This particular drinks cabinet has certainly got history on its side. Yes, it's certainly not Chippendale as it dates back only to the 1950s. But it's constructed from solid pine and plywood mouldings. So, it's a very fine example of post-war British furniture craft. And this style was certainly very popular for modern homes, with its interior mirrored glass display and drop-down front. The height of style and sophistication. And cracking storage potential for your gin and tonic.
We believe that it was previously owned by a member of the family and our brief was to give it a new lease of life. And that's something we did with several coats of Farrow and Ball London Stone on top of a Johnstone's primer and undercoat combination.
Preparation
To prepare this drinks cabinet for its paint job we had to remove all the ironmongery, handles and hinges. We like to do this for all the furniture we paint, except for those hinges or handles that really are stuck fast. It does happen! We sanded with both a gentle hand sand on the mouldings and also we used the power sander on the flat surfaces, taking care because of the plywood skin that was quite thin.
Paint
We always apply two coats at the start of a paint project. A primer coat and then an undercoat. On this occasion we used water-based paints from Johnstones, but we also use a Zinsser solvent-based primer when we want to hide stains or knots in the wood. That's most needed with relatively young pine furniture. This wasn't an issue because of the plywood construction of this drinks cabinet
Finish
We didn't shabby chic this furniture when we'd finished as our client much preferred the clean painted look. However, we did apply two coats of neutral Annie Sloan wax to achieve a hard-wearing finish.
All in all, this was another very satisfying piece of paintwork. The painted drinks cabinet certainly looks set to command respect in the drinks department for many more years to come.
When you have a paint job that you'd like us to help with, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
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Contact Details
Please don't hesitate to get in touch for shabby chic and furniture painting advice.
Phone Number
07766 225329
Email Address
furniture@shabby-chic-surrey.com