Not Going ‘GREEN’…Going BLUE! Cabinet make over

I have had a couple of different projects sitting in my garage that I have been working on here and there.

Today I am happy to say that I have finished them all up, and am sharing one with you! I even remembered to take some photos to share the process I used to fix them up!

This cabinet was a throw away item from a girlfriend who was moving into a new house. She thought maybe I would be able to bring it up to date, and called me.

It has had a long hard life. It had several deep scratches on the sides, and there was damage to the doors, such as glass missing and the frames cracked. It might look good in the photos, but trust me…it wasn’t so pretty up close.

I especially hate the pressboard backing…ewe!

It is horrible!!! YA it is!!!

I got an inspiration…and set my mind to sanding it down to the naked wood. How long could it take??? I have a power sander! Shouldn’t take too long…right?

WRONG!

All sanded! I managed to get it looking pretty good…sanded out MOST of the deeper scratches and tried to repair the doors as best I could…(I don’t want perfect…this is a Tootsie project remember???)

Ta-Da! It seems like magic! Took no time at all right? lol It took me 5 1/2 hours to sand this cabinet down! I had the shop vac running the entire time, and the kids would pop in and clean up for me here and there…but there was still a LOT of sanding dust all over the inside of the garage…ugh..

Once I was satisfied with the sanding, I set my eyes on the new look I would be giving this piece.

I chose to stain a fun color this time! I have two homes for this cabinet: There is Grammie and Grampie’s shoe store, which has beautiful navy blue sofas for the customers to try on shoes…or…my son’s bedroom. He needs somewhere to house his PS3 among other things.

I decided that since I have never used a water based stain before, I would use this cabinet as a test piece.

I put the rubber gloves on…dusted off the pieces, and opened my stain. Dipped my inexpensive rag into the stain and set about rubbing it onto the wood.

Man was this cabinet thirsty!!! The stain was soaking in so fast that it was drying almost as fast as I could apply it!

I rubbed two coats onto the piece before I was done with the stain.

I left it overnight to dry out a little more before I decided what else it needed. I think it is a little TOO blue for the store…the furniture in there is a lot darker blue. It needs to fit in…not stick out like a sore thumb!!!

Think Tootsie….THINK!

AH HA! I know what to do!!!

I grabbed my trusty can of glossy black oil based paint that I always keep on hand. What! Doesn’t everyone have a can or two of paint on hand…’just in case’? Ya…ya..I know…*)

I put my gloves back on, and grabbed a fresh rag. I dipped and rubbed and dipped and rubbed until I had covered the entire piece with black. I didn’t cover every single inch…I just washed it on as if I was wiping it off. I didn’t apply the black paint too heavy, as I didn’t want it to completely hide the blue…just darken it.

The wood was still very thirsty, so it was easy to apply. Just rub it on a little thicker…and then wipe it off! Easy Peazy! I wiped until I was happy with the color…and walked away to wait for it to dry.

Once dry, I took a rag to it and dusted and rubbed and wiped it off…Grammie doesn’t want it to have a sealer on it yet…we need to make sure it is the right color…so it will stay this way for now. The paint treatment didn’t rub off when I pressed down on it…so I am sure it will be fine even if it never gets a coat of sealer.

The doors have been decked out with some very pretty handles.

The pressed board from the back was never put back into place. I was going to put some embossed wallpaper on it, and paint it black, so as to hide the pressed board …and give it a more formal look, but Grammie asked me not to ..at least not yet.

She wants to have the option to have the cabinet to be free standing in her store…(not against the wall, but instead out in the middle of the floor) She also wants it to serve as a display piece…but not offer cover to shoplifters. So…it will be a backless cabinet…sort of.

It looks good without the back. The plant behind gives some interest and more light gets through the cabinet. This is always a good thing when you are displaying …

Fabulous shoes and purses!!!!

I am sure that if the need ever comes to put a solid back on it…Grampie will have it covered…He’s pretty handy!

…well after he naps…haha…

ACTUALLY…the store was very busy this day, so we came back after hours to merchandise the cabinet.

Grampie was keeping an eye on the kids….

(…ya…no wonder they love him so much…he is their favorite toy…)

At one point I suggested that she didn’t have to keep the cabinet…I offered to take it home with me…and Grammie got all kung foo on me:

I choppa you!!!

I guess she can keep it…I wouldn’t mess with her…or…

or him…(Yes..he changed locations…)

I am happy with the way it turned out…I think it looks great in her store.

Grammie seems happy too!

Now every time she walks past it…she can think of me…and maybe …just maybe she will fill that cabinet with shoes and bags that are not for sale…they are reserved for Tootsie! *) right Grammie???

When she’s sick of using it…I’ll bring it home and let my son use it in his room…or maybe give it another make over…who knows…?

I am glad that the cabinet has a new home. It could go anywhere in here…

If you can’t find a pair of shoes in this place…you might not have feet! We found several pairs this visit:

Cute? yes….yes they are!

And that is the story of the little blue cabinet make-over.

Until next time, happy decorating!

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

www.tootsietime.com

links to the above parties are listed in the menu bar tab under Blog parties