Monday, January 6, 2014

The One That Almost Beat Me

Hello everyone!  I hope that you all had a fabulous holiday. I ended up catching strep throat 2 days before Christmas, but thanks to antibiotics, I was still able to enjoy Christmas morning with the family.  My kids are 5 and almost 4, so there was no way that I was missing the magic of Christmas.  We only get so many years before they become big. It's so fun to watch their little faces while opening and giving gifts... It makes my heart go pitter patter...

I found a set of these gold chests at Salvation Army.  I loved the details on them, so I snatched them up.  These suckers are HEAVY! 

I didn't snap a picture of the small one, but it looks exactly like this one just a little smaller.



I figured that these would easy peasy since they were solid wood, or so I thought...

The small one had some damage on the top veneer.  No problem.  After tackling my antique secretary this was not gonna be a challenge.  I peeled back the veneer only to find that top was framed in wood, but the center was particle board.  Big problem.  You can't paint that.  Trust me, I tried!  It looked awful.  So, I did the only thing I knew would work.  I used Modge Podge and my trusty dollar store paper.

Here is the after.



I wanted to paint all of the details in white, but do you see the detail on the front?   I couldn't help but laugh when I painted it.  I looked just like teeth. 

Here is a close up of the teeth, I mean detail:)  See what I mean?



I decided that instead of painting it white, I would just try to use a white glaze on it.  It was not the look that I wanted, so I ended up using a dark grey glaze over it. 

I almost took this back to donate it a couple of times.  I ended up leaving it in my garage for a couple of weeks.  Sometimes I just need to step back and take a break.  It always seems to make it easier to tackle my challenges. 


 
 


 


 
 
 
 








I still have the large one to paint.  What do you think?  Should I paint it to match or should I do something different?

XOXO
Wendy

4 comments:

  1. What an interesting piece! I think it came out pretty cool. I always paint matching pieces the same, but I never sell them together, so maybe try a different color?

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  2. Wow, I've never even seen chests quite like that! I would try something different just because most people would only choose one such unique piece for their home, so have some fun with it!

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  3. Love both chests. I struggle with separating sets and painting them differently but wish I would sometimes because it gives you so much flexibility with color and style/technique. These came out lovely.

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