You may recall that in the early days of 2012 I posted about my to-do list for the year. One of those things was to buy myself flowers every so often 'just because'. Well today, as it was the last day of February, I did just that.

Christopher Plummer accepting his well deserved Oscar. Image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

There was of course the Oscar fashion, but I won't really bore you with that (as I'm sure you've already seen all you really care to see about it) except this one picture of Michelle Williams:

Michelle Williams - Oscars 2012. Image source: Getty Images

I love Michelle Williams' style, but the reason this picture caught my attention isn't the dress, although it's gorgeous, it's the haircut. You see, back a few years ago I had a similar style:

Sept 2009 - the day I chopped off all my hair for donation. should I cut my hair again?

I'm thinking about cutting it short again as my hair unfortunately now looks a bit more like this:

Source: atlasgraham.com

Okay, enough about that. You may recall I recently posted about my being awarded a Leibster Blog award by Janet at 'Housefour'. Well since then I have been bestowed with a few more:

• I had a goldfish named 'Chubby' as a child. Three guesses as to why ;)
• I am the first of two children
• It's my birthday next week :(
• I am a MAJOR chocoholic
• I speak French although it's a bit rusty from disuse. Would anyone like to send me to Paris so I can brush up?

My Craigslist Dresser

I have to admit I cheated a bit. I was only missing one of the medallions or rosettes, so I took one of the original rosettes to Lee Valley Tools and tried to find as close a match as possible using size and colour as the two main criteria. The pull I used was the 3" Antique Brass Petal Handle. Here is a closer picture of the miss-matched pull.

The replacement rosette is on the left - the original is on the right

I also strategically placed the pull in the bottom drawer on the left side where it's close to the wall - this means it isn't immediately noticeable when you look at the chest of drawers. Can you see the difference in the picture below (This is admittedly not the best picture, but it would be the angle you'd see the dresser from)?

1. Choose five up-and-coming blogs to award the Liebster to. These five blogs must have fewer than 200 followers.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. List the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.
5. Share 5 random facts about yourself.

Anyways, I mentioned at the start of this post that Janet gave me this award last week, and you'd think that I'd immediately do a post about it. I would have except for one wee problem - it turns out that most of the blogs I read on a regular basis are quite well established and don't qualify as much as I'd love to recognize them. What was I to do? Well, I did what any self-respecting blog addict would do, and set out to discover a few new-to-me blogs who might qualify. So, after poking around quite a number of blogs over the past few days I've managed to round up a list of 5 blogs I really like. Some of the blogs below I've been reading for quite some time, some are fairly new to me - I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

• Jo at As Is Home
• Bradley and Leena at Bye Bye, Brooklyn
• Lucy and Jess at I Love, I Need
• Kim at A Girl Called Kim
• Geena at The Sweetest Digs

(If I've awarded you this award and you have more than 200 followers I apologize- sometimes it's really hard to tell)

• I was born in Montreal, but grew up in Toronto
• I HATE the cold. This can be a problem given I live in Canada
• I was a synchronized swimmer growing up - even going to Nationals
• I don't float, which makes the preceding random fact rather ironic
• I LOVE to travel - the list of places I've visited is fairly long, but the list of places I want to see is even longer.

My Craigslist Dresser

In case you missed my original post waaaayyyy back in October, here is what it looked like when I got it. It had great bones, but the missing veneer and other dings and scratches left the dresser looking very old and tired.

The damaged veneer along the top of my new dresser

The first thing I did was remove the entire front strip of veneer that was damaged. This was actually quite easy – I simply used a damp cloth to lay over the veneer, and then passed my hot iron over the cloth to moisten the glue. I then used a small putty knife to lift off the veneer. While the veneer did break up during this process I wasn’t concerned about it breaking as I wanted it all removed anyway.

After the first round of stripping

My next step was stripping the old varnish from the dresser. I’d never done anything like this before, and it was an adventure to say the least. First up – this is REALLY smelly, so if you’re going to do anything like this get a respirator. I got mine at Home Depot for about $45, and I’m sure I’ll use it for many projects after this one. The chemical stripper I used is Greensolv from Lee Valley Tools. It’s pretty easy to use – just paint it on, let it work and scrape it off. Through trial and error I discovered that a thicker coat works much better, as if you paint it on too thinly it will dry before it has a chance to work. Some of the areas I had to do a second time. This step took me a while as I did each side, the front, top and drawers on different days, and spaced the days out so my apartment didn’t smell like chemicals permanently. This is when I got my first ever chemical burn – I was wearing gloves as directed, but stupidly wore a short-sleeved t-shirt. As I was scrapping the stripper off the dresser some went flying and landed on my forearm. I wiped it off, but a few seconds later knew that it wasn’t enough, and spent the next 10 minutes running cool tap water over it. Luckily there was no permanent damage, but if I'm ever working with these chemicals again I will remember to wear long sleeves. Chemical burns hurt A LOT, so please if you're ever using these chemicals learn from my mistake.

