Wild Child - Tamed!

    Back in June I was just starting to revamp furniture and sell them as consignments at the Old Paris Flea Market.  This was my first big piece and I was so excited about it.  I also just started blogging (this was my 6th post - see "Wild Child Desk") and I was so stoked that I got over 20 hits!
Well, I've learned a few things since then.  First, we all have a learning curve.  Second, we should always continue to learn.  Third, those mistakes we make can be the best lessons.

 I bought this desk for practically nothing.  I used free paint and some old stain we had laying around.  So, other than the hours of work I put into it, it was practically free.  I had this idea in my head that a green desk would be awesome, even though everyone kept saying that it might be a tough sell.  They were all very nice about it, but the look in their eyes should have told me how bad it really was.  I thought at the time that if it didn't sell I would bring it home, take the handles off to use on something else, and burn it.  Well my thriftiness got the better of me, so here is round two, or "Wild Child Tamed".  

I still don't have anything more into it except for additional time.  I was going to buy some grey paint to do this piece and a few others I have in the loop, but I already have 3 partial gallons of different shades of grey laying around.  I'd never mixed my own colors before, but figured if it didn't turn out I could always buy more paint.  At first my husband was frustrated by my furniture taking over the shop, but now it is the amount of paint I have stacked up.  I just can't seem to pass up a $1 gallon of paint or primer at garage sales.  We found a compromise on all of the furniture, he reorganized some of the sheds so now I have most of one shed to fill up with future projects.  My sister invited me to share her space at the new Paris Flea Market so I have to have enough inventory to get through the winter since the garage sales are about done, and there aren't many estate sales going on.  Anyway, back to the paint.  I took some paint that I used in my spare room and mixed in some black (make that a lot of black), and some brown from that same room.  The color is really, really close to the color sample, woo-hoo! 

I found another chair for $6 to go with it since the cute one I originally had, sold right off the bat.  It was in pretty bad shape, this picture is after a lot of sanding.  I painted both pieces with my custom color, recovered the seat of the chair with a pretty grey and brown satin (it didn't photograph well at all), and then at my husband's suggestion, added a stencil to the back of the chair.  Here they are together at the store.  If the desk doesn't sell this time I think I might just have to bring it home and replace the ugly desk I am using now.

I will be linking up at Beyond the Picket Fence and Miss Mustard Seed, so see you there.