Rococo table - stage 1

 Ok so work has begun on this little table.  I bought some decoupage images from Etsy and have started to place them and think about what I can do with this piece.  

I decided the colour palette will be from a famous painting of the period.  I also looked at crockery and clocks to give me ideas.  Invariably when you image search you end up with images from the Rococo revival and I don’t want those, nice as they are.

So then, quite by chance I stumbled upon a picture of a Rococo side table photograph by an antique dealer in Amsterdam and then I realised that was the missing piece, in my thinking, as it were, because now I have a patina template to work with.  So now I’m pretty clear as to my layers, under-painting colours and where and how to distress it.  I’m going for wax resist method on the edges and wire brush and sand paper for other bits.   

So I primed the table with Zinsser BIN, which as you know is my go-to paint for revamps and refurbs. The stuff is amazing, but you have to clean your brushes in Methylated Spirits, because of the shellac.

I did two coats of that and painted the underside of each level too.  This was after I washed the table all over with Soda and white vinegar with a dash of washing up liquid.  Then rinse it.  The soda kills any mould or fungus.  Its an old table that I bought at a boot sale for £2.  It’s a mass produced reproduction that was made in China.  I bought it to use in the garden to serve tea and so I’m going with Marie Antoinette ‘Let them eat cake’ loosely speaking, sort of thing.  

So the first couple of images I bought in Ye Olde Etsy were um....duds.  That was a shame because I am on a budget.  However as my ideas progressed I realised how much work was involved and so thought it warranted two more digital downloads.  I thought the images were priced fairly but the taxes seemed steep?

Let’s get back to work....remember people, Adam accepted his fate when he knew he could work....work IS our salvation!