An English-Inspired Cupboard

I haven't painted anything in awhile, but today I bought (for a song) a wonderful white, chippy park bench at Spruce Antiques and Interiors in Hillsborough. I want the piece to remain chippy (rather than eventually being only bare wood--it's that chippy!), so I pulled out my paintbrush and applied a coat of Polyacrylic to seal it. 

It felt great to go through the motions of painting and now I'm looking forward to painting again!

The weather here has been utterly perfect here, with sunshine and highs in the 60s.  The leaves are nearing their peak of color and I can't help but be in a non-stop good mood!  It's perfect painting weather, too, and so I'll have to knock out some projects in the next few weeks. 

I'm getting ready to try an HVLP sprayer on a few pieces for a friend, and I scored a picnic table and pair of benches from Craigslist that are crying out for a coat of paint before finding a new home on the screened-in porch.

My interest has a tendency, in all projects I do, to ebb and flow.  And the desire to paint had definitely ebbed in recent months in favor of sewing and generally getting ready for Fifi and Mark's visit.  But now it's flowing, so be on the lookout for some painted furniture before and afters in the coming weeks!  In the meantime, here's a project I completed over the summer and hadn't yet blogged about.

This is was the living room television armoire.

It was originally unfinished pine, but last fall I wanted to mute the warm wood tones, and tried drybrushing it with paint leftover from painting several rooms in the house.  I layered Benjamin Moore Linen White and Wythe Blue, but was way, way too light-handed.  For some reason--I think because I was trying to start *and* finish the project in one morning during preschool--I stopped after just a couple quick coats of paint and then hurriedly sealed the armoire with Polyacrylic.

Within days I regretted the decision. Even as close as the sofa, you could hardly tell the thing was painted. And since I had been such a genius to seal it, I knew it'd be a massive pain in the heiney to sand off all that poly in order to repaint it.  So I did nothing.

Well, then the whole Annie Sloan Chalk Paint craze happened this past spring.  As soon as I heard you could paint straight over poly'd pieces with ASCP, I was sold.  And fortunately, an ASCP retailer in less than half an hour away.

However, it wasn't until I saw this photo in the beautiful English magazine Period Living that I knew how I wanted to paint the armoire.

Everything is this photos seems so quintessentially English and I lurve it.  And I was completely smitten with the armoire.  The soft grey-blue paint, worn and chipped, was exactly what the living room needed. And once I looked the photo more closely and realized the the dream armoire and my armoire were pretty darn similar in shape and details...well...ding, ding, ding...we have a winner!

First, I painted a coat of Old White, followed by a coat of Paris Grey. And then, with a sanding sponge, I sanded. A LOT. (I ended up making a pretty big mess, actually. But at that point, I was so happy with the way things were looking, I didn't mind cleaning up all the fine paint dust.) Finally, a coat of wax, buffed to a satiny smooth finish, completed the transformation.

Here is the end result:

There is no doubt this armoire has paint on it now!

P.S.--The knobs are from Hobby Lobby--I love them so much that I will bore you with a second close-up.

$2 each - that's it.  Don't hate.

Trying to show you the subtle sheen of the waxed surface. It's smooth as buttah!

Love how the Old White peeks through in places.

Mission complete!

Have you painted anything lately that you're pleased-as-punch about?

-Erin

Linking to:
The Inspiration Board at Homework
Piece of Work Wednesday at Primitive and Proper
Restored It Wednesday at Restore Interiors
Whatever Wednesday at Momma Hen's Coop
Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage
Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
All Things Furniture at Perfectly Imperfect

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