Henry 2.0

I can't believe I never blogged about Hank! I just found these pictures from January and just realized I never posted them. So, meet Hank.



Hank is a sideboard, a console, an entry table, what Apartment Therapy likes to call a "landing strip." There are too many names to describe this piece of furniture, so we just call it Hank.

As in, "Jessica, where are the scissors?"

"The scissors are in Hank, Geoff."

Before there was Hank, there was Henry.



Henry was a hideous, stained, beat up dresser we used to keep by the door. It needed replacement. I found a small sideboard at an antique shop in Hollywood for forty-five dollars. It was the wrong color. I have become obsessed with making everything in the living room the same red-gold chestnut color, and this color is not in fashion right now. So I began my first refinishing project ever.



You can tell this is January, and not right now, because look at how skinny and flexible I am. Stripping is hard work, but it was worth it.



The color it came in was surprisingly similar to the color of Henry the dresser, which is a terrible gray-beige. Why was this color ever popular?

I stained it in a 50/50 mix of Minwax "Red Chestnut" and "Gunstock" (what is Gunstock? I do not know). Stripping it was somewhat difficult, but getting the stain perfect took several tries and made me a bit dizzy and I will probably never do it again. Also in the process I think I also messed up the concrete on our patio and relinquished our deposit. Eh, the cats were going to destroy the rug anyway... right?

The color did come out perfectly. I love the wood grain and the hardware.



Also, I have a question.



Since I'd never done this before, I forgot to deal with the inside, which is kind of a mess. I'm not doing any more staining! What should I do? Should I paint a picture in there? Decoupage something g33ky? What do you think?