What can I even say about my old pine-board cabinet with the heart-shaped cut-outs? I bought this cabinet back in the late 80’s when country decorating and pine wood furniture with the crafty little hearts was so popular. I didn’t really have any pictures of the heart cabinet in its original state; I had to scrounge through a lot of old photos to find it in the background of a picture I had taken of my adorable son wearing Daddy’s work boots! But you can get an idea of what it looked like anyway!
When I first got married we lived in a little farmhouse in the country. It was the perfect place for country/primitive decorating and we didn’t have much money in our budget for new furniture so I had to make use of what I had. It was a cute little cabinet with several shelves inside and I have used it in every room of my house for one purpose or another.
At some point, over the years, I changed up the cute country look to more of an antique/primitive décor. There was hardware cloth tacked to the wood behind the heart cut-outs to give it that country look. The hearts just weren’t working for me anymore so I glued some diamond-shaped wood plaques over the heart cut-outs. I screwed cast iron stars to the plaques to give it a whole new look. I’ve painted it a multitude of different colors, if you look at the close-up you can see some light green peeking through here and there.
It has moved to two more homes over the years and has been painted three or four more times. Most recently it serves as extra storage in my kitchen. I had painted it a dark espresso color to match my dining room table and dry brushed it with a black stain to make it look like wood grain. I have no pictures of it with that finish. I personally hated it but I did get compliments on it from guests. It’s possible they just didn’t want to hurt my feelings by telling me it was ugly!
Every room in my new house, which I refer to as Mr. Grey, is painted a shade of grey. Most of my furnishings are black or espresso colored and I’ve been trying to phase out the dark furniture. I wanted a distressed look for this cabinet and I’ve discovered chalk paint is perfect for achieving that look. What color did I choose? Well, a light shade of grey, of course!
I think the actual product color was called “putty”. I applied two coats of paint and let it dry thoroughly. I used sand paper afterwards to distress random areas and scuff the edges. I love how the many different layers of paint are revealed here and there. When I was done distressing it, I applied the wax finishing product to give it a soft sheen. This is an important step, I wouldn’t skip it. It really makes a difference to the finish. I love how my old heart/star cabinet turned out! I definitely see more chalk paint projects in my future.
Running Down My Dreams 