I always enjoy getting ready for a show, so I have a reason to work on a lot of furniture! I finished the jelly cupboard this week and I finally get to reveal it…
This is how the jelly cupboard started…
It’s an old piece…most likely mid-to-late 1800’s. I always love working on old pieces that have been neglected for a few decades. This piece had been painted a rather sad brown and was really dirty. The hardware was broken and had been repaired, but the repairs weren’t holding. It was sturdy and had great bones, so I was excited to bring it back to life.
You can read the process of how I painted it HERE, but in a nutshell, I painted it in Artissimo MMSMP, then used the Wax Puck as a resist, applied a coat of Flow Blue, distressed with two different grits of sand paper and then finished it with Antiquing Wax. The resulting look is so fitting for this piece and looks like it’s always been this way.
When I was styling it to photograph, I lined it up on the wall and started bringing my vision for it together. I really like how it looked, but it occurred to me that I wasn’t utilizing my studio at all!
I need to utilize the space to create more depth and give the jelly cupboard “room to live in.” I set a table off to the side and balanced the blank wall with a tall, paneled door. Styling a piece like this brings out its personality even more, I think.
And I thoroughly enjoyed setting a pretty table with things from the prop shelf and some fresh apples…
I really wanted to use fresh flowers, but I just went with what I had on hand and used some…faux boxwood. I whispered that, if you couldn’t tell. I would love to have beautiful hydrangeas and lilacs overflowing from ironstone pitchers and baskets for each and every shoot, but that would be quite an investment. I bought these from Target a few years ago and you may not have noticed they’re faux if I kept my mouth shut.
I also took the jelly cupboard outside for a photo shoot against the freshly painted old building across the parking lot. I am so excited about some of the shots, but I’m saving them for the second look book that we’re working on. Here’s a peek at one, though…
28 Responses
Speechless! Gorgeous color
Love how you are getting to use the Studio. This is still my favorite piece of furniture. Had hoped you would show the inside of it.
Marian, I can’t believe you are letting this one go, it is so beautiful. I have a similar wood cupboard that is in beautiful shape and the wood patina is really nice but I have been considered painting several different times and this make over may have just done it for me. Question for you, why do you call this piece a jelly cupboard? Your pictures are Absolutley gorgeous!!
I really like the blue and white striped table linen that you used in this photo shoot. Did you make it yourself? If so, what kind of fabric did you use? It is wonderful!
That cupboard is gorgeous, the color, the knobs the finish are all just perfect. I cant imagine it any other way. Styling it with the table and door really bought it to life. Your studio is really the most wonderful thing. Your really putting it to good use and I just know it’s going to be even more draw dropping as time goes on.
Gorgeous! I love it paired with the wicker basket.
Very Nice!
love that last picture…
Jelly cupboard=perfection. a lovely, simple piece and a beautiful color! You could always plant a few boxwoods in pots out you studio front door and clip a bit when you want real. Also, pots of lavender and rosemary at windows inside the studio would probably do well. I know you “say” you don’t have a green thumb, but with all the magic you work in other areas of home life, I’m sure some spills over.
perfection.Here’s a question for you,about how many hours a day do you think you worked on the blog when you started it?
I love the blue that you painted this with. It looks perfectly old. 🙂 I also like the raw wicker basket and greenery and the photos of the table all set. The jelly cupboard is a really beautiful piece!
Marian, your photos are so lovely. I think I must pin at least one, often more, to my Pinterest boards every single day This has to be the most beautiful color blue I have ever seen. Tell me, when you used the wax puck, did you go over the entire piece, or just where you wanted the resist? Just a gorgeous piece!
Gorgeous cupboard and gorgeous pictures!
Marian, this is simply GORGEOUS! I’m always partial/and drawn to blue!!!!
Just LOVE IT! Thanks for sharing! XO
Great color — the piece looks like it has always been that way.
I love how this turned out and I love learning from you about styling for pictures. I NEED to do more of that but don’t have a lot of space to work with. Thank you for all your tips!
L O V E ….. and yes by using the larger studio space your pics have more depth….. everything is wonderful, the cupboard, the pictures and the props 😉
So beautiful! I assume she is headed to Alabama? Can’t wait…and those forks!
I love the combination of Artissimo & Flow Blue. Just enough difference in color to create a subtle layered effect.
Marion:
This is so beautiful, the two colors are perfection and the distressing is so exact.
The boxwood is so natural, you cannot tell is faux.
I wish I could go to the fair but I admire your pieces from a distance,
thank you
Martha
the piece looks more like a SERVER and not a jelly cupboard
The jelly cupboard is so beautiful! The blue is very calming.
Your photos are WOW!
I love the styled shot with the table!! You were calling it a jelly cupboard, but it looked so much shorter than that… Until I saw the table shot and realized how tall it truly is!! Beautiful! I wish I lived closer! That would be MINE!
The Cupboard looks great.. love the blue!!
Marion, your cupboard is beautiful. My favorite of all the pieces you’ve done. Wish I lived closer to the Chapel Market. I would love to own this piece!
Why do you stage and take artistic photos? Is there a purpose, like for a book or something, or more for personal satisfaction, practice or some other reason? It all looks wonderful. Thank you.
I do photo shoots for several things…my blog, for one. I also do most of the photography for the product lines under my brand, the looks book we recently released and the second one we’re working on and I’m sometimes hired out for freelance shoots & articles for magazines and home decor websites.
Hi Marian, how did you know it was a “jelly cupboard”? It’s great to be able to identify what’s what… tell! 🙂
Audrey,
These 1800’s era cabinets, usually on the tall side with drawers up top and cabinet below are just known as “jelly cupboards”. It’s a practical term, because they were used in kitchens to hold jellies, jams, canned goods, etc.