Shabby Chic Second Hand Furniture

A few weekends ago, my fiancé and I strolled into one of our local charity shops to have a look at the second hand furniture as they've had some lovely pieces there in the past which unfortunately had already been sold. This time, we were in luck as we found not one, but two lovely pieces of furniture for our new house!

I adore second hand furniture. There’s something so exciting about finding an old piece of furniture at a really low price, seeing it's potential and then renovating it to look lovely, I find it very satisfying! I love how each piece is unique and when our home is fully furnished I know everything will be irreplacable as we've picked up bits and pieces from all over and not just one store such as Ikea. Second-hand furniture is also perfect for shabby chic decor!

First, we stumbled across this small side table being sold for £15. I loved the curved legs and knew it would look fabulous once painted white.

And here it is after being painted...

...now very shabby chic and French looking! To get this finish I applied an undercoat, a coat of basic white matte paint and then finished with a coat of paint that had an eggshell finish. This gives a slight sheen to the wood that looks more polished than a more rough matte finish.

Next, we found this wooden dresser selling for £30...

Again, this will look even more lovely once painted. I liked the curved top, a bit of a change from the usual straight edge. I’m planning on following the curve with these paper roses (from eBay) once it’s finished...

I’ll adorn it with pretty teacups, plates and milk jugs once we’ve moved.  It should look something like this when it's finished...

What I love most is that we bought this for just £30 when in Laura Ashley they’re sold for over £500! I just wish the whole process of exchanging contracts and finalising the move would hurry up so we can get going!