Checkout counter general store counter

I decided that for my check out counter for the Quilt Shop that I wanted an "antique".  In particular, I knew that I wanted an old fashioned general store display counter.  I searched a bit online and found this picture which I used as my model.
I measured the space where I thought the counter would be placed to get a rough idea of my dimensions and I sat down with a paper and pencil and drew out a rough sketch of the pieces that I would need to cut.   My sketches were not at all fancy, as you can see they were done on notebook paper and not anything special.  But it was enough to give me dimensions and an idea of the necessary pieces to cut.

I decided to use Mat board.  It is really easy to work with and relatively inexpensive. And make sure you have a sharp blade on your knife to get a smooth cut.

Slowly I started to draw and cut the pieces that I had sketched out earlier.

I made sure to label each piece as I cut it and eventually I had every piece cut.

It was time for the moment of truth and glue!   Did my measurements work?  Did the piece of furniture look anything like my inspiration picture?   I carefully glued my pieces together.  I did not put the drawer fronts on.  I  wanted to paint them first.  I knew that I was planning on putting small beads in the recessed areas and a little window on the front sections.  I knew that it would be MUCH easier if I painted first.

I chose to paint my piece in a brown paint.  I was trying to go for a wood grain.   I luckily had some brown paint in my stash, so I pulled it out.

And I got to work!

It took a couple coats of paint to make it nie and smooth and uniformly brown.

My last bit of painting was to paint the recessed areas black.  I wanted to give the allusion of more space behind the beads, so wanted it to be black.

From here the project was mostly done.  I just had to glue some small seed beads into the recessed areas glue a window on the drawer front and glue them in to place. I did attempt to make more of a wood grain.  It was passable for my first attempt.  I will have to work more on that technique for sure!

Overall, I am happy with my general store counter and can't wait to really put it to use in the stonehouse quilt shop!