This mid-century lowboy had been in my workshop for a while. I kept looking at it, uninspired. It originally had battered round knobs and the veneered wooden top was in a bit of rough state. I actually prepped it and used Walnut Gel Stain. It didn't sing to me.
A few weeks later something hit me. I was in a complete frenzy of painting everything grey & had found these awesome shiny chrome handles in a sale the day before. There were only four left - it was fate.
So, I took the poor unit outside again and sanded off all my previous work. Sometimes things just don't work out but I knew this was it. Once I'd sanded it back and cleaned it down, I primed it with my Blackfriars primer to stop any stain coming through and even out the finish. The legs had a few coats of one of my favourite General Finishes colours - 'seagull grey' & the main body and drawers were painted in 'driftwood'. All hand brushed with thin even layers, it was shaping up to be fabulous.
I let it dry for a day and then sealed the whole piece with High Performance Top Coat in satin finish. I rubbed it out slightly with fine wire wool and the top has a simply glorious sheen - just look at the reflection in the photo!
I cleaned the drawers down and lined them with a dark grey and copper heavyweight paper. And once the new handles had gone on, it was done. I celebrated with a cup of tea & chocolate biscuit. And I'm thrilled that it's now found a beautiful new home.