Elegance & Mystery

This piece was so fun to play with. There are so many materials, textures and a unique mix of elements of elegance paired with mystery.

To start, I first took off all the hardware and removed the doors. This allowed me to paint the edges of the doors and cabinet easily as well as under the hardware easily.

Next, I needed to scuff up the finish as it was shiny and I knew that I wanted the paint to stick and not peel off in places (common when using milk paint over a finished surface). I used a sanding brick that was 100 grit for this. I also removed the back of the piece carefully so that I could paint and stencil it without fighting the inside of the cabinet. I cleaned the piece with TSP followed with water. I use two separate rags to do this and one bucket of TSP and water mix and the other with just water. I make sure to ring out my rags very well, as you do not want to saturate your wood.

For the colors – I wanted something to accent the décor transfer I picked, Elegance & Florals, and be very classy with a pop of color on the inside.

I used Sweet Pickins Milk Paint in Navy Blues for the base coat and the accent color is Curry. For the back I used the colors Creamy and Suitcase as well as Paint Couture’s Metallic Stardust and their Champagne Glaze. I taped off the inside areas where I was going to put the Curry and started with two coats of the Navy Blues color. I used the extra bond with both colors to help with adhesion.

Note: When using the extra bond you want to put on one coat and then give it 24 hours to dry. You do not want to use the extra bond in any other coat but the first.

I then mixed a little bit of the color Lantern (which his black) to the navy to darken the color and did some blending and shadowing around the edges. I then painted the Curry color. For the back, I used Creamy as the basecoat and then used a wood layering block with the Stardust metallic and Suitcase to create texture.

Next, I applied the stamp in a pattern using the Stardust metallic. This is such a fun and forgiving process and the best part is – if you don’t like it you can paint over it again with the base color or add more on top to break it up. You don’t want a lot of paint on your block when you do this. Now for the fun part … transfers, stencils and paper!

Because this piece has rounded edges, I needed to be careful about applying the transfers. I worked in small sections and chose pieces of the transfer to cut out that would accent the lines on the cabinet. After I applied all the transfer pieces I wanted, I used the Stardust and a small round brush and when around the edges and corners of the cabinet to give it some texture and accent. I also applied parts of the Diamond Grunge stencil to the top.

For the inside, I chose to break the three sections into different patterns. I loved the color of the Fleurette Dress rice paper and it matched the Curry paint color nicely. I decided I wanted stripes rather than a solid piece. To apply them I used the “dry decoupage” method. For this you apply a medium such as ModPodge or another top coat. You want to apply this relatively thick and then let it dry. After its dry you can take an Iron and lay down your paper, cover with parchment paper and then run the iron over it. This will reactive the medium and secure the paper to the piece. To seal it I used a latex spray paint to keep the color from washing out with a water-based product.

The other two sections I used stencils with the Stardust metallic and Copper metallic. On the two-stenciled sections I also washed with the Champagne glaze to give it some sparkle - which is a little different than what most people use glazes for because it was a flat surface.

Inside the drop down leaf I stenciled a pattern using the Diamond Grunge stencil. Within the cabinet I did a raised stencil using the Dixie Belle MUD in white and slightly tinted with the Curry powder.

For the drawers I chose to do a faded, striped pattern on the top and bottom using painters tape and the Stardust metallic. On the middle I did raised stenciling with the Dixie Belle MUD tinted with the mix of Navy Blues and Lantern and then carefully applied a little bit of the Stardust for some shimmer.

On the drawer sides I used two stencils by Redesign with Prima (Flourish Emblem & Butterfly Script.) I wanted the top and bottom drawers to line up so I laid these on their sides together and stenciled them. I used Finnabair's Art Alchemy Metallique Wax in Old Denim.

Well if you made it this far I hope it was helpful! Such a fun piece with lots of details and spark!

Products Used

Dixie Belle:

MUD in white (tinted with Sweet Pickins Navy Blues and Lantern)

Paint Couture:

Stardust Metallic
Copper Metallic
Champagne Glaze

Redesign with Prima:

Transfer: Elegance & Flowers
Rice Paper: Fleurette Dress
Stencil: Diamond Grunge
Stencil: Flourish Emblem
Butterfly Script stencil
Old Denim metallique wax by Finnbair Art Alchemy

Sweet Pickins Milk Paint:

Navy Blues
Lantern
Curry
Extra Bond
Creamy
Suitcase

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Miranda Williams

Co-Creator at Piglet's Closet

Miranda is Co-Creator at Piglet's Closet. She is also lead artist at Miranda Mae Designs.

DIY Knowledge Base

07 Jun

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Note: When using the extra bond you want to put on one coat and then give it 24 hours to dry. You do not want to use the extra bond in any other coat but the first.

Products Used

Miranda Williams

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