One thing I quickly figured out after having a baby is that we needed more storage!!!!!! Our closets are pretty much full to capacity even after purging, organizing, and re-organizing! So, over the last 2 months, I stopped in to my favorite consignment stores to look for a bigger china cabinet. Finally after weeks of searching I found THE PERFECT "lemon" of a piece!
It's a very traditional, American Drew, cherry wood piece with glass cabinet doors and pre-wired lights that still work! I purchased this piece for $275??? and brought it home to begin the makeover! Here is a before picture of what I started with. (excuse the paint sample once again)
I decided to go ahead and place all of my pieces inside the cabinets first because I wanted to make sure the paint color I chose matched all of my plates and vases that you would be able to see all the time.
After testing out several paint colors, I decided to go with Young Kansas Wheat by
CeCe Caldwell. I am a big
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint fan so this was my first time using CeCe's paint. I only needed 1 can of paint and it cost me $34.95. I had the Annie Sloan wax left over from another project.
I painted the entire cabinet inside and out (including knobs and pulls) with 2 coats of Young Kansas Wheat. I let the paint fully dry over night and then went over it with Annie Sloan's Clear Wax and Annie Sloan's Dark Wax. I applied all 4 coats (2 coats of paint, 1 coat of clear wax, 1 coat of dark wax) with an Annie Sloan brush. This is a picture of all of the materials I used....
**Side note-an Annie Sloan brush is absolutely worth the $ and necessary in painting with any kind of chalk paint and wax! All the other brushes I have tried ( and I've tried A LOT) lose their bristles in the paint and on furniture and make a huge mess!
After the painting was complete, I removed the glass panes from the cabinet doors and replaced them with a screened-in-porch material. (not sure of the proper name?) I found this at Lowe's on the same aisle as the chicken wire and other fencing materials.
Lastly, I got my handy husband to remove the decorative/pointed wood piece from the top of the cabinet. I just felt like this top part was unnecessary and made the entire piece look very outdated! After removing it, the trim work around the top of the cabinet became much more noticeable and interesting!
This is the finished product and a few detail shots....
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| Detail shot of one of the hinges |
I am overall, very pleased with the piece! It freed up a lot of room in our kitchen cabinets and gave us some extra storage in the drawers on the bottom.
CeCe Caldwell's paint was super easy to use and worked well with the Annie Sloan Wax.
Remember, when life hands you lemons, turn them into something lovely!
-Marci
Labels: cece caldwell, china cabinet, more storage
