Corner Cabinet Refresh With Chalk Paint

The corner cabinet was actually in the farmhouse when my parents moved there in the late 1940s.

The first step was to unload all the dishes for the corner cabinet and then remove the doors. We also moved it out from the wall so that I could have room to paint it.

As you can see, there is a hole in the lower part of the back of the cabinet. This damage happened when we had furniture and boxes "professionally" moved to Florida in the early Spring of 2019.

In addition to painting the cabinet, I was going to need to figure out how to fix or at least cover up the holes. I also needed to remove the lovely wallpaper border that my Mom had added to the front of the bottom doors at some point.

The above photo is a close up of the bottom doors with the wall paper accent. I decided to replace the cabinet pulls too.

After the contents of the cabinet and the doors were removed, I washed the cabinet with a mild oil based soap and then wiped it with a damp cloth to remove any traces of soap. Even after washing it, the cabinet still felt sticky. I used Krud Kutter to remove whatever residue was making the cabinet feel sticky. Then, I let it dry.

Once it was dry, I was ready to start painting with Annie Sloan Olde Ochre chalk paint.

Since I really want to lighten up the look of this room, I decided to use Annie Sloan Olde Ochre Chalk paint and White chalk paint wax. The beauty of chalk paint is that you don’t have to sand or prime the pieces that you want to paint. While the first coat was drying, I went to the garage to see if I could get the wallpaper border off of the cabinet doors.

Removing the Wallpaper from The Cabinet Doors

Once I started removing the wallpaper with the same technique that I used when I removed the wallpaper from the farmhouse entryway, I soon discovered why my Mom had put the wallpaper on the doors! She was trying to cover up a hole! The inserts of the cabinet doors are made of the same 1940s era particle board that the sides are made out of. The frame of the cabinet and the very back are made out of wood but the sides and the inserts are a particle board that can be damaged fairly easily!

I finally got the wallpaper border off using fabric softener mixed with warm warmer. Then, I removed the rest of the residue with Krud Kutter. I wiped the doors off with a damp rag and let them dry.

Then, it was time to try to patch the hole. I found a piece of heavy paper and cut out a circle and glued it to the cabinet door using Tack 2000. I let it sit for several hours before starting to paint it.

Repairing the Damage to the Cabinet

After adding a 2nd coat of paint to the corner cabinet, I started working on a way to fix or at least cover up the damage to the back of the cabinet.

Here is what I came up with! Is it stenciling? Or is it Contact Paper?

If you guessed Contact Paper, you are correct! I simply took cardboard and cut it to fit the area.

And then covered the cardboard with left over Contact Paper!

Then I propped the cardboard pieces inside the cabinet!

I think it works! What do you think? I usually keep the bottom doors shut anyway so I think it works just fine! I think I might go back and add some paper to the inside of the doors too. The particle board just sucked up the paint so it looks kind of messy.

Thyme to Wax!

Chalk paint does need some type of top coat on it to protect it. I decided to use Annie Sloan white wax. I liked how it worked on the armoire so I was pretty sure I would like it on this piece as well.

I think the wax is easier to apply if you use a brush rather than a lint free cloth. Simply scoop out some wax onto a paper plate, grab your brush and you are ready to get started! Wax needs to be applied evenly. It is best to work on small areas and then wipe off any excess wax with a lint free cloth. You can apply the wax in any direction.

Since this wax is white, I don’t think it really affected the color of the armoire. Once I got the entire piece waxed, I went back over it with a lint free cloth to remove any excess wax.

Now for the Knobs

I went to the local Ace hardware and found these drawer pulls. They are nice and simple.

Side by Side Comparison

I am pleased with how the final piece turned out. It did take a lot longer than I anticipated. I wasn’t counting on finding the damage to the bottom cabinet doors and I also didn’t realize how long it would take to tape and paint the cabinet doors. I have been talking about painting this piece for over two years . I am glad to finally have it finished!

I already had the paint, wax and brushes as well as the Contact paper. The $60 estimate was based on someone having to buy paint, etc. I did purchase new cabinet pulls for this project.