My little sewing nook- and cabinet glazing love!

I have something very romantic to share with you today!

I have been procrastinating on posting this blog. Why? Maybe I really love my nook and I am worried what other folks will think of it? Because I took a ton of photos that will be in this post? Maybe because the painting and treatment of this gorgeous cabinet took so long that I am ready to be finished with it? haha

Our bedroom has needed some attention for awhile. We got a Baby Lock Tempo sewing machine as a wedding gift and I have been doing my stitching in our bedroom with out a proper way to store my fabric, scraps and current projects. It was so hideous that I did not take a before photo. I'm pretty bad about that. Just imagine the finished space with out the cabinet and with fabric, thread, pins etc all over the place!

We measured the wall above my sewing table, then I went to my favorite place, The Rebuilding Center and purchased a cabinet for $10. There was really nothing special about it. There were no shelves in it either, so we grabbed 2 melamine shelves that had to be cut to fit for only $2! I love that place!

Here are the before photos:

Y'all know how impatient I am, I didn't get a photo of the cabinet with the door still on. Glad I caught myself to take the before photos after I'd taken all of the hardware off.

It is really just a basic white cabinet, the sides are laminate. Hmmm I'd never finished laminate furniture before, but I figured it would be about the same as everything else since I planned to sand and prime everything anyway.

This is my inspiration piece!! 

(source)

It looks very romantic doesn't it?!

Here is a list of my supplies:

$10 cabinet and $2 shelves from Rebuilding center

320 grit (fine sand paper)

Foam roller

Foam brush

Scrap cotton fabric

Synthetic Bristled paint brush (I LOVE my Purdy Brushes!)

Kilz Primer

Sherwin Williams Summit Gray (or Behr)

Americana Mississippi Mud

Americana Glazing Medium

Minwax Polyacrylic 

Here are my supplies in all their glory:

1. I sanded my cabinet with 320 grit (very fine) sandpaper then primed it with 2 coats of Kilz. It takes a little under an hour for a coat to dry, so I was able to do this part one day during nap time :)

2. I wanted it to be in the same color scheme as the gray on the accent wall in our bedroom. So I decided that would be the base color. It is called Summit Gray by Sherwin Williams, but fortunately you can get it Home Depot at the fraction of the cost. Please see the photo above of the info sticker. This is the best gray I have ever found, there is no blue or purple in it. 

I slapped on 2 (or was it 3?) coats of Summit Gray. I sanded in between coats with my fine sand paper; it's worth it! I wanted all of my paint to cure before I started layering on all the glaze so I let it sit about 3 days. It was so. hard. to. wait...

3. I then knew that I wanted it to be shimmery, but not too metallic/silvery looking. I decided on Folk Art Metallic Pearl White, photographed above, and just crossed my fingers that it would give the look I wanted that I wanted. And it did :)

I mixed the Pearl White with the Glazing medium according to the instructions on the back of the glazing bottle, although I used less water to thin it out because I like to live on the edge ;)

4. I rolled this glaze mixture onto my cabinet with my foam roller and got in the little nooks with my foam brush. Once the first coat dried, it wasn't shimmery enough for me so I applied a second coat.

5. I wanted a little more texture. The shimmery was beautiful, but I wanted a slightly hammered look. I lightly sanded over the dried shimmery glazing treatment. Holding my breath that I didn't get this far and have to start all over. It looked great! Sigh of relief. I kinda fly by the seat of my pants on these things.

6. I mixed the Mississippi Mud with the glazing medium according to the package and I'm pretty sure I followed the directions this time :P

With my foam brush, I ran this mixture into all of the cracks and creases of my cabinet and dabbed it with my cotton cloth. This is a pretty tedious process and I did it two times over the cabinet. 

I also applied some of the Mud Glaze to the four corners of my cabinet door and patted them until they faded in toward the center, like the drawer fronts in my inspiration photo. I liked this so much that I then did it on the sides of the cabinets and so on. Dabbing with the foam brush and patting with the cotton cloth... I got a little too into it. I decided to leave it alone, let it dry and come back to check it out.

I loved it and didn't do any more!

7. I applied the polyacrylic all over with my paint brush, waited for it to dry according to the can's instructions, applied another coat, then waited for it to cure for three days! I could not wait for my hubs to get home from work on that third day so he could hang it on the wall!!!!

I just attached the old hardware back onto it until I could decide on a handle that I likes better.

Annnnnnnd here she is:

Oh I just love this addition to our bedroom and my sewing space! 

The photos don't even do her any justice!

All of my reclaimed linens have a home on the top shelf!

In this close up photo, you can see the texture and glazing treatment better.

This is the old scuffed up handle that came on the cabinet, I just haven't decided what handle to put on it yet. Now I want to do this to all of our bedroom furniture. Will I have the patience?

These are three handles that I picked up at the Rebuilding Center.

These handles can also be painted any color I'd like!

Help a sister out:

Which handle do you think I should put on the cabinet: A, B, or C?

What color do you think I should make the handle?

Mudroom under $100 - part 2: A recycled kitchen cabinet turned mudroom storage hutch

So, we all remember what my tiny entry way looked like, right? If you didn't see it in this post of part 1, here is a reminder:

I identified that I needed storage in our entry way:

(From part 1)

What do I need to store in my entry way? Shoes, jackets, dog leash, poo bags, shopping bags, incoming and outgoing mail, family binder (meal plan, cleaning plan, bills), reusable shopping bags, shopping list, keys... I'm sure this list will grow in the future as this becomes a usable space.

I love the challenge of making things that look very nice (and function very well) out of quality inexpensive materials. My go to place is The Rebuilding Center. I had the recollection that upper cabinets are about 12" deep and that is about the amout of space we could spare in our narrow entry for storage. I always have to have a little chat with myself before I go, "Now Lauren, be open to what you might find. Don't let your vision be too narrow and if you can not find something that you believe will be just right, they'll have a whole new inventory next week."

Well, I went, I searched, and I found! Only $10 for this upper cabinet!

Pardon the photos, y'all know how impatient I am at starting new projects and this cabinet was all taken apart and ready to paint the night I bought it. But you get the idea.

There's the cute little planter turned shoe rack back there!

ew. But such incredible detail!

Wide insides!

I got to work sanding, priming and painting. I decided to go with black since the walls are so light and our kitchen floor is black and white checkered. Plus it helped that we had a can of Behr Mickey Mouse Ears (black) in the garage left over from a previous project. I was so excited about this find that I even woke up bright and early, earlier than Preston even, to get this baby finished.

I soaked the icky hinges in all kinds of cleaner in an attempt to de-gunk them, then spray painted them white in contrast to the black. 

I bought legs from Home Depot for $20, which was steep in my book, but I was ready to get this entry under control and I wanted something simple. The ones I purchased are 2"x2"x6" wooden screw in legs and the screw in plates (sold separately). This way our cabinet would be raised above the trim and we would have more room for storage underneath. I also painted the legs black.

I put it all back together and my husband anchored it to the wall by screwing it into the studs for ultra support, and here's the finished product!

There is still so much more that needs to be accomplished in this entry area, but we will save that for another day! Thanks for checking out my musings.

What is your favorite up cycled home improvement project that you have scored on the cheap?

I linked up to A Bowl Full of Lemons!