I really enjoyed this super fun project to update an old lingerie chest, old standing jewelry box and a couple of end tables into 2 jewelry armoire's and a matching night stand!
There is never enough room for jewelry, right? Well that's what I was thinking when I updated an old 4 legged jewelry armoire. I was so happy to find this old French lingerie chest and end tables. I have been looking for some time but got lucky finding this set. I was looking for a tall piece I could line with organizing trays to hold jewelry, sunglasses, scarfs and all those odds and ends.
This chest was perfect! So I got started taking off all the hardware. The handles were really nice but looked dated in the gold and wouldn't go with my cooler color choices so I set them aside to work on that later. I was going to use some paint on them but my husband offered to spray paint them a glossy black so I took him up on the offer. It's always great to get a bit of help to finish up faster. I was super happy with them in shiny black as it turned out.
I also had an old jewelry chest on four legs that had two broken legs from moving it around so thought I would take the legs off and just set it on one of the end tables so it was more sturdy and made better use of the space having two extra large drawers below. I just had to match up the paint to make it look like it belonged together. So I took out all the drawers and handles and set them aside as well.
So to start with this one I was a bit worried that the red mahogany type finish would not hold the paint well so I gave it a coat of Slick Stick. I did this on all of the cabinets and then let them dry overnight.
Don't worry about how it looks at all while using slick stick as your not going to like it but it will give your paint a nice surface to cling too. It is recommended to do two coats of Slick Stick. However, I didn't feel I needed it on this one so I just made sure everything was covered and did a little touch up on any spots I missed.
Next I picked out French Linen from the Dixie Belle Collection. It is a beautiful color on its own but it also works very, very well as a base for steel magnolia as it is a really similar tone. The picture doesn't really do it justice but it is a nice tone.
Then comes the Moonshine Metallic coat in Steel Magnolia. I really love layering on the moonshine on top of a similar color base coat of chalk paint. It really adds depth and the paint goes so much further as well.
So after I painted all the pieces with the Steel Magnolia I set them out to dry overnight. I wanted to use a Prima Redesign Transfer on it so I am always waiting longer than normal for the paint to dry, just to be safe. The transfers have to be rubbed on the paint so I figure the dryer the better and so far it has worked for me. I recommend leaving the painted pieces at least on night before adding transfers. It would take so much longer to have to re-do everything.
I picked out a nice "Lovely Ledger" transfer from our Prima re-design collection and got started the next day. I pulled out all the dresser drawers and figured out my placement. Next I just cut the transfers to the right size. It is so easy as they have cut lines and a grid on them. Then drawer by drawer pulled off the backing on the transfer, place it right on the drawer carefully where I want it and then rub it using the wooden burnishing tool that comes with it. Then I just pull back slowly in case any of the transfer doesn't stick. If you find a bit doesn't come off, if you do it slowly you can drop it back in place and rub it again until it releases of the backing.
It goes quickly and this part is a lot of fun for me as it looks so detailed and takes very little time. Think I had them all done in an hour. Most of the time was planning the placement and cutting them to size.
Then to protect the transfer I apply a light coat of clear coat with a sponge to give it some added protection.
Next up was putting the handles all back on.
Once all the handles were on I gathered them together in better light for some photos. In this light you can see the colors much better. Steel Magnolia over French Linen gives a warm silver look if there is such a color.
I was able to find a whole bunch of jewelry organizing trays in the drawers too for added storage space. I am definitely going to look for more of these chests and try another one soon!
I hope you enjoyed,
Andrea Hinz