Painted Country Cupboard - Old Style

 I have been painting furniture for over forty years.  I have seen painting techniques come and go and come back again.  It's the circle of life, I reckon.  Everything old is new again.

I did an old style paint technique on a pine cupboard this past weekend.

 
I hope you like it as much as I do.

It is simple.

I found this old cupboard at Habitat - unfinished pine and obviously a homemade job.  It had a roach problem, but a drenching with bug spray and a wrapping of black plastic in the hot sun took care of that.

Next, a thorough washing and here it is.

I wavered about chalk paint or milk paint.  Waxing or varnish.  Distressing or dry brushing.



Finally I decided to go back a few decades and just use flat latex paint with no varnish or wax.  

 The back was a piece of paneling (dated May 17, 1964!) which had to have a coat of Kilz for good paint adherence. 

The outside was painted white flat latex. 

Two coats.

That's it.

 The inside was painted turquoise flat latex.

Two coats.

That's it.

The doors?

Two coats white flat latex.

That's it.

The hinges and handles were the hammered copper kind.  They sat in a bath of white vinegar to clean off the gunk.

Then they were put right back on the cupboard.

That's it.

 I did have to tie some torn calico ribbons on the handles and add a tag from the ones I made this weekend.  Read about the tags here!

But that's it.

I am not keeping this cupboard, but what happens when you use this simple paint technique?

Over time nicks, scratches and wear marks appear.  It naturally ages to a beautiful patina.  

Sometimes it is nice to just let age create the patina the piece (or person) deserves.

The inside looked so pretty with the aluminum cake pans and the small buckets that I took them to my booth too.







So there you have it - a simple country cupboard painted with flat latex with no fancy finish. I encourage you to paint a piece and watch it age.  Do a tray if you think you might like this. 

See y'all!









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Party Junk 192 - Friday night at Funky Junk Interiors!