Most folks get a day off because of a hurricane and relax. MOST FOLKS. Not me. Never me. I intended to try...but got sidetracked by stuff. I had on soft pants all day but didn't chill out until way late.

I updated my flatware chest and painted a wood bookshelf I paid $5 for that was in my garage because I found a can of General Finishes Milk Paint on a shelf that I'd forgotten I'd brought home forever ago because I wanted to do something in that color for personal use. The flatware chest update made my flatware look shinier. LOL! I should have BEEN done that.

If you EVER see a solid wood bookcase for $5 and don't bring that sucker home and refinish or update it...you're crazy. For real, seriously, crazy. Solid wood. $5. No brainer.

So yeah...I hurricane cleaned and did a few projects and now I'm finally tired enough to relax. Cuz that's how I get down. LOL!

When I found this piece...it looked tragic. It was covered in brown paint with faux wood grain contact paper on the shelves. I bought it because I liked the details and well...I was also looking for a nice piece to use Annie Sloan Graphite on. It is such a rich color that I figured it could be used to make anything look elegant.

When I got it home...I was curious as to what kind of wood it was made out of so I decided to strip it. You don't need to strip paint to use Annie Sloan paint mind you...I just wanted to see it in it's original state. So I did it...and was shocked to find that the beautiful wood underneath the horrible paint was none other than rare mahogany.

Wow.

I honestly sat there and stared at it for a long time and then I moved around a bit just so I could make SURE I was doing the right thing by painting it. Then...I decided that hey...no matter what...I could always strip the paint off again if I wanted to right? RIGHT.

So I took the hardware and door off. Then I collapsed the shelves and got to painting. Since it was such a dark piece anyway...I knew I'd have to do a light color inside of it. The hardware was pretty nice but I wanted it to seriously pop so I used a bit of Antique Gold Rub-N-Buff to make the color really stand out.

I put two coats of paint on it and then let it dry for a full day. Next, I used General Finishes top coat for protection and now I'm sitting here debating whether I should wax it too.

This piece is so lovely to me that yeah...it might already be SOLD too. :)

Hurricane Barry was a BUST!

Antique China Hutch in Annie Sloan Graphite and French Linen

T-Monnie...Not Your Mommy's Tee-Tee