Antique Pot Cupboard

When I picked up this little pot cupboard from the seller, it seemed to have been half sanded back on one or two of the side surfaces, so we finished off the sanding back all over and you can see the layering of paint it has had over the years. 

Pink it was, and Pink it shall be

You can see in the images above that the last layer painted on was pink – so I thought it would be a great opportunity to freshen up that pink look with Fusion’s new colour in their Penney & Co collection – English Rose (Australia wide shipping here)

A Painter’s Dilemma

I didn’t take step by step photos of this makeover, because, to be totally honest, I wasn’t sure how my idea was going to turn out.

Here’s the deal: the top of this cupboard was pretty ratty! I mean it was stripped of what was probably a veneer top, we puttied up a gouge in the top and so, I wasn’t sure that the pretty pink matched the rugged rustic appearance of this chippy little piece. I was beginning to think I should have left it chippy and shabby as my sister-in-law had suggested to me in the first place. But I was committed now – the pink was on – so now I needed to add a little punk to the pink.

I took out my pot of Pearl Metallic and decided to add a little shimmer to the equation.That didn’t solve my problem because now it looked even more of a contrast to the rustic rugged exterior – what was I thinking adding more bling and shimmer? I remembered seeing this beautiful picture of English Rose being used on a picture frame with black wax to highlight the details (by A L Creation et Revalorisation):

So I added some of Fusion’s Black Wax which picked up the detail of the chippy timber top and rustic edges. The Fusion waxes are easy to apply – wipe or brush on, then wipe off and buff to a sheen.

The “After” Photo Shoot:

I must give a huge shout out to my beautiful assistant Amy, who is doing work experience with me for two weeks. Amy was an interior decorator in China before moving to Australia with her husband a few years ago. She also loves photography.

So when I set Amy to work giving her freedom to style this little cupboard with whatever she could find around my home and workshop, and to photograph it for me, she was in her element! I loved watching her choose items carefully, co-ordinating colours, textures and metals to set a beautiful scene.

And here’s the pretty results of her photo shoot:

See that black wax in the grain on top? This photo really shows up the Pearl metallic shimmer in the light:

This little gal will be for sale in my booth at Camp Hill Antique Centre if you want to see her up close.

I took Amy to my Antique booth today at Camp Hill, and she really enjoyed helping to rearrange and style some of my things. We stopped by the foyer and grabbed lunch at the Tarte Café – always good for a bite to eat and they have great coffee!

I’m aiming to be in store at my booth each Wednesday, so if you ever want to catch up and ask DIY or paint related questions, drop me a line to confirm that I’ll be there.