I’ve been using a lot of blue lately, both in my own home and in pieces I paint to sell. I love blue, and blue is hot right now. But there is still a warm place in my heart for green.
When Mr. Q brought home this charming pint sized armoire, I knew I wanted to put some vintage wallpaper on the door.
I didn’t have a piece that was large enough, so that is what prompted me to place an order from Hannah’s Treasures on Etsy recently. I debated going with a more distinctly juvenile pattern, but in the end I thought I would do something just a little more versatile. This armoire would be perfectly sweet for a baby girl’s nursery, but could also grow with her into her teens.
I added a two color paint job to match the wallpaper. The entire armoire was first painted in MMS Luckett’s Green milk paint, and then all but the knobs got two coats of Linen. This time I tried a Vaseline resist (adding a little Vaseline to spots you want to distress after painting the undercoat) and it worked fantastically well.
When this piece first came to me, it needed to have the back and the bottom replaced. It had gotten some water damage at some point. So Ken replaced both. Now the inside is practically all new, so I didn’t paint it.
It has a sweet little slide out bar for hanging tiny clothes like these gorgeous handmade baby dresses.
My Carriage House sale co-host, Sue, has a stash of these beautiful dresses and they will be for sale at the Carriage House sale ($10 each). The hand stitching on these is a work of art. I think they would be lovely hung on a wall in a child’s room, like this pin from Cedar Hill Farmhouse.
I also staged the armoire with the last of the lilacs. They go so fast. I wish they lasted longer.
What do you think? Didn’t it turn out perfectly sweet?
This armoire is for sale at $245. If you are interested in it, or in the baby dresses, leave a comment or email me at oakdalecarriagehouse@gmail.com.
And in case you are wondering how I managed to crank out all of these pieces lately, I have to mention that I took a couple of days off at the day job last week. I’ve got just a couple more to finish up before the Carriage House sale, which takes place on Thursday, June 11 from 5 pm to 7 pm and Friday, June 12 from 9 am to 2 pm.
Linking up with Finding Silver Pennies.
q is for quandie 
A nursery would the be perfect home for this sweet piece. Good call on the wallpaper.
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Thanks Victoria. This is a really pretty paper, I’m not sure I captured it well in photos.
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What a stunner Linda and I love the wallpaper !
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Thanks Darrielle. You should try the wallpaper sometime. I love using it on furniture pieces. It’s a little putzy, but worth it I think.
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Another winning combo of paint and paper…love the colors…fabulous dahling, just fabulous.
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Aw shucks, thanks dahling.
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Sweet is the perfect word for this one! What do you use to adhere and seal the wallpaper? Mod-podge? Thanks!
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I have been using Zinsser Sure Grip all purpose adhesive. It comes in a powder and you mix it with water. It just takes the smallest amount for the little bit of wallpapering I do on pieces of furniture, so I can mix up just a little bit at a time. I find that I can easily get the wallpaper nice and smooth with this product. I’ve had trouble getting paper to dry smooth and wrinkle free with mod-podge. I’ve also had really good results with staying power with the Zinsser. I have had several pieces stored out in my damp Carriage House and the paper still stays in place, no curling at the edges.
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Oh, and P.S. you can find it at Home Depot.
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Teri asked the question I was wondering about, Linda. I’ve used the liquid wallpaper paste and it stained the wallpaper. It looks like water stains. Help!
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Ginene – see the answer I just left for Teri for the details. But as I told her, I use the Zinsser Sure Grip powder. I’ve never had trouble with staining. When I first apply the paper and it’s wet, I do have plenty of water marks. But once the paper dries, it always looks good and the water marks disappear. The Zinsser does say it dries clear and is non-staining. Also, after the paper is in place I always gently wipe it down with a damp cloth to remove any paste that might be on the surface. The vintage wallpaper I am using is very delicate and it is genuine paper (not the vinyls that came around later). I hope this info helps!
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Well, it tells me I am on the right track because I used Sure Grip, also. It may have been the wallpaper. Yes, very delicate and the one I’m talking about was late 1930s. I put it up on the wall behind the sink…it is completely stained now with water drops. I actually don’t mind that but I want to do a dresser so I thought I’d check with you. Thanks much.
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So am I understanding you correctly that the wallpaper has become stained with water drops from the sink spray? Not from the actual process of adhering it? If so, I’m thinking that these old paper wallpapers are going to be susceptible to that sort of thing. When I brought my wallpapered dresser back home from the Round Barn last week, I made sure to do it on a sunny day for that reason. I didn’t think it would hold up to rain drops very well. I’ve never tried adding a protective sealer on top of the wallpaper, but I’ve read that you can use the Krylon matte sealer (comes in a spray) and it won’t change the look. I would test that first in an inconspicuous spot if you are going to try it. That might be the way to go if you think you are going to need extra protection. The wallpaper is definitely not scrub-able, but I think it is durable enough for a drawer front or similar application on a piece of furniture. And in the end, much like you, I don’t mind a little wear showing on my pieces. One last thing, have you seen the gorgeous wallpapered dressers by Huw Griffith? They are inspirational to say the least.
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This is a real stunner!
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Thanks Paula!
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