Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Before and After - $0 makeover for beautiful free standing cabinet!

I found this piece outside in the rain in total disrepair in my parents garden.  Being cheap and broke thrifty and short on storage furniture I saw some potential!

As you can see there were weeds growing all around it while it was rotting away outside but I had hope!

And here it is after a sanding, some paint and a simple stain glazing treatment. I will give directions below so you can apply this antiquing  simple glaze treatment to your own thrifty find!
First step..sand the old chipping paint off.  It should be thorough enough that the pain won't peel off when you repaint but it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth. Do be sure to wipe it down good to get all the paint dust off, so that the paint adheres well.
Next I applied  a coat of cream colored paint but you can use whatever you like.  Then after it dried I applied another till I felt the blemishes and layers of old paint were covered enough.  Again, perfection is not the goal or you will not get that lovely aged look.  Some imperfections give it charm.

Once both layers of paint were dry I went over the edges and grooves with an electric sander to antique it a bit.  That leaves a bit of paint dust that needs to be wiped off till the furniture is clean of dust.

Once dry and clean I applied a layer of dark stain and then wiped it off while still wet.  I made sure to get it into the grooves, cracks, and sanded areas.  I just did this a few times till I got the desired look.  It looks just like glazing with out the expensive hard to work with glaze medium!  I love it!

You can see in the photos I do not have the handles on yet, but I picked up a bag of antique pulls for a dollar at a garage sale that I plan on using.  I used the rest in my kitchen but there are plenty left over.  So after salvaging the piece from my parents garden, using leftover paint and stain, once I apply the knobs or pulls it will have cost me.... NOTHING!!






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3 comments:

Kristy said...

What a great idea! Hey, I'm a Kristy too! I hope you'll come check out my blog at www.illgetyoumypretties.blogspot.com

I'm following you now!

Mar gar et said...

Really nice work! Impressed with your own brand of stain turned glaze. This little cabinet would sell for a hefty price tag, but it seems right at home with you.

www.apronsandapples@blogspot.com said...

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the encouragement!