Friday, June 8, 2012

A recent new acquistion and a completion to the 50's Atomic Harmony House pieces!

First up, we recently acquired a super nice Drezel "Parallel" suite credenza in nearly pristine condition! I already made space for this on our floor as it was too nice to make it wait "in the wings". This is a a very high quaility piece with lots of solid walnut. Date stamped from 1960, this looks great alongside the remaining Kent Coffey dining table and chairs we have in house! Sorry, if you were lusting after the K/C china and server, they have already gone to a happy new home!


If your looking for something under that big flat screen hanging on your wall, you need look no farther!

Now for the conclusion to the 50's Atomic set that I've been struggling with for the last two plus weeks. And I will ask you my readers to give me your unabashed feedback on whether or not this was a good idea! Please try and keep your comments civil! I do moderate comments but love constructive feedback!

It's true, I have little love for blond 50's veneered furniture as mentioned in my last post. Anyone who follows along also knows I do have a passion for real birch Heywood Wakefield from the same period. Totally different animals and totally different rework! Here's what I did to the once 'blonde/cream atomic pieces I picked up and the results.





I'll get some better picks once they make it to the store and are placed properly, but this should give you a pretty good idea that these have had a rather major change of look. Although certainly not perfect, I think these pieces are destined to go to a happy new owner soon. They should give someone another 30-40 years of service.
I tried to make sure the original atomic lines still popped and all in all, despite the effort involved, I'm still reasonably happy with the overall results. Not likely to be on my 'to do' list for anything like this project anytime in the near future!
Feel free to chime in with your take and any questions on how this was actually done.
As always, thanks for following along...

For those that my have missed the last post, here's how these looked on arrival...



Thanks again...


12 comments:

  1. I think you've done a lovely job and the darker stain looks pretty good in my opinion. Although, I too am less than in love with blonde furniture so I may not be the best judge here. Gotta love those pulls btw.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMM, Thanks! I haven't run across many fans of the blonde veneer stuff, so it was a no brainer this was going to end up darker.

      Delete
  2. I'm not a big fan of blonde furniture either, so I love what you did to that set.

    The Parallel credenza is great too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dana, I'm pretty sure I won't be getting much negative feedback on the darker finish. There wasn't much I could do to ruin this piece other than paint it and that wasn't going to happen. You gotta love the quality of the old Drexel pieces, and this has some really nice clean lines!

      Delete
  3. Nicely done on the Atomic Set sir! This is what they should have looked like in the first place! Love the black accent line and how well it is tied in by the blacked out base. Great idea. How did you "handle" the handles (a-ha! see what I did there?!)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Mr. Mod, I hadn't originally planned on painting any parts of these pieces, but the veneer on the apron bases was in such bad shape it needed a different treatment. I do believe it was a good decision to paint those and the mirror frame black. I really helped accent the lines in the drawers. It's amazing what a little cleaning up and some Rustoleum hammered gold did for the pulls!

      Delete
  4. Love how this piece turned out! I think the darker finish looks great.


    Lee Ann

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Lee Ann, You ought to stop by and see before they find a new home. They look even better in person than I could present in the pics. I'm not exactly an ace photog guy!

      Delete
  5. I recently found a similar blonde 1950's low dresser with some great handles. I was actually thinking of painting it, but was hesitating as I hate to paint good quality wood. I am now inspired by the transformation you did to these little Atomic blonde pieces. I know it must have been a lot of work to strip down that old finish, which is why I'd like to ask you if you would paint such a piece, would you consider a matte black with nickel handles, or should I remain a purist and get it stained a deep walnut? Thanks very much for any advice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey AB, Although it may prove to be a pain I would advise sanding down and restaining darker. I never acquire a piece with the intent to paint it. The apron bases on the pieces I rehabbed were the exception due to the poor condition. You can always paint as a last resort. Good Luck!

      Delete
  6. I just bought this same dresser/mirror yesterday (along with a double bed set - headboard with cubbyholes/footboard etc.) for $300 total. The tops of the dresser and the headboard need some TLC (many boo-boos). I have never refinished anything in my life, and dang it yes these pieces are veneer. Question - did you remove the veneer, or just sand it down enough to restain it? Question - is re-doing just the tops an option, or would getting it to match the rest of the pieces (in color and sheen) be near impossible? Love your work! Wish I could come apprentice under you! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't remove any veneer except some on the apron bases that was too badly damaged to save. This wasn't an issue as I painted black anyway. The rest for the pieces were sanded down to bare veneer and stained with Minwax Early American oil based stain and shot with 3-4 coats of canned satin lacquer after the stain dried.

      Delete