When I was so fortunate to accidentally come across our new shop for lease, the landlord had left a few pieces he no longer needed in his home. On my first day of having a key I found a sofa table with Queen Anne legs, an antique farm house fireplace mantel and a curio cabinet with glass shelves. I knew from the minute I laid eyes on the fireplace mantel that it would find a home in my kitchen someday, but as for the other 2 pieces, I have been contemplating for months of how to paint them. They were not in need of paint, however the dark cherry stain wasn't doing it for me. So this week I finally had a vision of giving the curio cabinet a fresh look.
Because it had such an ornate look, I used Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint ™ Versailles on the body. It needed 2 coats to cover the dark cherry stain.
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After distressing around the edges and filigree,
the dark stain came through for a beautiful
time worn look. |
This color is so versatile. By itself, it has a yellow-green tint, but for this piece I felt it needed more depth. To achieve this, I used
Miss Mustard Seed's Antiquing Wax. I am in love with this product! It is not as dark as other dark waxes on the market so there is no need to mix with a clear wax or to put on a clear wax coat first. You can simply go directly over whatever color you are using and it will instantly add years of use. I especially made sure to push it into the ornate carved corner. But before I did any waxing, I dry brushed
Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Linen on the drawers and other trimmings. When dry brushing, it's important not to have to much paint on your brush and to press lightly where you want a little highlighting.
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Dry brushing with a light color is another way
of adding depth and dimension to your piece. |
The inside consist of 2 glass shelves. I wanted this to have a pop of color. The cool fresh ocean's of California was my inspiration for this. Living on the West Coast has left beautiful landscaped vision imprinted in my mind! I chose to mix Annie Sloan's ™ Provence with a little Old White to achieve this color. It's just the right color to compliment the Versailles I think.
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By adding white dish wear and and Mercury glass decor,
you add class and simplicity to your furnishings. |
After replacing the original wooden knobs for antique glass knobs, I buffed the wax to a soft sheen and tada, a classy beach fresh curio cabinet that will look at home in any home decor style from beach cottage to french country.
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Sorry, I forgot to take a before picture of the actual
cabinet, but this was pretty close to it. |
Sometimes it can take us longer than we wish to pick a color pallet for our furniture pieces, but with a little patience and inspirations from the things we love, they soon find their way into our hand and paint brushes. Have a wonderful week everyone!
