mandag 28. september 2015

F is for French. And Fabulous!


I might just have overdone my self with this one! I kid you not!
This looker caught my eye on a sales page a few days ago, and I showed the picture to my husband, saying: "Hun, wouldnt this be a great makeover?? Its fabulous! ". But it was to expencive for me to buy, spend the money and time to paint, just to sell it again. So I forgot all about it. Until the seller reposted it for allmost half the price, saying it had to go! My husband nearly forced me (ok, I asked him, and he consented...) to buy it! So I did! I bought this amazing french china cabinet!
The owner, a man in his 60s maybe, said that his mother in law had it as long as he could remember, but they just couldt find the place for it in theire home. And I totally understand. I mean, its lovely and all, but the only people with this kind of style must be Queen Elisabeth of England, and the Pope... After all, the back and shelf was covered in red velvet fabric. Very royal all over. But it had to go!





Here I have stripped downt the red velvet. It has been defeated!


I dont believe this was an expencive antique arti fax, seeing that it was not a heavy object and the back and shelf was in thin plywood, so I wasnt feeling guilty for taking it apart. But, please, correct me if I am wrong! 

I wont bore you with the details, other than the fact that I used home made chalk paint to prime it. Twice. The reason that I like to prime with home made chalk paint, is because; 
1. Chalkpaint sticks to EVERYTHING!
2. It dryes quikly! Like in 20-30 minutes. Then its ready for an other layer.
3. If I were to use milkpaint as a primer as well, I would, in this case, sand it down a little to make the paint stick. But it would most likely flake of. Wich is a great side of milk paint. But that wasnt the look I was going for this time.

So, after a couple of layers with white home made chalk paint, I went with Miss Mustard Seeds Grain Sack. I love that color! Then I painted the details on the cabinet with a mix of Trophy and Shcloss, wich are both shades of grey. I watered it out a bit extra. The framed panels on the outside of the cabinet allso got a good wash with the grey. 
After I had primed the details with chalk paint, I sanded them down a bit, so that the gold gleamed through a bit. 
And of course, in the end there was a bit sanding and distressing on the "right places", as I like to call it, followed with clear wax. Alot of it. I used a big round pencil brush to apply dark antiquing wax on all the details. That really gave the impression that this cabinet could actually be an old, french antique! 
Oh! I allmost forgot! You propably noticed the inside of the cabinet? It makes the whole wow-factor!
I used nepkins, and made home made mod podge to glue it on! 

I learned a few new techniques on this one, and boy was it time consuming. But really woth it!
Heres a picture spree for you!





















I am beyond happy with this one! But unfortunately it doesnt go with our interior, nor do we have the room for it. But no worries, because it sold in like only a few hours, so a lucky lady will be eyeballing it insted. It will definately get the attention it deserves!
I hope you liked it!




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26 kommentarer:

  1. That is fabulous!! Great job on the makeover!

    SvarSlett
  2. Absolutely beautiful - you did an amazing makeover!!!!!!

    SvarSlett
  3. It would have broken my heart to paint over that marquetry Tone...lol! But I do love the way this piece looks now. Awesome job and thanks for sharing at Five Star Frugal. Definitely a five star AND frugal project. Love, Mimi xxx

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. Thank you Mimi! Seeing as it wasnt a real antique, but a reproduction, It wasnt that hard... haha... I am so glad you liked it:)

      Slett
    2. Hahaha! I LOVED it! Gorgeous, gorgeous job. Mimi xxx

      Slett
  4. I have the same in my house and it doesn't fit in. But this I love :) how do you make home made chalk paint?

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. Hi Carola! I am glad you liked it:)
      Here is the recepie I use:
      Chalk Paint

      1 Cup Paint (any color)

      1 Tablespoon of Plaster of Paris (shift or stir well to break up clumps before using)

      1/4 cup hot water

      Add plaster of paris to paint and mix well. I Slowly add hot water (must be hot) and stir well until pretty smooth. Stir extremely well and use!

      Slett
    2. Hi! Thanks for answering, what kind of paint do you juse?

      Slett
    3. No problem:) It HAS to be flat paint, non-oil based. I use regurlar interior paint, the kind I use on my walls. If you use oil based paint, the mixture will get hard as sement allmost instant.

      Slett
  5. Gorgeous transformation! Hello my dear! Thank you for the beautiful and inspirational post! We would love for you to share this post at our WIW Party today! Hope you can join us!

    Paula
    ivyandelephants.blogspot.com

    SvarSlett
  6. This is gorgeous! I absolutely love the style of the cabinet and what you did to it. Absolutely stunning.

    I just did used chalk paint as a primer for the first time last week before using MMS Milk Paint to get the real look and color I wanted. I'm glad someone else has done it and it is tried and true!
    Cheryl @ rufflesandrifles.com

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. Yah! Im not crazy afterall! At least im not alone:) It Works everytime!

      Slett
  7. Everything about it is beautiful! Shape, appliques, color, everything!

    SvarSlett
  8. O H M Y G O O O O O D N E S S ! ! ! It makes my heart sing looking at it! This is stunningly executed for sure! Tone you really should be proud! You really nailed this from colors to styling! Is this piece a keeper for you? It really does have an authentic French feel! Well done and thank you for sharing it at Making Broken Beautiful this week!.
    Smiles for a great weekend!

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. Wow! That is so fun to hear! I am really glad you liked it! Even though it is stunning, it didnt really fit in for us. So it had to sell:)

      Slett
  9. Gorgeous!!!
    Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

    SvarSlett
  10. That is one of the most beautiful painted pieces I've ever seen. I just LOVE it!

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. Wow, really?? That is music toy eares! Thank you!

      Slett
  11. Back again. Guess what? We featured you this week at Ivy and Elephants! Thanks for sharing with us, feel free to stop by and grab a featured button.
    Hugs,
    Patti

    SvarSlett
  12. What a gorgeous transformation! I love the colors you choose, so soothing....it looks 100% better! Some friends and I are starting a new linky party for all things vintage called "Vintage Charm" and we'd love to see you there! It begins this Thursday, October 15th. Stop by and share some of your vintage charm with us! xoKathleen

    SvarSlett

Thanks for leaving a comment! They are all very apreciated!