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!

Visit Jolie Paint here!

Maison Decor readers will get 20% off orders over $200

using this link: INF-AMYMAISONDECOR