Wow! What a week! This weekend I got my Martha Stewart Paints by Plaid (available exclusively at Michael’s, by the way) and I got to business testing them out.
By now, I hope you’ve read my overview of the Martha Stewart Paints as well as the review of tools and accessories that I received. Now it’s time for the fun part- making something!
I can’t tell you how I agonized over which to make- some fun witch shoes for Halloween or to upcycle a wooden chest. So how about today I share the chest, and we’ll do the shoes in a week or so, OK?
So I started off with this worse-for-the-wear wooden chest. (Maybe from Ikea? It was a hand-me-down from a friend.)
Next was to give the outside of the cabinet a nice base coat of paint, and for this I decided to use the Spray Paint kit. I used Satin paint for this. (PS-I’ll be doing a whole review on the spray paint kit soon.) I mixed up the paint with the satin medium, and started to spray away.
The cabinet was unprimed, so the paint sunk in quite a bit and two took coats.
Then I pulled out my Satin and High Gloss Paints, stencil brushes, foam pouncers, and stencils and set about decorating. I used some fern and butterfly stencils on the side.
To paint the front, I decided to tape all of the drawers together and treat it like one big surface. (A little painter’s tape helped with that.)
Then I got to stenciling the top. Some branches & a bird…
And then I popped on a Fine Line Top and added 3-d accents using the High Gloss paints.
Then I got on a roll- so I used the Liquid Gilding in Bronze to edge the sides of the cabinet and the exposed edges of the drawers.
After a few hours drying time, I put the drawers back in-it was like putting together a puzzle- and voila! It was done!
There it is! I hope you are inspired to upcycle something around YOUR house.
Disclosure:http://www.cmp.ly/3/Ha7r2a
August 24, 2011 at 8:33 am
Jenny-This project turned out great! Genius to tape the drawers together to treat them as one surface!
I love Martha’s writing tips!
gail
August 24, 2011 at 8:59 am
Beautifully done! LOVE your choice to do the dimensional berries!
August 24, 2011 at 9:18 am
Thanks, Gail! I knew I wanted the front to “read” as one piece, it took me a minute to realize that taping it was the solution!
August 24, 2011 at 9:19 am
Thanks, Jen. I really love those tips & they worked beautifully!
August 24, 2011 at 10:33 am
Hi Jenny-
It came out great – I especially like Martha’s tools. The berries really make the drawers come to life.
My best- Diane
August 24, 2011 at 10:36 am
i love the cabinet and came out really cute and it looked like fun to boot. i really liking that high gloss paint you used on the 3D so kewl thanks for sharing it
August 24, 2011 at 10:55 am
I love it! There are so many layers of detail that make it come together – the base coat, the stenciling, the dots, and the gilding! Now it looks like a showpiece rather than a hand-me-down!
August 24, 2011 at 11:30 am
It turned out so nicely! You did a great job. I’m planning on working on mine today.
Isn’t the MS line just amazing??! Visiting from Crafterminds.
August 24, 2011 at 11:36 am
Excellent! I have three of these IKEA drawer sets that are still sitting in their plain boring brown clothes. What great inspiration this was.
Michael
August 24, 2011 at 11:44 am
This goes on my “want” list, and when I’m working again, I can’t wait to try it out! Saw her demo the spray paint on HSN, just amazing. Your project turned out absolutely lovely!
August 24, 2011 at 11:53 am
Wow – great job. Those drawers were really blah and they are gorgeous. Can’t wait to try her paint.
August 24, 2011 at 12:32 pm
What a transformation! Such pretty colors and the stencils are lovely. And those paint tips look like so much fun to use.
My husband has a similar box that I am now eyeing (insert crafty laugh here).
August 24, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Love, love this! It is so pretty. I love the colors and the concept. Great transformation!
August 24, 2011 at 3:13 pm
it’s gorgeous!!
August 24, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Jenny, this looks great! Love the way you overlapped the branches with the drawers. Fun!
August 24, 2011 at 10:37 pm
I got that bird stencil too! Love what you did with it. The 3D effect really adds! Thanks for a great idea.
August 27, 2011 at 2:26 pm
That’s really cool! I was happy that puff paint was left back in the early 90s… but you made it modern again. Cool beans!
August 28, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Love that, it turned out so pretty! I just finished posting my his and hers tray tables using the pearl and satin paints. There’s such a great selection of stencils!
August 28, 2011 at 5:51 pm
Thanks so much, Amanda! I can’t wait to take a look at it…..!
August 31, 2011 at 12:01 am
Hey
nice work! I saw something similar to this last year, different technique, but it reminded me of it.
same chest, birds as well, but a different look.
http://melikestuff.blogspot.com/2010/05/boxy-but-good-part-iii-cruise-control.html
cheers
August 31, 2011 at 9:06 am
There is a whole section on Ikea Hack devoted to these cabinets & upcycling them- I just submitted mine, so I hope it’ll be added to the gallery!
I really like the idea of using the wall paper to trace- but SHEESH, the work. Using my Martha Stewart Stencils was waaaaaaay easier.
August 31, 2011 at 11:05 am
Yeah apparently they get snarky in the comments section of that Ikea Hack site when you only paint something as opposed to ‘hacking’ it. they’re harsh. I read the comments a few years back
August 31, 2011 at 11:54 am
Funny- I was just there and there quite a few painted items, and no nasty comments. Maybe the moderator has changed.
September 1, 2011 at 8:59 pm
wow–what a difference!!
September 16, 2011 at 8:26 am
This is so beautiful! I´m really into birds of any kind. Few years ago, I painted my MOPPE (it was supposed to be the storage for some photos) with some pastell yellow flowers. But decorating it with those 3d-glue is such a great idea!
Thinking about re-activating this MOPPE out of my cellar… and start re-decorating!
Thanks for this inspiration!
September 16, 2011 at 12:06 pm
This is beautiful! I love how the whole project turned out.
Can I ask where you got the stencils for the branches? I’ve been looking for something similar and haven’t had success.
September 16, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Those are Martha Stewart stencils from the line by Plaid… You can find them at Michael’s.
September 18, 2011 at 3:42 pm
That is beautiful! And those drawers are the perfect size for my nail polish collection, but I can’t find either the Moppe or the Fira on the US Ikea site, only UK
September 19, 2011 at 8:06 am
I can’t wait to try these paints! Your chest turned out just darling!