Hidden Potential

By: Becca

Let's test the strength of your imagination, shall we?

If you were looking for a dresser and saw this lovely piece of furniture at your local thrift store, for a reasonable price, with woodgrain patterned contact-paper on top, and all the drawers and drawer-pulls. 

 Would you think:

"Oh my! Well, that is an ugly thing, very blocky… nope, not getting it."

Or

"Well… that's not very pretty right now,
 but it's simple design would be perfect for a artsy paint job, and- wait! are those key holes?  Adorable! Let's buy it!"

Now, let's be honest :)

First response or second?

Can you guess which one Beth, Mom and I had when we saw it?

(I'll give you a hint, we didn't all agree.)

Maybe you'll recognize that the dresser is in our basement, so yes, it did come home with us.

First I attacked that nasty contact paper with a putty knife and Beth's hairdryer, it yielded quite easily; I was very pleased :)

Then I scrubbed it with a rag and soap and water,
(the inside of the drawers were a little scary).

After sanding the edges of the drawers, (they were sticky, with all the layers of paint) 

I primed it, and applied my favorite paint technique. 

When I was done, it looked like this-

(Sorry, blurry picture)

We decided to keep the original drawer-pulls, they looked pretty good with the new color : )

Next we made a collage with old photos, pictures of favorite things, old pets, pets we still have, and a collection of favorite quotes- anyone remember this post?

Alright, well... that's what all those quotes were for. 

Oh! When we asked you to guess who penned-

"Sometimes I sits and thinks…

sometimes I just sits…"

we didn't tell you who it was, but maybe you just 'googled' it :)

He's one of my favorite poets, 

 he is most well known for his children stories and a "silly ol' bear" named Winnie the Pooh.

Yep, it's A. A. Milne!

I like that thought so much, I embroidered it for a pillow… nearly; it's almost done.

I just need to finish 'sits' and outline A. A. Milne.

Wait, but we've gone off track- sorry, what were we taking about?

"The collage, for the dresser." You prompt patiently,

 "I think you were going to show us some pictures of it." 

"Oh, yes of course I was! Thank you for reminding me."

The collage in the works, it's frightening how permanent white glue seems when it's starts drying before you're done arranging the pictures!

We glued everything firmly down, smoothed the wrinkles out the best we could, covered it with a layer of Modge Podge and then bought a large piece of glass to cover the top.  It was a inch too large, but after Beth removed the wood from the back and centered it, no one will notice.  : )

There you have it!

It makes you wonder, doesn't it?

How many things can be passed over when we see what it looks like 

and not what it could look like.

Sometimes it's hard to get your mind to think that way, but when you do so many possibilities open up!

Should I tell you what we thought when we saw the dresser?

Beth had the first response, more like the first response was Beth's.  : )

Mom and I were in the second group, 

 Beth had to help us carry that heavy hunk of wood to the van anyways.  : )

Which one were you?