Herringbone Antique Cabinet With Milk Paint
I found this gorgeous cabinet at an estate sale, and there were four gems about this piece that made it extra special.
First gem, it was only $30. Yes, I'll take it. Although it looks like the finish is in good shape in this picture, there were quite a few deep scratches and gouges, and the top was in sad shape. I decided to use Old Fashioned Milk Paint to keep its charm, but also hide some of those blemishes, after filling them with wood filler. The second gem are those original glass knobs. They were on the piece when I bought it, which meant I only needed to add knobs to the top drawer. I love it when that happens!
This is the top after I started sanding it down. You can see some of the water marks, but there were a couple other dark spots on it not shown in the picture.
I mixed 5 parts Oyster White with 1 part Slate to get this blue/grayish white color. I used painter's tape to tape off the herringbone pattern.
Third hidden gem - look at the wood grain on this top. You couldn't see any of it with the finish that was on it before. After I sanded it down, I stained it with Jacobean colored Minwax stain and sealed it with Tung Oil.
The original finish on the drawer was the only area that was still in decent shape, so I thought that showing off some of that wood through the herringbone pattern would be perfect. I have some tips on how to easily create a herringbone pattern, and for achieving crisp, clean lines, but I'll save that for another post.
The cabinet needed two coats of milk paint, some light distressing, and coat of furniture wax. Usually this finishes off a piece, but with this cabinet, there was one more hidden gem.
I found a piece of newspaper from June 24, 1944 lining the drawer, and I just couldn't part with it. I used Mod Podge to adhere it to the bottom of the drawer for 60 more years to come. Head on over to the blog for more images, and a link to see 30 other fabulous furniture flips using Old Fashioned Milk Paint.
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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2 comments
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I adore this makeover! <3 Love herringbone.
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Reminds me of my old walnut dresser :) That amazing wood grain you mentioned was on the drawer fronts of mine. Love what you did, it is very pretty!
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