Painted Antique Tea Cart

Although tea carts aren't currently in fashion, I always snatch them up if I spot one at a thrift store. They are versatile pieces of furniture which can be used for multiple purposes in the modern world. If you're not planning on rolling out the cart to serve tea to your guests you can always use it for a coffee bar, side table, or storage cart.

Unfortunately I cannot share the "before" photos since I didn't take any. I don't really have any staged "after" photos either! Consequently, I never shared this project on my blog before. But I was looking through old photos from my personal archive and found a few photos that I think still tell the story.

This picture was taken after I had a run of fantastic sales at my booth, and I was literally wiped out of inventory. So I had to get busy painting instead of focusing on taking photos and writing for my blog. 

Although white, black, and neutral colors in general sell quickly for me, I lean towards more whimsical colors and designs when painting tea carts. You can see another example of a whimsical design that I used on another tea cart HERE. But for this tea cart I chose a bright green with pink accents.

I applied two coats of green. I used a small artist brush to work around the tight spots. The unpainted portions of the spindles will be painted later in pink. (Details of products used are listed in the Supply section at the end of this article.)

I used my short handle brush to quickly cover the larger areas. After the paint was dried, I sealed it with clear wax and then rushed it to my booth along with a few other larger pieces.

I knew the color scheme wouldn't appeal to a wide range of buyers, but the bright colors seem to draw customers into my booth. To my surprise the painted tea cart sold within a couple of days. I don't know why I was surprised, because as I look back I realized even my colorful pieces always sold well, too. 

Painted antique tea cart with whimsical color scheme.

SUPPLIES:

(Affiliate links unless otherwise noted.)

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (Antibes and Antoinette) and clear wax for this project. But since I cannot obtain the brand easily anymore, I have been using this brand instead. According to articles I've read it is the exact same paint formul but under a different label. 

I've been using the Jolie brand now as it is readily available to me locally (I can no longer buy the ASCP brand locally). If you're in the US and want to order the Annie Sloan brand online, then check out The Purple Painted Lady's website. She does a fantastic job getting the paint shipped quickly. I use this source when purchasing online (no affiliate).

Short handle paint brush

Artist's angled paint brush