Curio Cabinet Makeover

Nadine Hartman Bourne
by Nadine Hartman Bourne
5 Materials
$200
5 Days
Medium

I picked up this cabinet at a yard sale. I didn't realize that it wasn't real wood. It looks like wood but it's some plastic type stuff the base is particle board.

This cabinet is going to hold my salt and pepper shakers. I needed more shelves. The shape of the cabinet didn't allow room for a drill to make holes for shelf supports so I took it apart.

Here it is stripped of all hardware, hinges, knobs, glass, shelf supports and lights.

I used acetone and a rag to strip off most of the finish.

This rulers holes were just the right spacing to drill new holes for the shelf support pegs. I stuck the drill bit in one of the existing holes and applied tape so I would know the depth needed for the new holes.

I stuck all of the hardware: screws, glass holders, shelf supports and knobs onto and into this box and spray painted them black

For the cabinet I made chalk paint. I bought the calcium carbonate off Amazon. It came in a plastic pouch, I put it in a glass jar and taped the instructions to the jar.


To make chalk paint I mixed:

1 cup of black acrylic craft paint

2 tablespoons of water

4 tablespoons of calcium carbonate


Mix it well and start painting

Paint it by sections it dries fairly quick and needed 2 coats of paint.

I used a smaller brush to get in all the nooks and crannies.

I used silver enamel craft paint and painted all the accent spots.

More of the detail. It's messy getting it into the grooves. I painted with a small brush and wiped off the excess. When the silver dried I touched it up with the black chalk paint.

I got out some paste wax I used an old paint brush to apply the wax and a cotton cloth to buff it off.

I had chose chalk paint because I'd heard you didn't have to sand it. But it was too rough and the white cloth left white fibers behind. If I'd had a black cloth then maybe it wouldn't have needed sanding. I used a sanding sponge and got to sanding that took off some of the paint at the edges. OK we are now going for that "Rustic" look. After sanding the wax buffed off nicely.

I took one of the shelves to a local glass shop and had them cut some extra shelves. It was $90 for 4 shelves with polished edges. They are slightly thicker than the original shelves.

This is my old cabinet it is jam packed full of salt and pepper shakers. The plan was to sell this cabinet but I think I'm going to need it so maybe I'll paint it with black chalk paint too.

And here it is with most of my shakers, so it looks like I'll be needing that other cabinet after all. I love it.

Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  2 questions
Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 10 comments
  • Irma Irma on Jan 14, 2019

    I love the shape of it... makes it easy to see all of your treasures.

  • Jessie Jessie on Jan 30, 2019

    Wow, that's some collection you have ! Great job with the makeover!

Next