How To Make A Vintage Jewelery Cabinet-Before and After Photos

In case you don't remember what this old cabinet looked like, here is the before picture.

I reglued just about everything on it. 

It was pretty much a disaster.

But, once it was glued and the veneer was stabilized, it was all downhill from there.

I wanted it to have some "bling", and be really "over the top", so I started with a base coat of silver. I applied it with a spray can.  I did this to the entire exterior of the cabinet.

I then painted the cabinet white with a brush-on flat interior latex paint.  I used a very dry brush, letting the silver show through quite a bit.

The interior was lined with cedar, so I just sanded it clean.  I also added a shelf, which I painted to match the exterior.  I painted the hardware silver, then rubbed it with a papertowel while the paint was still wet.  This gave the hardware a sort of dull pewter look.

When the coat of white was dry I added some white glaze to bring out a little aged looking gray coloring.  The glaze softened the silver.

I then used some brush on siver gilding paint to add a little "pop" to the molded edges of the doors and trim.  I used a fairly dry artist's brush to do this.  I wanted to give it the effect of very worn silver gilding on the edges of the cabinet to "frame" everything in.  Above is the finished result with doors closed.

Here is the finished product with the doors open as Lee Ann and I displayed it at the Charlotte ICA show.  We did not have time to line it with satin like we wanted to, but I think displaying it with mink and fox pillows (made from repurposed vintage fur coats) tended to soften the hard surfaces and give this old armoir a rather luxurious and indulgent look.  What do you think?

Rory