Painted Armoire

Well-chosen stencils and thoughtful painting bring traditional Eastern charm to an unpainted armoire. Choose a color combination often found in Chinese decorative arts, such as the pink, green, and yellow, or red and gold palettes used in these projects.

 

• Unfinished wooden armoire
• Medium- and fine-grit sandpaper
• Tack cloth
• Sanding sealer
• Sponge brushes
• Household trim brush
• Sherwin-Williams satin latex paint: Harvester #SW6373
• Painter's tape
• Stencil Library stencils: Birds & Blossom No. 1 #JA114 and Bird & Blossom Panel #JA121
• Artist's brushes: several small, medium, and large stencil; #1 liner; 1/2-inch flat; #4 round
• Delta Ceramcoat acrylic crafts paints: Black #02506 (BK), Blueberry #02513 (BB), Blue Danube #02013 (BD), Burnt Umber #02025 (BU), Dark Forest Green #02096 (DFG), Eucalyptus #02569 (EU), Ivory #02036 (IV), Maple Sugar Tan #02062 (MST), Peony #02579 (PE), Raw Sienna #02411 (RS), White #2505 (WH), Wild Rose #02485 (WR)
• Paper towels
• Glazing medium
• Soft cloth
• Water-base varnish

 

1. Remove hardware. Sand the wood with medium- then fine-grit sandpaper. Wipe with a tack cloth. Use a sponge brush to apply sanding sealer; let dry. Sand with fine-grit sandpaper and wipe with a tack cloth. Use a household trim brush to base-coat with Harvester. Let dry.

2. Plan the layout of the area to be stenciled. Use painter's tape to mask off any unwanted areas on the stencil. Position the stencil on the area and secure with painter's tape.

 

3. Use appropriately sized stencil brushes for each area. Also, use a clean, dry brush for each color. Load the stencil brush and scrub off excess paint onto a clean, dry paper towel. Using a pouncing or scrubbing motion, fill in each area with a base-coat color and allow to dry. In the same manner, apply shade then highlight colors to each area; let dry.

 

4. The leaves and bamboo branches are base-coated with EU, shaded with DFG then BU, and highlighted with a mix of EU plus IV. The flowers are base-coated with a mix of WR plus PE, shaded with WR, and highlighted with PE. The blue birds are base-coated with a mix of BB plus IV, shaded with BD then BK, and highlighted with WH. The yellow birds are base-coated with MST, shaded with RS, then BK, and highlighted with IV.

 

5. Use a liner brush to paint curly tendrils with DFG. Load a #4 round brush with DFG and tip in EU, then paint tiny dabbing strokes for leaves. The tiny filler blossoms are stroked on with a double load of WR and PE. The filler dots are RS. Paint the strokes and lattice crosshatching on the side panels with RS using a liner brush.

6. Mix RS with glazing medium and use a 1/2-inch flat brush to apply glaze to the routed edges on the raised-panel doors, drawer fronts, and cabinet body. Let dry.

7. Mix BU with glazing medium and, using a sponge brush, apply to areas of the cabinet where a bit more antiquing is desired. Wipe off excess glaze using a soft cloth. Let dry.

8. Varnish as desired and install hardware.