In typical fashion, my decision to get rid of the chartreuse walls in my craft room snowballed into a more comprehensive room make over. My original thought was to just repaint the room, maybe repaint some of the existing furniture and restyle the room a bit. But as I thought about it, I realized that painting over the black on my existing cupboard wouldn’t give me the result that I wanted. I decided that if I could find a new-to-me cupboard at a reasonable price, I could buy it and then sell the black one on craigslist … hopefully with a net outlay around $0.
And within days I found this guy.
A clean canvas for whatever color I wanted.
But boy oh boy, did I go round and round about what color I wanted!
First, I was convinced that I had to paint it in my signature aqua. Love that color! And I pinned this example for inspiration.
Yes, it would have been gorgeous in this color. I seriously considered it.
Then, I had a moment where I thought ‘white!’ Back to basics. Keep the entire room bright and filled with light. I even found a cupboard on pinterest that is very similar in style and painted white.
Also very nice. But as much as I admire this all white decor, it just isn’t me.
I like color. And I wanted this cupboard to be the focal point in my study (that’s what I’m going to call it now since I rarely actually do any crafts in here). So I decided to go with a rich shade of blue. Miss Mustard Seed painted her jelly cabinet in exactly the color I was looking for, so I decided to just copy her technique.
She started with a layer of Artissimo, so I did too.
I really wasn’t sure about this pine finish that I was painting over. I suspected it might chip like the dickens. But the first coat of Artissimo really didn’t chip at all. Hmmm. OK. I wanted a little chipping, so I was a little disappointed not to get any. I waited a full day and then moved on to add a coat of Flow Blue on top of the Artissimo. And then guess what? It started chipping. And then it chipped A LOT. I freaked out. Some cuss words may have been uttered. This is the point in many projects where I decide to sleep on it. Maybe even wait a couple of days before making any decisions. But I really thought I was going to be sanding it down and starting over with chalk paint. Not the end of the world, but I’m not a fan of starting over.
Then, on day 4, I came home and took another look at the cabinet. I pondering the extreme chipping and I realized that it was starting to grow on me. Maybe I could just go with it, maybe play it up a little. And thus, the chippy farm cabinet was born.
I love it! Every time I walk in to the room, I smile a little inside because this cupboard makes me happy. I think it’s the rooster. Whatever it is, this is the response I want to get from my decor. So if it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, that is OK, because it is definitely mine. And since I’m keeping this one, I’m the only one who has to like it. Well, it’s a bonus if Mr. Q likes it too, and he does.
A couple of things about the color. First of all, my color doesn’t really look much like Miss Mustard Seed’s jelly cupboard. I think I followed her exactly, a coat of Artissimo, followed by a coat of Flow Blue, and then finished with her antiquing wax. Why so different looking? Maybe because my piece started out a different color? Maybe because the lighting is different in my photos? In addition, in person the cupboard doesn’t seem to have such a color variation between the top and bottom. I’m not sure if that is another trick of the lighting, or if it’s just something that isn’t so noticeable in person.
I added some vintage drawer pulls to this piece from my stash. I wanted it to feel ‘old’, and these helped with that quite a bit.
What really pulled it all together for me on this cupboard was the rooster feed sack. That was just a little bit of fate at work. I knew I wanted to put something behind the glass because I want to be able to shut the doors and not see all of my stuff (unlike the old cupboard). I figured I would do a stenciled piece of linen or something, but as I dug through my fabric I came across this feed sack. The coloring couldn’t have been more perfect. And that rooster is just plain handsome, isn’t he?
I staged the cupboard with some ironstone and some blue canning jars just for these pictures.
Once I have it in place in the study, I’ll show you how it will look in ‘real life’.
But in the meantime, what do you say? Chippy farmhouse? A ‘do’ or a ‘don’t’?
q is for quandie 
I love it!
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Thanks Cheryl!
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Perfect 🙂
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Thanks Carrie!
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I love it! Any shade of blue is good in my book but I especially like this one. I can only imagine how you must have first felt with all that chipping but it turned out beautiful. Your pulls and roosters are the perfect additions too!
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Well, blue is in your name! So I should have known that you would like it 😉
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I too love Miss Mustard Seed’s jelly cupboard and wanted to do a small end table in those colors so I was thrilled to see your hutch. I love it, it looks great. I love the feed sack idea too. Great job.
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I really love that jelly cupboard. I’ve been watching Craigslist for a jelly cupboard myself for at least a year or so. When I do see them, they are generally way, way out of my price range. I did see one last summer that was affordable, but didn’t get there fast enough! It was gone within hours of it being posted. I think I may have shed a small tear or two over that one!
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Oh, FABULOUS! I do love the chippiness – it really does look authentically aged – and the rooster feed sack does bring it all together. I love it! Such a rich, beautiful color!
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It is a rich, saturated color. I think that is part of what I love about it too.
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I tried this exact same technique on a cupboard and it didn’t turn out like hers either . . . I guess that’s what makes her Miss Mustard Seed! I still like your cupboard though, and I’m all about the chippiness 🙂
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I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t always get the look I’m going for! And also glad to not be the only one who loves the super chippy look!
