I love old things - they have something in them, some incomparable charm. But very often, these things come to us in a very shabby condition.

I inherited an old wardrobe from my grandfather. Quite large - more than a meter width, made entirely of natural wood and veneer. Of the special, red-orange colour and distinctive shape, so popular in the 1950s.

My parents were not particularly fond of it (approximately with the same degree of incomprehension as I had towards their lacquered walls made of chipboard) and stored different trash in it, periodically trying to throw it away. In some places, the veneer was peeled off, it was attacked by a woodworm, some wood items were lost.

The lacquer had thinned in some places and the surface was stained: it suffered from splashes of vine which was produced in the room and covering it was not considered as something reasonable.

First, I thoroughly washed and aired the wardrobe in the fresh air — I had a space outside and the weather was good.

Of course, all lacquer was peeled off. But this part of the work seemed unreasonable for me, so I just glued the peeled top and veneer on the doors (I used a cramping frame for the doors).

Slightly sanded the problem areas and processed all holes left by the woodworm with paraffin.

At first, one should apply insecticide — but there were no more bugs in wood, only holes were left, so I decided to miss the step.

I added the missing wooden parts of the lock using self-hardening plastic.

I took this one. Of course, it is right to make new items out of wood.. but I wanted a quick result.

At first I planned to make the new items, dry them on the wardrobe, then remove, wait for complete drying (this plastic dries out fot 30 hours), and then paste and coat the cracks. But the items had set so firmly in their places that I painted them right there, without gluing.

I painted the wardrobe 3-4 layers of acrylic paint outside. I chose a deep olive green. At first everything looked pretty unattractive...

I painted with a wide brush and small roller. I diluted the paint to the state of a liquid youghurt. After the color became homogeneous and without stains, I decided it was the time for panels.

A panel, in an architectural dictionary, is a thin Board or plane, often with relief, framed. I had a panel per door.

Although acrylic dries quickly, do not hurry, do not repeat my mistake. I gently secured the frame panels with painting tape, to paint the middle of the door a different color. It's better to do it the next day, when acrylic paint sticks to the surface and not to the tape. So I had to take the brush again, a thin this time.

This time I used the same colour but heavily diluted with white paint.

I also decorated the top, sides, hinges and handles with a piece of dry gauze and a small amount of golden acrylic paint, as if rubbing. I used a dry bristle brush in some places.

I hanged up scented sachets full of tangerine and orange peel on the handles.

I stopped at this point. I love decoupage, so I'm planning a painting. Now I'm slowly working on the sketch. The wardrobe is great like the Taj Mahal so I decided to use it as a pattern

Maybe I will change it completely - and now the wardrobe looks good in a new place.