I’m not gonna lie.  I LOVE a pretty bombe (aka bombay) chest.  I’ve painted several of them before and they always sell FAST.  You can see one here and here.  So giddy would be an understatement for how I felt when I saw this beauty.

It had good bones but had certainly seen better days.  I just knew I needed to make the beautiful carving the star.  So here’s what I rounded up;

• TSP
• green scrubby
• 220 grit sand paper
• shop towels
• Lamp White
• Staalmeester synthetic brush
• Ash
• water bottle
• 180 grit sand paper

Every piece I do begins with a good cleaning and degreasing.  This is a non-negotiable first step.  I’ve found that furniture is always dirtier than it looks.  I sprayed on the TSP solution, scrubbed with the scrubby, and wiped back.  I prefer to use Fusion’s TSP.  Any other cleaner needs to be rinsed off.

The surface of the chest was slick so I grabbed a sanding pad and gave it a quick scuff sand.  Here’s what I mean by scuff sand.  I perfer to use my sanding glove which makes quick work of scuff sanding but I didn’t bring my glove on the job.

Once I wiped off the sawdust it was time to paint.  I gave the top two coats of Fusion’s Ash, my favorite gray.  It has awesome coverage!

The bottom got three coats of Lamp White.  I’m not one that likes to prime.  Why buy another product and spend time priming when I could go ahead and paint?  I used my favorite brush, the Staalmeester synthetic bristle brush with the green string!

I let the paint dry for about 2 hours and then set about distressing the carvings.  I started by spraying the carving with a mist of water and then gently sanding with a sanding block.  Fusion is really easy to distress if you do it shortly after the paint dries.  The longer you wait, the harder it becomes!  Wet distressing is a great tool to have in your arsenal!

I cleaned the hardware and screwed it back in place.  It’s so great when a project turns out like I envision!  I suspect this one won’t last long!