Quite awhile ago, while perusing Craigslist I happened upon a very lovely Vintage China Cabinet.  This beautiful cabinet had lovely carvings and moldings and heck, she was dirt cheap.  I felt the need to stuff yet another piece of furniture into my kitchen aka small dining area…and so I bring you the Vintage China Cabinet Makeover.

I quickly went to meet the seller.  The poor cabinet had been living outside.  Hmmm, I’m seeing a pattern here.  Remember my French Cabinet Makeover? Yes she had been dwelling outside as well.  This cabinet definitely was showing the signs of the weather.  Her husband had decided to do a little “restoration” on the cabinet, which included gluing the top to the bottom, prying the front lock open and trashing it, cracking the bottom support when it was dragged outside and putting in new glass with a green tint to it, ugh!

Well, it didn’t scare me away.  This would make it easier for me to paint this little lovely.  Or so I thought.  She sat around for about 1 year.  Even though she was weather worn and had spiders living inside her, I loved how pretty this cabinet was and I left her in her natural wood state.  Then I got tired of how her dark and dreary appearance was making the corner of the kitchen she sat in equally dark and dreary.  Let the sun shine in!

Another Craigslist Furniture Makeover

I had to make repairs to the cabinet.  It had a crack in the trestle support along the bottom.  I decided on my “go-to” white color by Behr – Spun Cotton for the exterior and to make my own chalky paint mixture. If you opt to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint consider using Old White Mixed with Pure White. 

The door was removed and the cabinet was lightly sanded all over to remove whatever shine in the finish that was left.  Mother nature had already prepped the cabinet for me when it was left outside in the elements.  Be sure to wipe the cabinet down with a damp cloth to remove any particles, dust etc.

Here you can see the difference after just 1 coat of paint, I used 2 coats…3 where needed.

Here’s some more photos of the progress.  You will notice when I paint carvings white, I sort of drybrush over them to give it an antiqued effect.

Replacing The Glass With Chicken Wire

I hadn’t planned on replacing the glass with hexagonal wire.  When I painted the inside to the cabinet with the Duck Egg Blue color, it really looked quite awful because the glass had a very green tint which made the cabinet look dark and dreary and I was going for light and bright.  The glass was not original to the cabinet, if it had been I would have left it in place. Out came the glass and wire was added.  I ended up mixing my own custom color for the interior as the Duck Egg Blue did not yield the fresh look I was going for. Distressing the cabinet all over to brought out the details and also made it look more casual and less formal.

I am quite pleased with the outcome of this lovely Vintage China Cabinet Makeover.  Please check back again soon for another fun Craigslist Up-cycle project from Little Painted Cottage.  Thank you for visiting!