Do you all remember the lovely French Drexel cabinet that my neighbor kindly gave me? 
It has a gorgeous shell carving and two sweet drawers with a painted design. The whole piece had been finished in a green patina and it actually had a hole in its back. I patched the hole and then had a blast working on this beautiful piece!
I decided to go with a first coat of Annie Sloan Aubusson Blue. It is a greeny blue and doesn’t fight the original finish. I painted the interior in the blue and added a coat of Annie Sloan Florence before applying one more coat of the blue on top. For the outside and base, I used washes of Aubusson, Florence and Provence. I then sanded back to reveal the lovely painted details on the drawers. This gave the interior a deeper hue than the outside.
The whole piece was waxed in Annie Sloan clear wax and after it cured, I added Provence into the clear wax and applied it over sections. I also added touches of gold using Martha Stewart Antique Gold decorative paint.
Here are a LOT of pics to share. I hope they show the many layers and details of the piece. Each layer builds upon the last to create a lovely, aged patina.
Just listed on Etsy!
That is simply stunning! Such beautiful work, Suzanne.
Thanks, Elisabeth! Any name yet??
What a beautiful piece!! Wow!! Great job refinishing it!!
A+++. Excellent!!!
You outdid yourself on this one!! Beautiful!
Suzanne, this is gorgeous!! You did a beautiful job with it. Are you keeping it or selling it?
Hi Liz – wish I could keep it! Just listed it and hope it finds a great new home 🙂
Wow! Amazing attention to detail! What a sequence of steps! I wouldn’t have expected to be able to do all those layers and then retrieve the original hand painting so well.
Thanks, Sharlee! If you want to give it a try, do a wash. It is easier to sand back to allow the original finish to pop through.
That is one of the best paint jobs I have seen in a long, long time. Great job!!! I do not normally have time to reply but this deserves a reply. I am pinning so I can try to do something similar. Just beautiful.
Thank you so much – I really appreciate it and thanks for pinning!
OMG! This piece is a true work of art, Suzanne. It’s brilliant. Cheers, Ardith
Thank you very much, Ardith. I really appreciate it 🙂
oh i remember this one, same time when you went to the beach,awespme as usual paint job love it xx
Yes, that is the one! Thanks, Chris!
Beautiful!
Nicely done! Love the layers of blue and that you allowed the original stencil to show through was perfect!
Thanks, Katherine! I loved the original design on the drawers and was so happy I managed to keep it 🙂
Beautiful outcome!
Just Beautiful! I wish I had your vision and talent.
Thank you so much Cathy – that is such a compliment and I appreciate it!
Beautiful, Suzanne!! You can tell you had fun painting that piece! It definitely comes across!
inspirational
So beautiful! Another success!
Thank you very much!
you truly are a master at your craft, this is stunning! you have great imagination and vision, bravo!!!
Thank you so much, Karen. I really appreciate it.
Wow Suzanne, I think this has become one of my favorites of yours! You did a beautiful job on this piece. Did you use a wax resist over the details on the base or sand it back to remove the paint? I have no doubt this beauty is going to sell quickly!
Hi Marie – I used 220 sandpaper to rub it back. I basically used the green as the base color and went from there – so much fun and thank you!
It’s gorgeous Suzanne, wow. Love the layering effect.
Thanks so much Mary! It is so fun to layer with chalk paint. I had a blast 🙂
Wow! This came out gorgeous! I love it! You are such an inspiration!
Love, love, love the Drexel shell cab – so gorgeous.
Absolutely beautiful! How much did it go for, may I ask? It was fantastic……love the detail!
Thanks Mary! It is still on my Shop Furniture tab to see the price. Thanks!
So lovely. You always inspire with your talent.
Thank you so much.
What a lovely piece. You truly are an artist.
You did very beautiful work on this piece…I haven’t seen earlier posts but I hope you kept it for yourself…you deserve such a treat!!!
Thanks, Susan! Alas, I did not keep this beauty but it found a wonderful home and I am SO happy that it did! Cheers!