Last week, Marc and I drove to a neighborhood down the street to check out an antique dresser that was for sale. It wound up needing more repairs than I could handle, but the seller had a ton of other goodies in her garage. I wound up buying this instead.
It looked pretty atrocious. Those handles alone made me want to run in the opposite direction. It wasn’t until I opened the doors that I fell in love.
Just look at that. Doesn’t it make your heart skip a beat? I’ve never seen anything like this before!
Cubbies, drawers, spokes, and shelves for days!
These fun drawers swing out when you push on the corner.
It was dirty, smelly, and ugly. But boy would it be pretty after some TLC! The first thing I did was attack the inside with lots of hydrating Hemp Oil.
It cleaned and shined up all of the wood just perfectly. I hit the glass on the swing-out drawers with some Windex and the interior was finished.
The exterior was a totally different story. There was no top or bottom to the cabinet so my Dad helped me cut out a pine top for it. It didn’t fit perfectly because the sides were a bit warped from time and water damage, but it worked overall.
I sealed the sides with Tough Coat to prevent any potential bleed through.
When it came to choosing a color, I went back and forth between Lucketts Green and Eulalie’s Sky. In the end, I picked Eulalie because it always looks amazing.
After 2 coats and some distressing, I had a problem
The color of the new pine top didn’t match the color of the bottom. Even though I used the same batch of Milk Paint, the two different woods painted up differently because they’re different types of wood. I was a bit frustrated and I wasn’t sure how to proceed, so I decided to take a risk and add more age by doing a Beeswax resist.
Miss Mustard Seed’s Beeswax Finish is an excellent product to use if you want to achieve a two-toned chippy look. Basically, you apply the Beeswax finish over a coat of MMS Milk Paint, making sure to apply a decent amount. You don’t have to make it gloppy but it shouldn’t be thin.
Immediately, apply your second color. I picked Linen, which is a creamy off-white. I mixed it up on the thicker side and left a few clumps and sediment in the paint. I wanted to create texture, so I didn’t go for perfection. I painted the Linen on thickly and I tried not to touch it too much. I didn’t want the Milk Paint to mix with the Beeswax Finish, but rather I wanted it to sit overtop of it.
After about 10 minutes, I heard the unmistakable sound of paint crackling and chipping. After 30 minutes, things were looking quite lovely.
I gave the cabinet a healthy sanding and sealed all of the chippy paint with Tough Coat. This finish is the absolute best product to use when you have a chippy look.
The horribly ugly handles were replaced with pretty glass knobs and the pretty but non-working key was put back in place.
And here it is all chipped up and fabulous.
I staged this cabinet as if someone was using it for a jewelry cabinet.
All of the drawers and cubbies are perfect for holding bracelets and the pegs can hold rings of all sizes.
Or, they could hold necklaces.
I’m incredibly pleased with how this salvaged cabinet turned out. I don’t consider myself a carpenter so I’m over the moon that I was able to make this cabinet useful again as a jewelry cabinet. Or, I guess you could use it as a true sewing cabinet. But where’s the fun in that?
