A Much Loved China Cabinet

This one is uniquely mine… there was no way I was selling it after all the time I put into it and how much I loved it… it was perfect for me!

The cabinet was a score from the Goodwill store.. I just happened to be at the right place, at the right time, don’t you just love it when that happens! We couldn’t fit both pieces into the SUV so we had to make two trips.. but it was so worth it! The cabinet is solid wood and was probably manufactured sometime in the 60’s or 70’s.. (ok, so I’m just guessing the date range, but based on the overall feel of the piece I think I’m pretty close). All of the metal work was old brass in color and the cabinet had a fluorescent light with a plastic diffuser cover in it… gross!

This was the very first piece I painted using Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint, wow… have I learned a lot about this paint since then, way back in June :). I will admit that I really didn’t believe the hype about not needing to prime… so I primed… crazy huh? At the end of the project I was glad I did because it gave me an additional layer of color to work with during the distressing process.

I used the Kilz primer that I had on hand, it was tinted grey from a prior painting project, and primed the entire outside. I then painted the outer cabinet with 2 coats of ASCP in Provence and freaked out! This color looked WAY too bright… (let me tell you that today Provence is my favorite color, I just LOVE it)… but 8 months ago I wasn’t so sure… I continued on, hoping that in the end it would look great. Does this ever happen to you? You are partway through a project and you are thinking “oh no, what have I done”? Well, that was where I was, but I pressed on, having just enough faith to keep me going… I sanded the paint down some to give the piece a little distressing… I LOVED how easy the paint distressed, but not all of the dust it creates… I was so filthy after this part of the job it was ridiculous! But I still wanted to tone the color down more, so after I applied a coat of clear wax I applied a light layer of dark wax. I loved the way the color toned down and the dark wax aged the piece just right… The inside I painted with Old White, no distressing just a light sand and a coat of clear wax. I finished up with a lot of buffing! I was very happy with the color combination and level of brightness of the toned down Provence. The handles and grate I painted with oil rubbed bronze and reattached. The original fluorescent light box was brought into the 21st century by replacing it with puck lights wired to the original electrical wiring… we rarely turn them on, but we wanted the option just in case! This project took a LONG time, but it was not difficult…. it’s a big china cabinet with a lot of nooks and crannies… but in the end I think the results were worth the time invested.

I have a collection of pitchers that I wanted to display… some are vintage, some are hand-made, a couple are mass-produced, but they all have meaning…. truthfully this cabinet has turned out to be the perfect piece! It brings in a fantastic pop of color into an overall neutral room and allows me to display pieces that hold such wonderful memories for me….

I think every room should have a pop of color… it doesn’t have to be big, it can be something as small as a vase… but I think color can have a tremendous effect on you… and as I write this I find myself eyeballing my black accent furniture and thinking hmmm…. what if you were BLUE or maybe a great GREEN… (please don’t tell my hubby I’m thinking that!)

How about you? Are you feeling like your room could use a little pop of color?

Thanks for stopping by!

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