Sugar Plum Sundae

Mint Julep

This week's feature is a gorgeous old gal that I bought at an estate sale as part of a set.

~ A Sweet Little Treat for the Home ~

Mint Julep

Hello My Sweets!

This piece was being sold at an estate sale with another piece that I have already posted about, Penny Candy ~ https://sugarplumpreserves.com/2021/01/24/penny-candy/, and a table and chairs that I have not worked on yet. The woman that I bought Mint Julep from was probably in her 70’s and said that "her daddy" got these pieces long ago from an estate in Virginia. So, by my estimate, it is quite old and also quite cool to have a story attached to it! I loved the federal style and it still had its’ original glass, which is unusual because of how thin and fragile it is. I was smitten at first sight and excited to give it a new chance at life!

I had already taken the glass door off for safekeeping.

The glass was held in place by molding and small nails. I gently pried out the small nails and removed the glass so I could easily paint the fretwork and door frame.

I began this job like all others – with a good cleaning! As you can imagine, given its age, it was quite dirty and took several scrub downs with Krud Kutter Cleaner/Degreaser https://amzn.to/36549fO. Remarkably, there weren’t too many repairs that I needed to address. The only thing that needed some attention was the drawer. It needed to be squared, tightened up with glue https://amzn.to/2LLxIHP, and sanded to allow for easy sliding without catching. Also, one of the metal drawer stops was missing. I removed the remaining one because it scraped on the bottom of the drawer and replaced it with two small pieces of wood on either side. They were high enough to stop the drawer from pushing back into the piece, but low enough not to scrape the bottom of the drawer.

With the dark stain of this wood, priming is an absolute must! I used my tried and true primer ~ BIN Shellac based primer https://amzn.to/3g8fuyb, applied with a cheap disposable chip brush https://amzn.to/2WNntJf. I removed the shelves and primed them separately so that I could reach the back panel.

As you can see in the photo above, even with my tried and true, there was still some bleed through, as indicated by the pink hue. I lightly sanded with 220 grit sand paper to knock down the texture and applied another coat. There was still some bleed through in a few spots. I have to say, priming is not my favorite thing to do and I wasn’t looking forward to priming and sanding the whole piece again. So instead, I had an idea! I only went back over the areas that were bleeding with a clear spray shellac https://amzn.to/3iF7lTC. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! Phew!

We are now ready for paint! For a fresh pop on the inside, I decided to paint the inside and the shelves a crisp white. I made a chalk paint out of calcium carbonate https://amzn.to/3ia8lyt and Bit of Sugar by Behr by dissolving the chalk into a little water and adding it to the paint (2 parts paint to one part calcium carbonate). I chose to paint the body of the piece with a sprayer to get a smooth matte finish and to make painting the fretwork easier. I love the paint color Vale Mist by Sherwin Williams and turned it into a chalk paint as well. The sprayer that I used was a Wagner sprayer https://amzn.to/399ETG9 and it came out beautifully!

To accentuate all of the gorgeous curves and fluting, I went over them with a white chalk paint pen https://amzn.to/2Id5Huw. I already had some delicious white porcelain tear drop pulls for the drawer and cabinet door, and I knew the white accents would tie them in. For additional interest, I decided to do a few stripes inside the cabinet in the same color as the body. I did this with strips of Frog Tape https://amzn.to/363jJrh. I love the way this gives a little peek of color through the glass and is a lovely surprise when the door is open.

I found this beautiful floral fabric that matched the green color and style of the piece perfectly. It had a lovely muted tea stained look that I just love (it looks more vibrant in the photos for some reason). I used my rotary cutter and mat https://amzn.to/2XfFmj2 to cut the fabric to size. I then used my trick to keep the fabric removable in case a change is desired. Pro tip – I adhere it to foam core board with spray adhesive https://amzn.to/2TrcDa1, cut to size and place it in the drawer.

Lastly, I applied two coats of sealer https://amzn.to/3e7gtNt with the sprayer https://amzn.to/399ETG9. I love the way this old girl turned out! It sold quickly to a woman who loved it and said it reminded her of the one her mother used to have. 💞 It is the perfect size for use as a china cabinet or a spa cabinet. I hope you love it too!

Thank you so much for joining me for Sugar Plum Sundae! Please check back every Sunday for more yummy recipes to transform reclaimed “junk” into sweet little treats for the home! 🤗

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XOXO

Michele

Materials List (may not be all inclusive):

Krud Kutter https://amzn.to/36549fO

Wood Glue https://amzn.to/2LLxIHP

BIN Shellac based primer https://amzn.to/3g8fuyb

Disposable chip brush https://amzn.to/2WNntJf