Starting out in pretty poor shape, found in a sad little auction room, this awesome set of drawers has truly been wrestled back to fabulousness!
Ready for a lot of preparation, I donned my dungarees, got the music blaring & set to work...
Cleaned & scrubbed - sanded - sanded some more! Loads of veneer chips needed filling along the edges to make the drawer fronts all beautifully flat and even again. Car body filler is my secret weapon for this! I nearly always prime to help protect against dastardly bleed through and create a smooth surface for the paint. Three coats later (and more sanding) it was finally white.
My clients had met me at a local fair and seen 'klein blue' in the flesh on another piece. I think it's safe to say that they were hooked! There was no discussion about any other colour until I suggested a dipped effect (one of my favourite techniques). They had ordered a stunning print for the room and we took inspiration from that. And so came about the deep lush orange.
I hand painted the bottom section first, using a custom mix of 'persimmon' and some bright red in around a 50/50 mix. I was already in love before the lid was even off the tin of blue! Three or four coats later I was happy with the coverage and after letting dry for a day, set to work measuring and taping off a line to match the top of the huuuuge bottom drawer. Frog Tape is always my go to for this. A tip I picked up from an American colleague was to go along the tape edge with some varnish to activate the paint block. Whilst I'm sure Frog Tape would work every time without, this method has never failed me. So, my High Performance top coat came out briefly, sealed the tape and then it was off with the 'klein blue'.
A few coats later it was complete. I held my breath as I peeled off the tape but of course, it was perfect. Phew!
I tell everyone in this trade that High Performance Top Coat is the only one I will ever use. It is so easy to apply and levels like a dream. 4/5 coats later and I was done. I lined the inside of the drawers with some orange wallpaper & cleaned them up with Danish oil. In keeping with the size of the original wooden knobs, I replaced them with gorgeous bright copper oval pulls. Then I stood back with a cup of tea in my hand, smiled & thought 'wow'. All the effort & hard work had paid off.
My clients and I had a wonderful time jumping around with glee & joy in their newly converted loft. This beauty is simply glorious, a difficult one to let go, but seeing their faces made it easy. Job done.
