Thursday, July 25, 2019

Antique Wall Cabinets and Gingham Dollhouse Roof



Picking up where we left off on our last visit, I mentioned I had
rehabbed two vintage wall cabinets for the house. And I am pretty sure 
I talked about my Gypsy picker who carries the cool stuff I love.
 This is the photo she sent me showing me the cabinet 
and the Florentine chest of drawers.
Was I interested?
Um....no doubt about it! Of course I was!!
The wall cabinet was a bit dilapidated, with flaking red interior paint and a 
thick coat of gold paint that was bubbling right off the surface.
She told me it had been left out in the rain once or twice....
no matter to me, I knew I could "restore" it so it retained its
old world glamour.  Mind you these paint issues were not the original
paint that had started deconstructing, they were paint jobs applied
by either my Gypsy girl or a previous owner. 
 I scraped off the failing paint to reveal the gesso undercoat that all of these Italian pieces
have.  A huge wall mirror that was hung on this wall was promptly taken down and 
the sadly worn arch top cabinet was hauled into the room. 
 YES!!! I was in LOVE.
 A coat of Jolie's Paint in Swedish Grey 
was applied over the sides, top and door surround,
to cover up the gaudy hardware store gold paint. 
 To keep the old vintage look, I left
the rest of the exterior as is, even the exposed gesso bits. 
The interior was painted with Jolie's Eucalyptus (a grey green)
to hide the red and done so in a scrappy fashion so some of the white undercoat
was still visible so it wouldn't look like a freshly painted piece. 
After hanging it, it clearly still looked too new. 
It needed to be aged so a coat of clear finishing wax
mixed with a bit of dark wax did the trick.
 The old Italian/French cabinet had much to love about it.
The colors look beautiful with the Bosphorous Toile fabric 
on my chair.
 This is "my spot" in our living room. The old bench holds 
all the books and magazines I am reading at any given time.
 Less is more when filling up a wall cabinet.
Some art I have had for 20 years took the top shelf,
alabaster bird baths took the center shelf, and the books I brought 
home from Versailles from an old book store share the bottom shelf 
with my peg legged lamb.
Ahhh the grillwork with the pretty florettes!

Definition of Florette:
  1.  A small flower 
  2. The mythological Roman goddess of flowers  

 The broken arch top of the wall cabinet mimics the 
secretary which also has a broken arch pediment. The
room is coming along nicely, with the updates in furniture
and colors.  We are in love with that squishy lilac sofa!
And lastly, here is quick shot of the only dollhouse work done lately.
Reeve's little cottage got a blue gingham fabric roof.  Which made me 
think, why can't real houses have pretty roofs like this?
Next I will add the gingerbread trim to the gables and possibly install
the staircase.  She is a bit rough with the house, so I decided not 
to go to the trouble of glueing on one million cedar shingles only
to have her pick them off one by one. In the end it came out quite cute.
I decoupaged the fabric on with ModPodge and when it dried I lightly
sanded it to give it a soft feeling.  Next up will be the last item I
got from my Gypsy girl....which I turned into the most fabulous
medicine cabinet for my bathroom!

Maison Decor readers will get 20% off orders over $200
using this link: INF-AMYMAISONDECOR


2 comments:

  1. Beautiful Amy and filled with such treasures. You are right less is more a lesson I have learned and try to follow.

    Reeve's dolk house is looking great. Love the choice for the roof.

    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the new look in your living room, Amy. It is so warm and inviting...less formal, yet still just as gorgeous as ever!! Your little "sweetie's" dollhouse is precious...just like her. xo

    ReplyDelete

 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...