A Muse for Shelves

A muse for someone that refinishes furniture can come from all sorts of places.  I love looking at antiques and trying to bring old furniture back to its original glory, but sometimes the pocket book doesn't allow for it!  Working with what you have can make the best refinishing projects, and the best muses.

My client Kim that got the Antique Refinish to her dinning room table, has this beautiful Andover Cabinet from Pottery Barn.It has that old rustic look with all the modern conveniences.  For example...those drawers, not drawers at all (except for the top row), it's a cabinet.  Those tricky Pottery Barn people!  This was a great piece of furniture she had in her living room, and it made for a fabulous muse.

Above the table on the wall were these two long shelves. 

 

Everything else in her living room was a beautiful dark mahogany wood, so the orange on the shelves was standing out, and not in a good way.  In stepped the muse and away I went.

I first painted them a Navajo White color.  When that was dry, but still a little tacky I took my sander and with a 220 sand paper lightly took some of the paint off to give it the rustic look.  The reason I choose to not wait for it to be completely dry was because I wanted a Venetian plaster effect.   I waxed it, gave it some scrapes and bruises with my putty knife and finished it off with a brown glaze and polyurethane.  They turned out great, and look fantastic on her wall.

What things in life become your MUSE?