Before and After: Freebie Cabinet
I came across this cute little cabinet on Craigslist for free about a month back. Did I have a *NEED* for a new cabinet? No. Could I leave it helpless on someone’s curb? Hell no. Ha! Okay, maybe it wasn’t that serious, but I’m a furniture nurse and this little lady had a long road to recovery with no health insurance. I couldn’t sit idly by!
Luckily for me, the previous owner did most of the stripping/sanding; there was very little left to do! I think this used to be some kind of mid-century built-in cabinet because it had some oddities. For one thing, the top only had an overhang on one side, and not on the other. It also had a notch cut out on one side. I bought a new top and got a fancy little trim to hide the old edge.
Since I didn’t have a *NEED* for this cabinet, I painted it a neutral black hoping that it could be used in different places until I settled on the right spot. Doesn’t mean it can’t be a little fun on the inside! I used my favorite Rust-Oleum Ultracover2x spray paint {with comfort nozzle}, and in retrospect wished I painted the inside yellow. Oh well.
I tend to move my furniture around a lot – so I added casters so it would move more easily, and because who doesn’t love casters?
Made a little brass cleaner with household items to shine up the ultra-cool lion-head pulls.
Primed with my new favorite Zinsser primer {seriously heavy-duty primer!}, and painted with Glidden’s Satin Black.
So, remember the before?
Here she is, discharged and thriving:
Dresser Before and After
…And you thought I’d be bored on my Maternity Leave…
This dresser was a wedding present from my mom, and we’ve had it for over 7 years. I love this dresser. I even loved it white but it was getting pretty dirty after so many moves. Here are the highlights:
- The dresser was almost raw wood so dusting and very little sanding was needed
- I had four of those little knobs left over from another project, so I decided to save a little money and use these knobs instead of purchasing a whole new set. I was able to purchase the remaining knobs at Home Depot.
- Paint color was Elegant Silk Interior Satin Latex Valspar Paint from Lowes. This was my first time using Valspar and my review is mixed. I thought the coverage was great but the paint dried too fast. Of course, this has to do with many variables, such as the weather, but I had to work in double speed to not leave brush marks
- I almost never have a plan when I head out to get paint. I knew I wanted a fun color, and that’s about it. I spent about 10 minutes looking for a color, and decided on this fun teal. I like how it looks with the black and white and even lime green {risky move!} in my bedroom.
Here are some tips for a quick paint job
Roll the paint first using a small roller.
Get the paint into the crevices with a brush. Use the same brush to smooth out the nap marks left by the roller. Be sure to go with the grain of the wood and make your brushstroke last the entire length or width of the brush so it doesn’t leave a mark where you started or where you ended.
Keep the bottom of the piece raised a little bit. I had my dresser on a furniture mover so it was elevated and I could easily rotate it to paint comfortably. You can use little pieces of cardboard underneath each corner so you can be sure to get paint along the very bottom of the piece.
