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Paint and Decoupage Chest ReDo

I have found that in paying attention to the details when redoing a piece of furniture can make all the difference in the finished results. This paint and decoupage chest redo was just that kind of project…

There is a complete list of shopping links for the products used in this chest redo at the end of this post. All of these products are available at my Redo Your Furniture (aka Frame and Frills) Shop online and in person.

This is the pic from the online listing for this mahogany blanket chest. It was pretty beat up, inside and out, yet the overall shape and size of the chest offered possibilities.

After I got the blanket chest, I started by washing it, and made sure no wax was on it BEFORE I sanded it. Sanding a piece with wax on it can actually grind the wax into the grain of the wood, causing resist issues for the paint. (If there is wax on a piece, to remove it, I use our Odorless Solvent and a kitchen scrubby… when the solvent loosens the wax, I wipe it away with paper towels until clean. Then re-wash the piece with TSP Alternative to remove the solvent residue, and it’s ready for sanding.)

I’m not posting pics of all the prep but here are the steps I did to prep this piece:

  • Washed with Fusion TSP Alternative.
  • Sanded old finish off top.
  • Scuff Sanded rest of piece.
  • Filled old hardware holes and sanded smooth.
  • Primed entire piece, inside and outside with Bin shellac based primer, 2 coats to seal mahogany tannins.

I didn’t want to keep the same Early American style so the hardware would need to be replaced.

Two-three coats of the Bin shellac based primer properly seals the mahogany tannins from bleeding through the finished paint. It also give my light paint color a nice white base to go over.

For this piece, all of it except that top was painted with Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Lamp White’. I love this white color… it’s actually white in the bright daylight and a very soft light grey in the evening light.

Some bright whites take 3 coats for full coverage, Lamp White usually covers in 2 coats, especially going over a white base.

Now for the details to make this piece pop!

I had a plan to decoupage the inside panels with one of our pretty ReDesign with Prima papers. So to emphasize the frames of each panel, I started with a base of Chocolate FMP.

I wasn’t too worried about perfectly trimming the edges, as the Lamp White part will be easy enough to touch up at the end.

The dried Chocolate base got a quick glaze coat over it using a simple wash of 50/50 water and Hazelwood FMP.

My goal wasn’t to make it perfect, in fact quite the opposite. I wanted plenty of the Chocolate to show through… more like wood grain.

The final little touch made a world of difference to this faux treatment…

Just a touch of Fusion ‘Vintage Gold’ metallics. This was applied in a small area at a time, just here and there.

And immediately wiped back with clean, dry paper towel to blend it into the other 2 previous colors.

The end result is a wonderful old aged picture frame look.

Using my favorite brush, the One Series brush with super fine bristles which lays the paint out beautifully, (linked at end of post) easily cleaned up the parts with Lamp White where the paint got messed up.

Decoupage Detail

I love, love, love our Fusion Decoupage Gel! It is so smooth to apply and dries clear and non-tacky. After I cut and dry-fit the pieces of ReDesign with Prima Decoupage paper, I liberally applied the decoupage gel, working on one panel area at a time.

After the decoupage paper was placed in it and all the bubbles smoothed out, I brushed on another layer of the decoupage gel to the face of the paper.

This ReDesign ‘paper’ is more like fabric than paper. It is super strong and has a woven texture.

Like many vintage chests of this type, the 2 top ‘drawers’ are fake, and the lid lifts to reveal a deep storage accessible from the top. There are special hinges on the lid to accommodate a lightweight tray that stays horizontal as the lid raises and lowers.

This one was lined with a velvet type material that was quite stained but was glued down so solid, I couldn’t get it to budge. So I painted it! Yup, you can use Fusion Mineral Paint on Fabric. I put it on pretty thick and the ‘velvet’ feel is no more… in fact it was sort of like white sandpaper when it dried! I sanded it with a high grit sandpaper to knock down the pointy bumps.

To snazz up the tray, using the literal scraps left over from the decoupage paper used on the front of the chest, I cut around each flower in a simple shape. Then same process… Laid on a liberal amount of decoupage gel, laid the piece on the gel and brushed another coat of gel over the top of the paper.

Our Fusion gel is a sealer as well, so no top coat is necessary.

Now, to finish the top of the chest!

Even this vintage piece of furniture has a layer of veneer wood on the top. As I was sanding I accidentally sanded a little too much and it went through the veneer into the substrate. To avoid this from happening to you, you sometimes you can use a chemical stripper instead of sanding the old finish off. However, in my case, the top was in pretty rough shape, so not sanding it would have been pretty much impossible.

I wasn’t sure if the sanded part would be covered up with the dark Cappuccino stain, I applied it first to see what I would be left with.

Our Fusion Stain and Finishing Oil, (SFO for short) is a highly pigmented solvent based penetrating oil finish. It’s a very tough finish when applied in multiple coats. Actually tough enough for a flooring finish.

To apply SFO, it is a brush on, (or wipe on) and wipe the excess back off. It not meant to have any puddling or thickness left behind. How long you allow it to sit on the piece before wiping the excess off, will allow more pigment to saturate the wood… to a point…

This raw mahogany really sucked in the pigment and I pretty much wiped it back off immediately.

