Furniture Makeover: Beauty and the Beast

The Beast: My 70s Laminate China Cabinet BEFORE I got my hands on her.

So I rescued this BEAST (so usually this refers to a HUGE heavy piece when referencing furniture, but in this case, it just means super UG.LY.) from a farm barn for $15 off Craigslist almost 2 years ago. 

The front door glass panel was missing.  A base cabinet was damaged (which got further damage during our move—the door hinges got LITERALLY ripped off and took a chunk of cabinet with it).  There were TONS of dings, dents and BUGS galore.  In short, it was just plain GROSS.  Covered in webs, dead and ALIVE cockroaches, spiders and more….if I had been by myself I would have turned the other way and ran.  But my friend had driven his truck ALL THE WAY out there to help me load this cheap piece to turn into a treasure.  He didn’t believe it could be done after seeing it.  I had to prove him wrong.  And here she be folks…..from BEAST….

to BEAUTY. 

I had to really work on this little dear.  Between wood filler, wood glue, new hinges, sanding, painting, distressing and waxing….SHEESH.  This sure was a labor of love.  Because I KNEW that I could make her pretty.  I KNEW that I could tackle GROSS and WORN. 

To avoid a huge mess when breaking glass, adhere contact paper and break with hammer.  Most of it will stick to the contact paper.  This is not a CLEAN project no matter what, but this at least helps.

I painted the outside with my version of homemade chalk paint--I used a cheap contractor's untinted white paint from Lowe's as my base for the paint. 

I painted the inside a mixed paint.  I color matched Driftwood by Wal-Mart's Better Home and Garden paint using Lowe's Valspar paint for my bedroom.  This color is custom mixed by your's truly with a lighter gray that I used in my laundry room. 

I worked on this project for an entire day from 9am til 8PM (thank goodness for kids who know how to make ramen for dinner, right?) and STILL was not done.  Another day of work.  One day at a time. The next day I finished it.  I get so impatient once a project is done I cannot wait for Mr. H to get home to help me move things.  But as hard as we tried, the girls and I could not get this one in without help! 

I replaced the glass with chicken wire and reattached the doors.  I finished if off with 2 coats of Annie Sloan's Clear Wax and also Annie Sloan's Dark Wax after I gave her some light distressing.  I kept the original hardware because I LOVE antiqued brassy bronze hardware!

My life is just one project after another.  Next project? Summer break! Only 2 more days until school is out! Yippee! I LOVE having my girls home. We like to stay busy, but it is always FUN busy.  I have a list of all of the things we want to do and goals to accomplish this summer.  We’ll see if we can get it all done!  I am the QUEEN of planning and goal setting—but then my ADD kicks in and I jump from one project to the next.  It is especially hard to finish projects that require Mr. H around.  He works late and on the weekends so I only have 2 projects that have to be done this month on my list that require him---craft room cabinets and set up the trampoline!  When we moved the trampoline got thrown in a heap in the back yard.  And there it still lies months later.  Not exactly a one woman project or else it would be done. Here’s to Summer and all her projects!