"Apothecary" Chest

Calling this an apothecary chest is a bit of a stretch.  The whole thing is one big cobbled together creation.  The top (which is a little too big) and round feet were added, but the best "re-do" involved the three original drawers.  They had been removed and boards were added that covered half of each opening.  Then 26 little drawers with wooden knobs and of slightly different sizes were made to go in it.  The whole thing had been painted a gosh awful peachy color that looked like what you get when you throw leftover paint in a bucket and stir.  So, of course, I loved it.  I brought it home, painted/sanded/played, then took it to Liberty House for the 4th of July sale.  It sold quickly, though I was sad to see it go.  I thought it would be perfect for little collections . . . rocks, seashells, feathers, fossils, bones, etc.

This was painted with Annie Sloan Graphite and heavily sanded (with 60 grit and a smooth sanding sponge.  No wax.  Wax is really pretty on Graphite, but it darkens and evens out the color and I wanted these to be chalky looking and all a little different.  The labels were printed, tea stained, and glued on.  The feather is just for fun.

Here you can see the "before" after I started playing with colors.  I originally thought I would do Duck Egg blue with red and white knobs.  Also thought about stenciling numbers on the drawers, but Graphite with the labels just seemed to work.