"Claudia Claire"

By Rebekah Wilson, Revive, Mobile, AL, Artisan at Revive in Creola, AL.

Claudia Claire was poorly tended. I had to completely take her apart to work on her. There was something about her that I felt a conection too from the very beginning. She said, ",If anyone can save me, you can" I took on the challenge. I stipped her previous finish. She had extensive veneer issues, she was missing moulding around the inside of around the too.  I whittled replacement moulding by hand, and for the veneer i was unable to save, so I replaced it. Her drawers sunk too far in. I installed block stops. She had one knob & one pull. I searched the nation over and after about 6 months I found an identical knob and pull. After sanding her down quite a bit by hand, I replaced the veneer and stained this in Java along with her legs and other parts that I wanted to stand out. I also used some General Finishes Bronze Pear Effects to add a little depth and magic to the stained parts. I started striping the cabinet sides with GF dark chocolate, MM silver, some MM Gold and some GF PE Bronze.  I wash coated some annie sloan old white and once dry I wiped sanded off once dry to reveal tinges of the underlying colors. I had to repeat this process. I used GF dark chocolate in all the groves. I painted the hardware silver and used the GF Pearl Effect to oxide the look. I put her pack together. She sealed with both GF HP satin, GF Matte & since I ran out  I also used some Crystalac waterbase satin. I am including before & afters

Project Category

Upcycling Merit CategoriesWhiter Shade of Pale

Color Recipe

  • Replaced veneer
  • Whittled Molding replaced
  • Install block stops for the drawers She had one knob & one pull. I sesrdhed thw nation over and after about 6 months I found an identical knob and pull.
  • Stained tops, legs, and other parts that I wanted to stand out with GF Java . I also used some General Finishes Bronze Pear Effects to add a little depth and magic to the stained parts. I started striping the cabinet sides with GF dark chocolate, MM silver, some MM Gold and some GF PE Bronze. I wash coated some Annie sloan old white and once dry I wiped sanded off to bring out tinges of the underlayered colors. I had to repeat this process. I used GF dark chocolate in all the groves. I painted the hardware silver and used the GF Pearl Effect to oxide the look. I put her pack together. She sealed with both GF HP satin, GF Matte & since I ran out I also used some Crystalac waterbase satin. I am including before & afters.

Products Used

  • GF Java Gel Stain
  • GF Pearl Bronze Effects
  • Gf Dark Chocolate
  • Modern Masters Silver
  • Modern Masters Gold
  • Annie Sloan Old White

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