The Leaky Cauldron and Potage's Cauldron Shop have both had rustic and distressed woodwork which mostly boils down to stained and distressed balsa. For the Apothecary I have decided to go for painted doors and cornices to create a slightly different look and atmosphere.
This wood will make up the shelves, architraves and cornices for the interior of the shop. I decided to use a crackle spray paint that I had in the drawer from when I was planning a never to be seen shabby chic shop.
I started with the base coat of brown, then the top coat of cream which crackles. Usually it would be left with the crackled cream top coat but for my purposes I have given the wood an extra light spray of the brown base. I will now shabby them all up a bit more and finish with gold burnishing.
I have not had much success with crackle glazes but with a bit of practice this stuff does work. I have used the black and gold previously and these work very effectively.
The main reason I decided to spray the wood rather than paint all the individual coats is quite simple...using a spray is soooooo much quicker!
I have also papered the inside of both front panels, which was a bit of a challenge as I was running really short of the wallpaper. This is quite a big shop and I always forget the insides of the front panels.
My wallpaper was large in size but I used 6 pieces. Note to myself.........check you have enough for the bookshop!!
I have also laid the gorgeous reclaimed oak boards from Wood Supplies one of my favourite suppliers at the moment. I love these boards. They look fabulous. They are well cut and they go down like a dream.
They look quite light in these photographs but I have stained the oak a deep, rich brown. I have added holes and sanded them down to make them look less glossy and sleek.
The real benefit of using such old wood, I think these were cut from a mid-Victorian floorboard-around 1840, is that they are already ripe with age. I love them.
I have carried the floorboards through onto the front of the kit as with the cauldron shop so that when the door swings open there is continuity. Again I just about had enough boards, I used 26 thirty cm lengths and had one 10cm length left, phew! Make 2nd note to myself re bookshop!
I had to make use of my not so better half for this job as I could not hold the pieces firmly enough to saw the different lengths. He was very kind and seemed not to mind being disturbed every 10 minutes as I handed him two or three pieces to shorten at a time. Ah, he's a good lad!
The small gap will be filled and stained as well as I can. It is very narrow and I simply can't saw that finely. I can live with this......I think!!
The two ceilings are also coming along. The paper is quite sturdy so I have been able to mess about with it quite a lot without it disintegrating on me. I am such a coward with paint washes. I have taken on board the dirty water technique used by so many talented people but I seem to wipe off two thirds of what I paint on!
I have also sprayed the ceilings with different colours as if various potions have exploded in their time.
Still another couple of dirty washes to go!
Have a sunny Saturday wherever you are, in one way or another.
