Spooky Beginnings
The china cabinet I have been working on for what seems like months is finally finished. The reason it took so long is that I had to paint it on site, which required finding accommodating times for both my client and me. If I can work on a piece at home, I can work on it anytime. Painting a cabinet requires many steps: washing away oils and grease, priming, two coats of paint and finally playing the antique glaze. I took all the hardware off and painted it a warm brown to blend with the counter top.
That Awkward In Between Stage
My client is so pleased and happy I suggested painting it to give it a lighter, brighter feeling. The cabinet shares space with the kitchen and the TV room. While the kitchen has white cabinets, the TV room has lots of darker furniture, fortunately blue is a reoccurring color in this clients home.
Painting the cabinet has given it a visual lift and shows off the pretty items my client has to display. I left the top surface of the bottom cabinet (the counter) its natural wood color as I did the crown molding. I felt that the wood would wear best, since my client would use the counter area for serving; and a painted surface is not always the most durable surface. The rest of the cabinet would show best with the white paint and an antique glaze. There are carved details that now show up subtly without being too bright. The combination of the original natural wood color marries nicely the darker wood tones in the TV room and the white kitchen cabinets do not feel quite as foreign now with the antique glazed cabinet.
For a cohesive look,I painted the interior of the upper cabinet the same blue that we have used in other areas of the home. The rug in the family/TV room has the same blue in it as does several upholstered pieces.
While the style of the cabinet is in the same French Country style as much of the home, the TV room has a more comfortable lounge sofa and reclining chair. The china cabinet is a nice fusion of the two, in style and color. There is no jarring feeling when you look from one room to another. Before, the dark cabinet seemed too heavy for the space and oddly out of place; now there is a nice blend of old and new.
Ready For Its Close-up
With the kitchen cabinets so white, my client worried that the “off white” of the paint-glaze combination would look out of place. Once it was finished, she was pleased with the blend of the two. Clearly the china cabinet is a more old fashioned style piece than the more modern shaker style kitchen cabinets, but together they work well. A shaker style cabinet lends itself nicely to many different styles, hence its popularity today.