I love it when I have the opportunity to dress up a piece of vintage furniture that has the word Century burned into the inside drawer. I can always count on the drawers running smoothly...the tracks still in place...no rubbing when the cabinet doors close......basically....no repairs for this painted white cabinet!
This mini-buffet/server belongs to a friend of mine. She acquired it from a childhood friend's parents' estate. She loved the shape and size of the piece but wasn't really feeling the dark and heavy vibe of the piece. She wanted a white body and a dark top. Easy enough....but not really.
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Painted White Cabinet with Faux Grain Top
Crisp white is not easy (distressed shabby is much easier). Going from dark wood to a clean white finish requires extra work.
So I'll divide this process into two phases:
the outside - crisp clean white
the top - traditional wood grain
The Outside - crisp clean white
cleaned entire piece with white lightning per instructions
primed with BOSS in white (2 coats)
applied WoodUBend molds (#WUB2182) to the center of both cabinet doors
painted with Fluff (3 coats....making sure to sand with the sanding sponge between each coat)
The Outside - the hardware
sprayed hardware gold and set aside to let dry
dusted each mold with gold gilding wax
applied Clear Top Coat Satin (2 coats)
re-installed the handles to doors
The Top - traditional wood grain look
lightly scuffed the surface with a 220 grit sandpaper (just enough to cut the factory gloss)
applied a liberal amount of No Pain Gel Stain (NPGS) in Espresso using a brush
allowed to sit for about 10 minutes and then wiped back with a rag
applied another liberal amount of NPGS and then used the wood graining tool pulling and rocking from back to front until the entire top surface was tooled
Love this wood grain look? Be sure to watch my tricks for faux wood HERE.
Allowed this to dry for 72 hours and then applied Gator Hide (3 coats) using the applicator pad .
So as you can see.....whites require extra steps. The outside of the cabinet has seven coats applied to it in total.....2 primer....3 paint......2 top coat....that is seven times I painted just the outside.
As a business owner.....I stress this to you for the simple reason of....make sure you take into account this process...if you are quoting a piece similar to this. I charge as much to paint a simple white as I do a fully detailed piece.
If you are a homeowner....and you want this clean and classy white look....it is NOT difficult....it's just time-consuming. Make sure to allow for extra time and just enjoy the process! Visit my Painless Painting blog for more help to paint a stunning piece with only TWO products.
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