Farmhouse Coffee Pantry & French Armoire From Curbside Junk

by Yvette Gray

Medium

I found some outdated 80's style curbside cabinets and an ugly coffee table for free and transformed them into a"mostly" French inspired armoire and buffet area using homemade chalk paint and five lovely graphics from one of my favorite sites Karen - The Graphics Fairy. (Sorry for the picture quality as my camera is on the fritz so these were taken with my cell phone)

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, This is the final result An ugly coffee table turned into a french buffet and two outdated cabinets become functional pantries

This is the final result. An ugly coffee table turned into a french buffet and two outdated cabinets become functional pantries.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, This was a curbside former entertainment center that had seen better days Someone punched out the back of one for a tv I decided to make them into two separate armoires One a farmhouse style coffee and spice pantry and the other a French Armoire

This was a curbside former entertainment center that had seen better days. Someone punched out the back of one for a tv. I decided to make them into two separate armoires. One a "farmhouse style coffee and spice pantry" and the other a "French Armoire."

Another before shot

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, This was another free curbside old coffee table from the 80s I believe Ugly It reminded me of Midieval Times The diamond pattern on the doors gave me my inspiration I decided to go with a harlequin design

This was another free curbside old coffee table from the 80s I believe. Ugly! It reminded me of Midieval Times. The diamond pattern on the doors gave me my inspiration. I decided to go with a harlequin design.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, This was the top view of ugly coffee table Do you see a mysterious word in the wood pattern like I do Creepy This table is a previous project so I ll post a tutorial in the near future

This was the top view of ugly coffee table. Do you see a mysterious word in the wood pattern like I do? Creepy! (This table is a previous project so I'll post a tutorial in the near future).

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, This is now the top to that ugly coffee table The entire table was hand painted with MMS Milk Paint in Linen and acrylic paints then antiqued and distressed

This is now the top to that ugly coffee table. The entire table was hand painted with MMS Milk Paint in Linen and acrylic paints, then antiqued and distressed.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, I removed the glass panels to the front doors of the two cabinets and hand painted the fronts of the glass with an acrylic paint pen All the graphics I used in this project came from The Graphics Fairy

I removed the glass panels to the front doors of the two cabinets and hand painted the fronts of the glass with an acrylic paint pen. All the graphics I used in this project came from The Graphics Fairy.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, After the painted graphics dried I then frosted the backside of the glass with Rustoleum s Frosted Glass spray I used 3 coats letting each coat dry before beginning the next

After the painted graphics dried, I then frosted the backside of the glass with Rustoleum's Frosted Glass spray. I used 3 coats, letting each coat dry before beginning the next.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, This is what the coffee pantry looked like after painting it white with homemade chalk paint distressing it and adding chickenwire to the bottom door and the back where I had to rip out the damaged back panel on this cabinet

This is what the coffee pantry looked like after painting it white with homemade chalk paint, distressing it and adding chickenwire to the bottom door and the back where I had to rip out the damaged back panel on this cabinet.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, This is the inside of the coffee pantry You can see the chicken wire back panel

This is the inside of the coffee pantry. You can see the chicken wire back panel.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, I added this lovely graphic to the back wall of the lower compartment of the pantry to give it some character Fortunately the back panel was still intact in this area so I didn t need to replace it

I added this lovely graphic to the back wall of the lower compartment of the pantry to give it some character. Fortunately, the back panel was still intact in this area so I didn't need to replace it.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, Now it serves as storage for my juicer

Now it serves as storage for my juicer.

This is what the Coffee Pantry looked like when it was completed. I built two small tables to set the cabinets on to give them height, make them more attractive, and to flow with the buffet which I had added legs to previously.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, Here is the frosted glass door to the French Armoire Sorry about the flash in the glass

Here is the frosted glass door to the French Armoire. (Sorry about the flash in the glass).

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, The back of the French Armoire was in great shape so I added an white embossed wallpaper to it as well as the front lower door and gave it a wash of gray so the embossing would pop and to give it more of a french feel

The back of the French Armoire was in great shape, so I added an white embossed wallpaper to it, as well as the front lower door, and gave it a wash of gray so the embossing would pop and to give it more of a french feel.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, I then added this lovely french perfume graphic to the inside of the lower door

I then added this lovely french perfume graphic to the inside of the lower door.

farmhouse coffee pantry french armoire from curbside junk, chalk paint, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, Of course I need to hand paint an old window with a chalk pen for a finishing touch between the cabinets

Of course I need to hand paint an old window with a chalk pen for a finishing touch between the cabinets.

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3 of 4 questions

Jen carey on Jan 03, 2017
I would love to know more about the graphics. Are they rub on decals?

1
Linda J. Caristo on Aug 13, 2018

Love, love. love what you did to this cabinet. How did you copy design to the doors with a pen. amazing. love it. L.Caristo

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Amanda on Aug 20, 2021

Such a delightful, inspiring read. This is a wonderful transformation! I absolutely love your front frosted glass and stenciling. I have 2 identical towers with the only exceptions being that the top door is taller along with 3 panes of interior glass shelving. My husband’s politely asked (several times lol) if we could get rid of them “because they’re ugly (he’s not wrong there lol) and no one uses entertainment towers anymore”. However, such as yourself, I see the potential they have for other purposes. (I keep telling people they don’t understand the power of paint 😉😁.)

My query for you (and anyone else with ideas): Any suggestions on what I can do with all of that glass?!? Did you have other ideas on how to repurpose these towers? My initial thought for repurposing my towers were to use them for storage in my art room. However, with glass shelving that sounds disastrous lol. I’m certain the glass and actually even the towers themselves could be repurposed several different ways. I’m not opposed to entirely making them into something else. However, for some odd reason I’m having a major brain block.

I apologize for the long post. Funny how this same conversation face to face would’ve only taken a minute or 2 rather than looking like a dang high school essay to be graded 😂…yeah, please don’t grade this🤣

Again, thank you for such a wonderful post. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Kind regards 🙂

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Teresa Alvoid on May 16, 2020

Very good job !!! I like seeing this kind of stuff come together!!

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Csh on May 20, 2020

Would love to do this. So many projects, so little time. Learned quite a bit about products I can use and wasn’t aware of.

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