anthony and it’s actually an airbrushed t-shirt that has been stretched over a canvas. We’ll be the first to admit that it’s a bit tacky. :)
Although I liked the dresser better before, it does look nice painted as well. Both projects turned out great!
i love that chair! it’s amazing what creativity can do!
Whoa. That chair is unreal! This might be the most extreme before-and-after I’ve seen on d*s.
Also, that navy paint on the dresser is *exactly* the shade I’m looking for to paint a ratty old sewing table I’ve got. Thanks for including the brand info!
tacky!? it’s awesome! please more of that on d*s!!
Oh, I love the idea of having a picture of Susan B. Anthony in a room!
Anyone who can take a pile of sticks and make a chair is A-okay in my book.
wow both are amazing!
question for abbey: in the “after” dresser picture, where is the rug from? it’s beautiful.
Great job on that pile of sticks! The dresser looks awesome too.
I would also love to know where your rug is from, too, Abbey! I may have to learn to weave so I can make one…
Hello I am wondering what the seat is on the resurrected chair…it does not seem to be part of the original pile . great job!
that is incredibly ambitious and creative to see that mess of sticks and pull a chair out of it!
just brilliant. That chair was a lovely find and beautifully resurrected
i’ve seen this chair in person, and i am shocked it ever looked like the ‘before’ shot. K+T’s entire little house is full of these sorts of projects. i urge a house tour!
K + T, y’all must be EMTs for chairs! I think that’s the one chair makeover I’ve liked on d*s.
WOW what a transformation. Love the chair & the chest of drawers.
Smiles~
Marilyn
That is truly a chair brought back from the dead! Travis is upholding his reputation for instilling a gothic beauty to all wood objects.
Wow. That chair before pic just looks like pile of crap to me. Such vision to see the potential in that. Nicely done.
the dresser is beautiful, but that chair really inspires me. Gotta try that graphic on some piece of furniture soon!
Abbey, I can’t believe I have that exact same dresser! It was my mom’s when she was young too and my dad refinished it for my oldest daughter’s nursery. I love seeing someone else’s edition of the same piece. Love the color!
Hi again, everyone! We found the rug at a local barn sale. The only thing I know about it is that it’s wool (I tried to wash its mate and ruined it). :)
Hey everybody. Thanks for all the great comments on our trash to treasure chair. Its one of our favorite pieces in the house. As for the seat, it was tattered caning originally that was too far gone to restore so we decided to replace it with a solid wood seat and a cut from an old feed sack.
HOLY CRAP! I can’t believe that chair transformation! That’s great work and I’ll bet one happy chair that was rescued from chair heaven for a longer stay here on earth. What a rescue!
The dresser is beautiful and now a beautiful family heirloom piece.
The chair is awesome but the picture is scary for me as an adult. Think of a child viewing it!
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