Gentlemen’s Chest Transformed Into Pretty Storage for Craft Supplies

Valerie Burge
by Valerie Burge
7 Materials
$40
3 Hours
Easy

Our garage is not climate controlled and has poor lighting, so I mainly work on projects inside the house. I needed a storage solution for my craft supplies, that would fit with the style of our home, that would enable easy access to my supplies.


I found a cedar lined gentlemen’s chest with castors online that worked perfectly! But it was a bit dark and drab for my taste. So I’ve been slowly transforming it over time. As you will see, the items around it change, because after each step I just moved on to another project and came back to this whenever inspiration struck. I'm sure many of my fellow DIYers can relate to this! LOL

Before

The first thing I did was wash it with TSP cleaner/ degreaser. Then I painted the door inserts with blue chalk paint.

First hit of colour

Then I decided the whole thing could use a brightening up, so I painted the rest with a creamy coloured chalk paint. I sealed everything with Annie Sloan soft wax, applied with a cloth.

Brightened up

Hardware


Then I decided the hardware was too drab, so I painted those too. I spray painted with a primer, and then sprayed again with champagne mist. I probably didn’t need the first primer as the second one was paint + primer in one, but this cabinet gets a LOT of use, so I’m sure the primer base didn’t hurt!

Hardware before
Hardware supplies
Hardware after

Colour wash


Several months later – I decided to alter the blue slightly. Even though I l loved that shade of blue – it really didn’t match the accent colour throughout our home, which is more of a teal blue. So I did a colour wash. I mixed 1 tbsp of azure blue paint with 2 tbps of water, and brushed it on. I wiped off any of the runs before they had a chance to dry.  

Before & after

I love the way it turned out – with the original blue peeking through. Almost gave it a bit of a purple hue.

So pretty!!

Finally finalized!

And I think I’m finally 100% happy with it!! I don’t expect to make any further changes to this piece. But then again, who really knows! 😊

So pretty
So organized
So done
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