French Provincial Furniture…beautiful lines with timeless looks...
This is a photo of what my "little girl" furniture (purchased in the mid-60s) looks like today...It is so hard to believe that this set is almost 50 years old now. Despite the numerous moves it has been through - it still is in excellent shape!
It didn't always look like this - back in 1986/87 - my Father and I worked very hard at sanding and removing the gold accents along the inner bevel edges (I didn't have a picture of my furniture back then - but did find a similar set online - shown below). The goal of course was to make the pieces more neutral so that my husband and I could use this as our "just starting out" bedroom set when we were married in 1986.
If you compare the top photo to this one - you'll see we also changed out the drawer hardware too…
So my little girl furniture made the transition to Newlywed Furniture - and ironically, it remained our bedroom set until we finally decided to purchase something for ourselves in 2003. At that time, we passed it down to my daughter, who in turn, used it until this past December, when we purchased a bigger bedroom set for her. We thought about selling it - but there are too many heart strings attached to it - as it was one of the last DIY projects I did with my Dad who passed away in the late 90s. So this special furniture set, transitioned to our Guest Room.
Well, come late August, our daughter will be moving into an apartment for her last year of College. But being that this is a short-term lease…and a small apartment - we all decided it would be a whole lot easier to take the "Guest Room" furniture versus her very heavy new furniture. The only kicker is that after almost 30 years since the last refinishing - all the pieces are in need of another overhaul.
As you can see…lots of little nicks and scratches…
including the laminate/formica top…
So, we have opted to do another total refinishing - only this time we are going to paint it black to coordinate with other furniture my daughter purchased from Ikea.
By now you are probably wondering what brand of vintage furniture this is - a set that has survived all these years…it's none other than "Dixie" Furniture. If you're into vintage items…well I can tell you first hand that these sets (whether in their original glory - or some refinished version…still command great prices for resellers). If you're not sure if it's a Dixie or something else…look at the back of the furniture and you should see the furniture number and stamp on the back of the piece (such as our nightstand here…)
However, if that's faded or someone painted over it, then you will find an embossed Dixie logo on the inside of one of the drawers in each piece (typically it's the top drawer - make that the very nice WOOD drawer (not particle board…as you can see in the photo). You may fine it another drawer though because over the years, these removable drawers can get mixed up lol.
And if you're wondering about the bottom of the drawer -
I take old wallpaper, and cut it to fit the inside as a quick liner…
in order to keep the bottom looking as good as those beautiful sides
Needless to say, we are now getting ready to start a pretty major Home DIY project. It's not a hard project - but it will be time consuming (especially considering the top laminate which needs to be sanded down, prepped with an oil primer, and then sanded again before it's ready for painting). Looks like we are still leaning towards painting them black, but I have been also thinking it may be fun to do a combination of white/black. Right now our nightstand looks like this…
But I'm wondering if a combination of White with Black accents might work with the decor...
or maybe reversed with mainly Black paint and White accents?
Will be fun to see what we wind up with...
For now - I'm remembering the first refinishing job with my Dad…
while thinking about the 2nd refinishing job coming up…
Wish us lots of luck!
If you have your own refinishing DIY projects...I'd love to hear about them :)
Have a great week!
JLynn