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I LOVE the chippiness! The few projects I’ve done with MMS paint have chipped like that and I’ve been tickled pink. Not everyone loves it, but I think it’s more authentically-aged looking. Is the old black cabinet on CL?
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I do tend to shy away from pieces that get really super chippy, but usually that is because I am selling them and I want to appeal to a broader audience. With this piece I had to keep reminding myself that I was keeping it, so I could go with a fabulous deep blue and lots of chipping! I’ll email you about the black cabinet, Kristy. Thanks!
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Each piece does tend to take on a life of it’s own. I feel it turned out just as it was supposed to and the rooster is fantastic. I have a similar piece that won’t get painted until spring but I am using your posts for ideas so I’m ready when the first warm day comes along.
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You know, I think you are right! This one did have a life of it’s own and just sort of evolved. I think I need to name the rooster, don’t you?
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Love it and it made me laugh…I am a chicken lover! Big time chippy looks so great.
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Chicken lover! Ha! I’m not normally a chicken lover, but you just gotta love this guy.
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I love the color but it is a little too chippy for me. Maybe it will grow on me more with time too. Love the rooster grain sack.
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You’ll just have to wait until you see it in person. It’s the perfect color for you, even if it is a little too chippy.
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Love the color! I think the extra ” chippiness ” adds a bit of a chic country look. What matters most is that YOU like it! Great work!
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Chic country. I like it that name. I think there was a little of my inner farm girl that came out in this piece 😉
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Love it – love the rooster what a stroke of brilliance, love that you left the inside bare, love the color as well as the degree of chipping. I agree with Kristy in that the amount of chipping you got makes it appear more “authentically aged”. Don’t you love the way a project dominoes? You paint the walls look and now they look fresh and you think I just need a in change furniture too. And on it goes… So is it an accent wall or did you do the whole room?
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Victoria, Victoria, Victoria. Surely you don’t think I’m going to give away all of my secrets in one go 😉 You’ll have to stay tuned until later in the week as I reveal yet more of my makeover. But, now that I think about, I’m not sure the wall question will be answered by then either. But I know you, and you’ll use your decorating detective skills to make a pretty good guess as to the answer!
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Yeah I knew you weren’t going to tell me yet…but I wanted to add you styled perfectly the ironstone and ball jars and you have the real old ones don’t you?
And the hanger just cute cute cute…now don’t get a big head girlie!
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Yep, those jars are the real McCoy. LOL, you know, my mom used to say that to me all the time as a child. I was terrified of getting a ‘big head’, and ironically I do have a big head. I have a hard time finding hats that are big enough 😉
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Love the color you ended up with. I have a similar cupboard that belonged to my grandfather. Forty years ago I painted it gold, 20 years ago I stripped it down and restained it. I am debating as to weather I want to paint it again!. Have to think on it!
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That can be such a tough call. Especially when you were the one to strip it last time, so you know how much work that was. Then again, you know that stripping and staining is always an option again, and if you’ll love it more painted now, I say go for it!
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That is really fabulous! I, too, think the rooster grain sack just makes it. Stunning work as usual 🙂 Can’t wait to see how the room comes together!
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Thanks Meggan! You’ll get a sneak peek of the whole room tomorrow!
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LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE the blue !!!!!!!!! LOVE the chippiness!!!!!! (is that a word, chipiness), and THAT ROOSTER = LOVE too, he is the “icing on the cake”…omg, you did an awesome job !!!!!!!!!!!
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Thanks Linda! And if chippiness isn’t a word, it should be 😉
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I love it, how did you attach the rooster fabric?
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It’s just tacked into place on the inside with thumbtacks. So, down the road someone could easily remove it if they prefer.
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I’m a little confused about chipping, does it happen with two different kinds of paint? Does the wax finish stop it or is it like a sad, old Christmas tree that you have to constantly vacuum needles up from?
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I’m not quite sure what you mean by your first question, can you elaborate? As for your 2nd question, I will say that in my experience, yes, if you use wax as your topcoat on a chippy piece it will continue to chip over time and I’m quite often vacuuming up flakes of paint from under mine. If you use a clear sealer like the Miss Mustard Seed Tough Coat, or Dixie Belle’s Clear Coat, that is more likely to prevent further chipping.
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I guess I don’t understand your paint on that piece would chip that much.
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Authentic milk paint will chip when it meets resistance from a pre-existing finish. By ‘authentic milk paint’ I mean the kind that comes as a powder and you mix it with water to create paint. There are other paints on the market that are called ‘milk paint’ but are actually acrylic paints (like General Finishes or the newer Rust-Oleum milk paint). Brands of milk paint powder include Miss Mustard Seed, Fusion, Homestead House, The Real Milk Paint and Sweet Pickins. It’s often hard to predict when your milk paint will chip and when it won’t. You can also add bonding agents to milk paint to try and prevent any chipping.
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Thank you. I love your informative how-toos! I’m buying a rusty toolbox this afternoon and dulling it up for my daughter’s birthday in March.
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