Hello, blog world!
Jamie here, bringing you more inspiration and ideas for your creative cognizance.
In my recent thrifting adventures I happened to stumble upon a very unique piece....
A hunk of old kitchen cabinets!
What on earth would anyone do with that, you ask? Well, I have been searching for some bedroom storage, and I have been holding out for something slightly more interesting than your traditional dresser, and significantly cheaper than a big old armoire...
So when I discovered this beaut in Cool Stuff Weird Things, it was love at first sight.
Ok, maybe it wasn't so instantaneous.
But the point is, after fifteen minutes of pondering, deliberating, and haggling, I handed over $60 for the hunk o' cabinets, and another $20 for the delivery, and I had myself a project.
The first step was to sand it down.
I borrowed my cousins electric sander (pictured above), and went at it. My plan was to clean it up and rough it up before painting it over with some sort of jade green. When I started to sand, however, I was pleasantly surprised to discover what was hiding underneath that dingy white mess of a paint job....
beautiful colors!
And not just beautiful colors, but LAYERS of beautiful colors!
Game changer.
Once I realized what a glorious color scheme lay beneath that top coat, I knew I couldn't just paint over it. So after consulting with my fellow craft girls, I decided to change tactics.
There were still plenty of blemishes and chunks to smooth out and cover up, so I decided, after cleaning and sanding the entire cabinet, that I would cover the whole thing with a coat or two of an antique white.
While sanding I paid extra attention to edges, corners, and any spots that looked like they had been through a little extra trauma (as you can see in the photo above). I decided that the best way to get that authentic distressed look that antique lovers pay so much money for, was to emphasize the dings and scars that were already there.
When I was satisfied that I had a colorful, workable surface, I cleaned it and then began painting.
My only intent in painting it was to cover the blemishes and to be able to deliberately bring out the marks and scuffs where I wanted them, so I only used one coat of paint. I bought an entire gallon of flat paint, not knowing how much I would need to cover everything, but I could have easily managed with a half gallon or less. The inside of the cabinet was beat up, but it had a lovely, buttery yellow that I wanted to keep. So I left the inside of the doors as is, but I sanded the shelves smooth after I painted them, and was left with a soft antique white with that gorgeous yellow peeking through
And for the exterior I used the electric sander only in a few places to get through most of the paint, but relied mostly on hand-sanding to expose those colors.
Then, after four days of inhaling dust and hours in home depot matching paint colors, I was finished.
So let's recap...
Cabinet: $60
Delivery: $20
Paint: $15
Misc. Supplies: $10
Total: $105
And now I have a beautiful dresser-cabinet, or dresser-cab (still working on a name)... to stack books on and to fill with clothes.
Success!
Thanks for reading, crafters.
Leave comments, ask questions, let me know what you think!
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