big bertha gets a makeover

i'm a little nervous to show you this before and after today.
because maybe the antique police are going to come get me.
but i did it.
i painted our antique wardrobe.

i know! for shame!
i really didn't want to do it.  I like the stain on it.  I like the gold accents on the top.
i like old stuff.

i, however, do not like this:

the chipping veneer.
the nice scribble that my 5 year old did when he was 2.  with a wood marker. yeah, so that baby is not comin' out.
and we have lived with a big ol' scribble on our furniture for 3 years.  of course that's not the only scribble on furniture in our house, but that's another story . . . i digress.

anyhow, i went back & forth on this decision forever.
but this wardrobe is a huge piece.  and it's the first thing you see when you walk in the door.
and it was starting to become an eye sore.   
i also justified painting it because it was mostly not real wood.  mostly veneer. and it's really on it's last leg anyway. so i had to do her a favor. 


first i primed.  
i so wish i would have primed another coat and done it thicker.
because this girl soaked. up. paint.

i didn't bother hauling her big self outside.  i just opened the door and shoved a vinyl table cloth underneath to catch any drips.
you know i try to do projects as quick as humanly possible so that i can get on to the next thing.

i had to laugh at the paint can that says, "one coat coverage."  ha ha ha ha ha.
or maybe it's laughing at me. 

FIVE coats later and it was done.
it should be noted that i always follow the instructions on the back of the can about how long to wait in between coats.  there's nothing worse than tacky paint on your furniture.
it took me five good coats to get it to not be streaky.
this was my original set up

but i had to eventually ditch the roller for a brush because the roller wasn't allowing me to get the paint on thick enough.

here's tons-of-fun now . . .

i really like how she turned out.  it lightens up things in the living room.  
it does seem a bit plain to me now, though. 
so i distressed it some . . .

that helps. but i still think it needs something.

should i distress it more?  should i do a glaze over it?  my only question with glazing is that this piece doesn't have much detail work for the glaze to . . . well, glaze.

thoughts?  anybody have any experience glazing and you want to give me some tips?
wonder why i act like my piece of furniture is a she?
leave me a comment with your thoughts and tips. . .i really appreciate it!


and now for the side by side . . .

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