DIY Rustic Cabinet Rehab

by Quince_Cottage

Our house isn't all that big, so impulse buys of large objects don't happen very often. To be specific, the inside of our garage has never seen a car because storage is an issue here. But this cabinet had the "it" factor. It was clearly crafted by someone who didn't make furniture for a living, yet the curved detailing along the skirt and the walnut inset panels indicated that the maker was trying-trying really hard to make this piece special. At least in the front - the back not so much. The other compelling feature was its price.

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's a close up of that fancyish skirt.

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

After a bit of haggling, we became its new owners. The dear old thing was delivered to our home the following week.

Inside was a shelf and below it, a board with some hooks attached. Ron removed all that, along with the doors. He then gave everything a much-needed deep cleaning.

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We decided to paint the interior for contrast, and to make a more pleasing background to display whatever we ended up putting on the shelves. We had some leftover Valspar latex paint from an office redo a few years ago. The color is Blue Arrow. It's a perfect shade, not too "baby", just a little "dirty" (meaning it has some earthy warmth to it).

Also because the cabinet's new purpose was to display pretty things, this old beasty needed some sturdy shelves. We bought pine boards from Lowe's and Ron cut them to the desired length. Using some leftover molding strips we had lying around, he created supports by cutting the strips to fit, then gluing and screwing them to the cabinet interior. These do a nice job while maintaining a low visual profile.

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's a close up of the support strips.

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

After the painting, a coat of clear polyurethane was applied to the interior surfaces only, including the shelves

Ron waxed the au naturel wood exterior with paste wax. This provides protection and gives a lovely, warm glow.

We installed new knobs, but chose a style that looks antique. They're real glass.

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Then we added some gimp along the edge of the shelves for a finished look. We got a good deal on some closeout trim at a fabric outlet. We took care to choose one that looked vintage and had a bit of blue in it. Hot glue worked just fine to adhere it to the shelf edges. We only burned ourselves once or twice.

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now the fun part! Styling!

You might have noticed this cabinet in our blog post about Christmas decor. If not here you go - we displayed our mercury glass collection, our white pitchers, and created a Winter Wonderland for our Snowbabies!

diy rustic cabinet rehab, diy, painted furniture, rustic furniture

But now that it's February, we've taken away most of the evergreens and shifted some things around.

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

As always, we'll leave you with a photo of one of our adorable Irish Jack Russell terriers. This one's Buster. Stop by our blog for more photos, projects, and recipes!

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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4 of 18 comments

Sam4607472 on Feb 28, 2016
You freshened the whole cabinet by painting the interior. Adding the shelving just made it such a functional piece of furniture. Great find and great job !!

1 Reply
- Quince_Cottage on Feb 28, 2016
  @Sammylpn59 Thank you so very much for the nice comments :D
  
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Lisa House on Feb 28, 2016
Beautiful

1 Reply
- Quince_Cottage on Feb 29, 2016
  @Lisa House Thank you, Lisa! Hope you have a great Monday :D
  
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