New walnut wood veneer from Lee Valley tools

Repairing the missing veneer was incredibly simple. I bought a strip of walnut veneer edge banding from Lee Valley tools, cut the length I needed and applied it. The veneer already has glue on it – all you need to do is lay a clean rag over the veneer, and then heat the veneer using your iron (my iron got more use on this dresser refinishing project than it has ever doing what it’s supposed to - ironing clothes). I had to do this step twice as on my first try the veneer shifted while it was ironing it. Luckily the edge banding is sold in 25’ lengths so I had quite a bit to spare. I also got the second burn of the project during this step - luckily this time it was only from the iron. After the veneer was glued on I trimmed the excess using an xacto knife, and then sanded the edges smooth.

I ironed the new veneer in place, trimmed off the excess, and sanded the edges.

Next up was my big adventure with sandpaper. I used fine 220 grit sandpaper over the entire dresser to remove any leftover old varnish, and to smooth any other marks. There were some old long burn marks on the top of the dresser that I believe are from two cigarettes that was left burning. I sanded them as far as I dared, but in the end I was afraid to sand too much in case I went all the way through the veneer. I’ve decided I rather like the marks – it shows that this dresser has a bit of history.

I used Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner and Minwax stain in dark walnut

Before adding the stain I gave the dresser a coat of pre-stain wood conditioner. I've never done anything like this before, so I can't tell you if it made any difference over any other project, but I can say that the stain went on my old dresser quite easily and there was no streaking. You just paint on the pre-stain, let it soak in, and wipe off the excess. The directions say to stain within two hours of using the conditioner, and with lots of trepidation I approached my dresser with a foam brush dipped in the stain, and starting applying it. As with the wood conditioner you paint it on, let it soak in, and then rub off the excess with a clean rag. I liked it after the first coat of stain, but I did a second coat to deepen the colour just a little and I liked it even more.

If I hadn't told you I replaced the veneer along the top would you be able to tell?

So, what do you think? Was all the work, the fumes, the two burns and months of dodging dresser drawers in my dining room worth it? Are you tempted to try your hand at refinishing some furniture?

Jeremy Kehoe

Jeremy Kehoe is a furniture designer and woodworker from Toronto who uses as much sustainable and domestic woods as he can. 

I loved this table

Nomo Creations

This Orbit table from Nomo Creations received quite a bit of press during the show. The father and son team us materials that can be separated for recycling, and their products are designed to be able to shrink so they can be shipped in smaller packages.

Orbit Table - Nomo Creations

Brothers Dressler

Twin brothers Jason and Lars Dressler are woodworkers from Toronto. Most of the wood seen in the dining room below was created using the wood from one tree that died in 2010.

The table and light were made from one tree

Tyler MacKenzie + Bettie Cott

I love the lines of Tyler MacKenzie's Radius Lounge chair, and Bettie Cott's Peaks and Valleys coatrack is whimsical and practical - I can easily imagine it in a child's room.

Radius Lounge Chair and Peaks and Valleys Coatrack

Kino Guérin

Kino Guérin's pieces are made from bent wood, and are stunning in person.

Knot Bench

Recycled Slate Blackboard

That's the last of my pictures from IDS12 - I hope I managed to show you some of the great things there were to see at the show, and maybe encouraged you to make a visit to the show next year - I know I'll be going - I can't wait to see what is new then.

By_Lissoni Lounge at IDS12

I came across the booth for a store in Toronto called Snobstuff. I loved pretty much everything the owner was showing. All the pieces come from Southern Africa - the owner hails from Zimbabwe, and a portion of each sale goes to the Canadian Red cross to combat malaria. This store is now at the top of my list of must visit stores - if only to see what other great things she has.

The light was made by asking 25 people to wrap a rod of brass around their waists - their names were then engraved on the inside of the ring. I love the wire giraffe.

This booth by UpCountry is lovely - I love the mix of warm worn leather and the industrial metal chests mixed with the crystal chandeliers, and of course the British flags.

Love the wood wall and the warm brown leather. the Metal chests are very 'in' - Restoration Hardware has some as well.

Next up is Elte. They had a rather large booth, and unlike some others had prices listed on many items.

Love the Eames lounge chair and industrial light fixture. I also like that they used an area rug on the wall like a tapestry.

This next image was something that confused me a bit. Do these wire baskets look to anyone else like the ones you get golf balls in at the driving range? They do to me, but these ones were $115 each.

Elte - Are these driving range ball baskets??

This was something that Elte did that I loved, and I think is a neat twist on the now (in my opinion) rather overdone subway sign art - individually framed street signs.

Elte - Framed Street Signs

Take a look at this incredibly interesting chair that was made completely out of Corian (yes, that stuff counter tops are made of). It was part of a collaboration between Dupont Corian and UUfie.

Uufie - chair made out of Corian

This 'Spider Phoebe' chair from Limitless with its bendable legs was rather popular. I wish I'd sat in it - it looks like it would be fun.

Spider 'Phoebe' chair

I loved this booth from Jean Gardner Designs - I'm pretty sure it was the curtains that did it.

Love the curtains

This ottoman/coffee table made me want to rethink my current coffee table (from Gresham House furniture).

Large Upholstered Ottoman with Tray - I love the muted colours

Last for today is the marvelous wall of peacock feathers that was used to back artwork in the How do you live? exhibit.

Gorgeous Peacock feathers all over the wall, but I'm not sure anyone would ever recreate this.

I've got just more IDS12 post for you tomorrow - I'll show you some of the great Canadian designs from the Studio North exhibit.