Painted Cedar Chest - From a Grandma to Her Teenage Granddaughter
by Pat Rios
10 Materials
$120
14 Hours
Medium
This cedar chest was a custom order I receive from a grandma who wanted to gift her soon-to-be teenage granddaughter. She wanted something unique and useful, that her granddaughter would be able to enjoy for many years to come.
I found this chest on Craigslist for a $70. It was in pretty bad shape. Missing veneer, scratches everywhere, even a broken foot.
It took me several hours to repair and prep this piece before I could start painting it.
After I cleaned and primed the chest with clear shellac, I applied a base coat of Fusion Mineral Paint Lamp White. Once that coat was dry, I started painting in a technique I called "texturized blending". I used FMP Lamp White and Ash for this project. I pour two blobs of those two colors side by side in a paper plate and started the blending.
I sprayed some water on my chip brush then grabbed a bit of both colors on my brush.
Then I started dabbing both colors on the surface, starting from the middle and moving towards the edges. In my video tutorial you can see exactly how I applied the paint to achieve the texture I was going for.
I kept going... Water, paint, dabbing, water, paint, dabbing... I decided to leave the bottom and the edges a little darker that the middle areas.
I brushed some silver paint on the beautiful appliqué on the front. I also painted the legs with a mix of the dark gray (FMP "Ash") and a metallic black (Modern Masters Black Pearl). Finally, I sealed the entire piece with General Finishes Water Based Top Coat, satin.
Here is the final result. I have a more detailed tutorial on my blog post, so check it out if you want to try this technique.
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Here is the five-minute video tutorial showing how I did it.
I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to ask me any questions.
Thanks for reading!
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Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Comments
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2 of 126 comments
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Just lovely honey. Your grandmother must be proud.
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Beautiful job on this chest. Definitely a piece your granddaughter will cherish for years to come.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
What did you do about the missing veneer? I have my mother's old cedarchest (c. 1948) but it has veneer that is missing and/or buckled. My daughter (25) says she wants it, but I don't know that she'd ever really use it. I don't want it to get thrown out when I'm gone!
How did you fix the broken foot?
Did you sand the piece before you sprayed shellac?