After moving out from the huge villa into this tiny little cottage, we had to get rid of some furniture, especially the bigger pieces because, quite frankly, there was no space to put them in. But then I wouldn't be an old furniture junkie that I am if I didn't get this sad, eaten through and falling apart piece of trash.
That's usually how it goes - the worse condition they are in, the more I want them... It may have sth to do with confidence. I mean, if it's already garbage, I can't really spoil it - much less pressure on the renovation process.
I always admire people who attempt those "Ikea hacks" etc. on brand new stuff. Sure, it doesn't cost much, but if you completely ruin it, it's just wasteful. But with my odds and ends, I feel free to try all sorts of stuff and in the worst case scenario - no harm done.
We got this chest of drawers on a yard sale (Goa being very much season-driven has a lot of those pre-monsoon) and it turned out to be a termite nest. It's quite common actually, termites are quite a local plague! So, obviously, the first order of business was to move this party to the "better place". I had a similar problem with the trunk I did quite a while ago, so I used the same poison and let it do its magic.
It was pretty straight forward from there. I had to refill the bigger and most noticeable termite holes as well as remove weird resin piece someone used to repair the surface.
I decided on apothecary theme - I don't really know what was it originally used for, but I like to imagine bunches of dried herbs, powdered roots and brown glass bottles and vials full of potions, elixirs and cordials. Plus I knew we will store our cosmetics and perfumes in there since my vanity was turned into a changing table...
While my wood refill was drying, I taped and painted all the drawers white.
I have to mention that I had very limited resources for this renovation. First of all, nearly all my crafty supplies are still in boxes and second - the shopping was done by my husband, so instead of sending him on a hell run through stationary and art shops, I just settled on good old hardware store - can of oil paint, turpentine and wood varnish.
I got some botanical prints for my first furniture decoupage attempt (that's where the junk aspect of the furniture came in handy - I would never try it on a new piece). I imagine it works better if you use tissue paper and not a simple printout, but, on the plus side, I got the laser print so the color didn't bleed.
After sticking my herbs and flowers on, it became painfully obvious that the paper is whiter than the paint. I burrowed through some boxes, got to a few tubes of paints and played with the drawers a bit to make them less print looking. A dub on the leaf here and on the flower there, plus, I tried to hide the edge of the paper as well as the color difference. If you look closely, you can still see it - after all, the paper has its thickness, but otherwise it looks quite uniform.
The next step was the top of the chest. I used a stencil I found on Pinterest. Well... actually I just used it as a visual and sketched the whole thing.
Then - and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with common sense - I realized I don't have any oils paints and proceeded to paint the "apothicaire" sign with black acrylic paint on the surface painted with glossy oil paint. Don't get me wrong, it can be done, but it will cost you... few white hair and two years of your life most likely.
After this nightmare was over, I covered the whole thing with transparent art varnish (the one you use for oil paintings, not furniture). I finished the drawers the same way because, as it turns out, only "transparent" wood varnish you can get around here is actually amber color.
I ended up using a very thin coat of it on the top surface, but, for some reason, applying art varnish under it makes it less noticeable.
When everything was nice and dry, I screw on the knobs I bought about hundred years ago because, well... they were so pretty that I simply had to have them. I just knew they will come in handy and boy, was I right!
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