Refinished Cabinet

Well, in my blogging lapse I had forgotten all about updating you on my cabinet refinishing project. I know you were all waiting on pins and needles.  Well, wait no more my friends. 

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I explained it in a previous post back in September of 2012. 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

(This picture reminded me that I need to touch up the old screws with the new color.   Also, the reason they don’t line up perfectly is because our crazy floor is *that* uneven.) Also, sorry this is in bold…it won’t let me “unbold” it.  Crazy computer.

It’s definitely not perfect…at all.  But I *love* the way it turned out – and I *love* the way it looks in my house.  It gives that wall a homey, comfy vibe – which I love.  I got to decorate it at Christmas and that was really fun! 

I am really proud of how it turned out. It was a SERIOUS labor of love. Judd didn’t believe me when I said that we could revamp that cabinet and turn it into something beautiful! Well, needless to say, I turned him into a believer! Although, I have to admit, he and I were both sick and tired of spending all of our free time working on it by the end. We finished it just a little before Thanksgiving. So it took us from September to November. With a newborn. Ha!  The hardest part was, by far, the sanding.  We sanded for a solid month.  We used stripping gel which made it easier, but it still took a long time to get in all the crevices.  There were lots of places that had to be sanded by hand and those took a while.  The painting actually didn’t take long at all.  We got a cheap paint sprayer and in about an hour I had the cabinet painted – inside and outside.  The doors took less time than that.  Then I cleaned the hardware thoroughly and spray painted it.  I loved the old hardware and couldn’t find anything like it – so we soaked it and scrubbed it until it was clean enough to paint.  I love the way it turned out.  Judd added the feet (from Lowes) after I stained them.  I stained the top in 3 coats.  *sigh*  It was a lot of work, but we feel like it was worth it. 

It’s decorated now like the “after” photos above.  It still needs some little knick knack type things but I’m trying not to buy the first thing I see so that I know I get what I want.  I know I want some old books to make the lamps taller.  I’m also thinking about some kind of pottery for a knick knack.  Any suggestions? 

The mirror and lamps came from consignment shop in town.  The mirror was actually a picture:

So I tore the paper off the back, took the picture out, spray painted the frame (the same color as the cabinet hardware) and had mirror cut to size.  That project took me about 30 minutes total.  The lamps were originally brass and were spray painted silver but I bought them that way…no work for me! 

It holds SO MUCH stuff.  Everything that I had in my china cabinet now fits on the top shelf.  So I’m basically using it as extra cabinet space to hold large platters, decorative kitchen/dining items, etc.  My china is also in there stacked up. 

So there you go.  The last project I’ll ever take on….HA!  Not really, but after I finally finished I vowed not to start another one for a long time!    I welcome any suggestions for decorating it!