The fine folks at Minimum World Dolls House Furniture Ltd contacted me about doing a feature on their unfinished furnishings and sent me a bare wood blanket chest free to try.
The wood was in great condition and needed minimal sanding to prep. I did use my Tweezerman tweezers to remove the hinge pins to make finishing easier, though this might not be possible for everyone to do.
I painted the chest a base color of Heritage Brick mixed with Staining Medium, both by Americana.
It’s a rusty red that will fit with just about any décor. I lightly sanded the chest with a scrap of paper bag material to smooth the surface raised by the paint application.
As with many pieces of unfinished furniture, there can be glue spots on the wood that don’t take stain well. Painting is no issue in covering these, and I’ve detailed methods for covering these spots in a past post. For me, it didn’t much matter since I wanted to try a different type of finishing. I scanned the front and sides of the chest and then printed templates from those scans.
I found wonderful art on The Graphics Fairy to add to the chest. I have hand painted designs previously, but I wanted to give this technique a try. I always print a few copies of the final images and then cut the panels to fit until I am happy with the end result.
I didn’t worry too much about being precise because the final finishing will cover minor mistakes and the shadow of the overhang will help disguise as well. I skipped the side panels, keeping the focus on the front. The panels are glued in place using MiniGraphics Wallpaper Mucilage and covered in a thin layer of Delta Ceramcoat Satin Varnish.
I also cut pieces of parchment paper for the interior and glued them in place with the same mucilage and varnish layer. I used a tiny bit of Antiquing Medium to age the crevices and give some depth to the piece. By varnishing the paper first, I could wipe away excess without marring the paper or over-staining it.
After a final coat of Delta Ceramcoat Satin Varnish inside and out, I was ready to reattach the lid. Blocks from Andrea Thieck.
Now I have a delightful country blanket chest for books and other treasures. The books are from L. Delaney, and the tin man doll is from Sir Thomas Thumb.
I am very pleased with the end result and would definitely recommend giving their unfinished furniture a try. Thank you, Minimum World! :]
As for the Putitto tabby cat, I blame Keli (and a complete lack of will power). :D
