Because sometimes you just need to spend about 100 hours of salvaging, repairing, filling, sanding, staining, gilding, and painting a 1940s vintage armoire thus saving it from a life of slow decay. How does one do this? With hand painted Art Deco "wallpaper," gold, copper, and silver details, hummingbirds, flowers, and lightening bugs.
Before
This piece was in need of some serious love. Old, peeling paint, delaminating wood, broken parts. The damage was worse than what first appeared, but structurally she was sound enough to make the effort.
After
The Outside: A Chinoiserie Wallpaper Inspired Hand Painted Mural
Details
The mural features camellias and fuchsia flowers, hummingbirds and fireflies, all highlighted with silver leaf on the branches where the moon illuminates from above. The legs are silver in both the front and back, and 3/4 up the front legs they're stained a deep, rich brown. The top as well was stripped to the wood and stained a deep coffee color with silver leafing along the edge. The copper "tulip" drawer pulls are new-old-stock from Ajax Hardware Corp. circa the 1960s.
The Inside: A Hand Painted Art Deco Pattern with Gold Detailing
Details
The inside is probably my favorite and most hated part of this restoration. To understand what I mean, it took about 30 hours to hand draw, paint, and gold edge each inch of this vintage Art Deco palm pattern into the inside of this. It was a hellish task, as creating most sumptuous things are, and I couldn't be happier with the result. Opening the armoire from the outside moonlit garden scene to the burst of sunshine within - worth every backbreaking effort.
Some more photos for you to check out the details. Click to enlarge.