I attended a moving sale here in Bexley, Ohio in a previous Decorator's Show House. Upstairs in the child's room I found a lovely Antique Empire Chest. I was torn as to whether I should buy it or not. It had great bones, dovetailed drawers and solid wood. But it also had been hand painted in a brick and floral motif. Now other ladies were swooning over the paint job which was signed by the artist - I was not. To me the paint job was a deterrent to me buying the piece. However my love of furniture won me over and I bought the Chest reluctantly.
As I started my attempts of restyling this piece I thought back and wish I had gone with my gut instincts. I started by trying to paint the piece a fun shade of blue. After painting the drawers I realized this was not going to be an easy transformation and it would take some time!
The artist painted bricks over the entire piece and used a lot of thick paint for the "mortar" of the bricks. Perhaps in an attempt to be realistic? Or perhaps to be a pain in the rear end for whoever would attempt to remove her artwork!
I then decided to really distress the piece to try and disguise the mortar paint. It just did not look good at all plus I had not touched the cabinet with a drop of paint yet and to try and hide all the mortar on the sides! I would have to distress the entire piece. Which is what I ended up doing. I sanded the drawers down to the bare wood and boy was the wood grain so pretty! I was tempted to sand down the entire piece and stain it but I knew the sides where the wood is typically not as thick would prove to be too difficult. Plus with the time already invested plus the initial investment which was more than I probably should have paid I did not want to put a lot more time into this chest. I had so many more items waiting their turn!
So I sanded the top and the sides a lot but not to the bare wood. She looked better already stripped of all those bricks!
I then used chalk paint which covered the artwork nicely. I decided against the fun blue shade at this point and went with a pale blue with a hint of grey. I lightly distressed the chest and used some chocolate glaze to give it an authentic aged look.
(Sorry - the photos are not great - I took them under a tent when it was already getting dark outside - not a good time or place to take photos!)
I replaced the wood drawer pulls with Glass Pulls and it really did a lot to spruce this gal up!
After all was done I was glad I saved this Empire Chest from being a pile of bricks. She looks much better! The chest is a well built piece and will last for generations.
This piece sold within days of her makeover. However I have many pieces available in my three booths G021, C096 and J08
Heritage Square Antique Mall
1865 Brice Rd
Columbus, Ohio
614-864-8722
Just off of I 70 at the Brice Rd North Reynoldsburg exit.
You may also view my items on Facebook under Eclectic Chic
I am currently busy preparing for the Scott's Antique Show the weekend after Thanksgiving. I will post more about that later and share some of the pieces I will be offering there.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Thanks!
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