My old drawers.

For my birthday I bought a LOT of these old kits from the US and Canada on Etsy. Sadly the company no longer exists but many people have a stock of them so they can be found easily. They average at about 10/15 euros before postage. I find the finished pieces once assembled and varnished quite boring ( sorry for those who like them ) but they can be modified and finished in many other ways as shown here. I began by sanding down each piece carefully. In some of the older kits there is a sort of waxy build up on the wood that needs to be stripped off before staining or painting. Sometimes the drawers need a little extra sanding to fit well.

 Although I intended to paint the chest I wanted a dark base first.

 Here I made the pattern for the drawer lining. the tabs are just for easy extraction. I intended to line in 'old wallpaper'.

 First and second coat of F&B 'New White' mat paint.

 Next came the lining, this paper was copied from an early 19th century wallpaper, scaled down. After hesitating between drawer handles I used some that came with the kit and painted over them to dull them down and the sanding revealed some of the brass.

 As I wanted a 'Faux Marble' top, as opposed to real marble, I began with a swirly ochre and white base, which I let dry. Ordinary acrylic artists paint. It was much more 'ochre' and not so canary as in the photo!

 Next some dark ochre and green, dabbed with a kitchen towel.

 I skipped a few photos but here is the finished top. I repeated the painting and dabbing in Paynes grey and Black and when dry I painted in some ochre and off white veins. When dry I sanded down the top and corners to reveal the wood and then after applying a water colour wash of dirty water over the white chest I waxed it up.

 In 18 th century Sweden 'Faux Marble' was often used in furniture, skirting boards and doors. As Sweden grew mostly pine and birch any finish had to be applied as paint or trompe l'oeil. I personnally love faux marble and use it a lot on the house. I think that painted furniture has more charm and is less precious than beautifully waxed and finished exotic woods.

 The china is from Twelve times more teeny on Etsy, the detail is Simply amazing!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Twelvetimesmoreteeny