But…

The substrate didn’t take the SFO pigment quite as well. On to plan ‘B’…

I brushed on a bit of Chocolate paint on that part and before it totally dried, wiped the excess off to darken just that part where the substrate showed. (this picture above shows it just before I wiped it back)

Sheen

Finally, the single coat of SFO was as dark as I wanted the wood, but was still very matte, (I wanted more of a soft satin finish on the wood). Adding another coat of the Cappuccino SFO would darken the wood more than I wanted, so I had two other options to increase the sheen, but not the color.

  • ONE: I could switch to ‘Natural’ SFO for subsequent layers. It is not pigmented and that would be a great option for a floor, or table top that would be getting frequent use.
  • TWO: I could add a layer of wax and buff it.

What’s NOT an option, is putting a water based finish, like our Tough Coat, over the SFO… water and oil don’t mix!

I opted for the second option.

Using one of the waxing brushes, I brushed on a liberal amount of our Fusion Beeswax Hemp Oil finish, (which BTW is food safe, so a great option on cutting boards). After letting it sit for a bit, (like 10 minutes) using a clean soft cloth, I buffed the wax into the wood, removing any excess.

The end result is a beautiful satin finish,

Look,

the edge where the substrate was showing is nicely camouflaged too.

Inside the chest is beautiful with a nice clean finish ready for blankets and bedding.

This piece is spoken for…

my bedroom called for it… and it answered. I kind of love the casual cottage style of this chest redo!

Oh and the finishing touch was the crystal hardware to complete this paint and decoupage chest redo.

If you’d like to create something lovely with these same products, here are the links for each from my shop:

  • TPS Alternative
  • BIN Shellac Based Primer
  • Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Lamp White’
  • Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Chocolate’
  • Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Hazelwood’
  • Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Vintage Gold’
  • Fusion Decoupage Gel
  • ReDesign Decoupage Paper ‘Forest Garden’
  • Fusion SFO Cappuccino
  • Fusion Beeswax and Hemp Finish
  • Waxing Brush
  • One Series Brush

Have questions? Please contact me, I’d love to help you be successful with your project!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to follow and share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard, Bloglovin, YouTube and Instagram! I appreciate you reading along.

You can also find me at my shop, Frame and Frills, stocked with amazing DIY products like Fusion Mineral Paint, Stencils, Mint by Michelle decoupage papers, ReDesign with Prima Rub-on Transfers and several pieces of re-done furniture in the shop. You can shop in person or online.

Here are more posts:

Framed Bird Table DIY
My Favorite Brushes and Tips
How To Fusion Mineral Paint SFO
window-with-reverse-paint-and-decoupage
how-to-paint-faux-driftwood
Nightstand-ReDo
Spring-decoupage-Project
Industrial-Grunge-Textured-Trunk-Redo
Wet-Sanding
Fusion-Gel-Stain-Topcoat
Gold-Harlequin-Table-Redo
Stenciled-Brick-Floor
Painting Concrete with Fusion Mineral Paint
Glazed Antique Finish
Secretary-Desk-Redo
3-tips-applying-transfers
Embossing Paste Stencil
Stencil Tips
Christmas Table Re-do
Transfers on Vinyl
Buffet Re-Do Transfers Fusion Mineral Paint and Gel Stain
Vintage Halloween Napkin Decoupage Plate
French Patisserie Cafe Set Re-Do
Test Patch before Painting
How To: Rub-On Transfers
Nightstand Gets New Look
Petite Bookcase Makeover
How to Paint a Test Patch
Milk Paint Cupboard Frame and Frills SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Iron-Chair-Re-Do
diy-faux-aged-metallic-finish-1
why-I-am-so-excited-about-Fusion-Mineral-Paint
DIY Cutting Plexiglass
Announcing my New Interior Decorating Business, Frame and Frills
Wallpaper Mural for Frame and Frills studio
Business Expansions are Coming Frame and Frills

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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I’m Liz, the author, and I’m so glad you’re here!

My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Redo Your Furniture!
The shop is stocked with amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!
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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I'm Liz, the author, and I'm so glad you're here! My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Redo Your Furniture!
The shop is stocked with amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!


Disclosure Policy: According to FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that some of the content of this blog may be a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

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Sharing is great! Please feel free to share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook and Pinterest and Flipboard and Houzz and YouTube the more the merrier! I appreciate you stopping by. But please remember that all photos, images, text and content are owned by SimpleDecoratingTips.com. So anything you share, please be sure it always links back to my original post it came from. Please do not remove watermarks, crop or edit anything without written permission from me first.

Disclosure Policy: According to the FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials and shopping links. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

Disclosure Policy According to Federal Trade Commission guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. My truthful opinion will be what I state, no matter if I'm getting paid or not. Accuracy and truth are the priority for me on this blog's information, no matter if it's about a product or anything else. Not every product or service or store etc. may be mentioned in each and every post as an affiliate. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post.

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