Saturday, May 8, 2010

Painted China Cabinet

china cabinet after
This is a project that I have wanted to do for almost 10 years but never had the nerve to do it. So there it sat, in all its orange glory. But since we renovated the kitchen it is now exposed to the family room and every time I sat on the coach it stuck out like a big orange blob.
china cabinet before

Last Sunday I decided ... enough's enough ... I'm painting this baby. So, in my usual haste, I started taking off all the hardware before I remembered to take a before shot. This picture was taken when we were packing up for the kitchen reno, thus the chairs stacked up in front of it.

I wanted to paint it a darker grey, but the husband, who stated that he "didn't care what I did to it" all of a sudden got opinionated about the colour. I started with CIL Surreal Blue, went down a shade to Silver Trophy, but he finally won with the even lighter shade of Fine Silver. I do like it, but would have liked it to be just a tad darker. I'm toying with some kind of glaze over top to give it some oomph. Lindsay at Better After used a cool product today that I may try to track down.
china cabinet during

I started with a primer coat, followed by two coats of paint, then one coat of varathane. I should have probably done another coat of varathane, but I was getting lazy!
supplies

There are lots of imperfections but that's okay. I'm just so happy to get rid of the orange. I kept the top in the original finish because a) it matches our dining room table and b) it was much easier to cover it then have to move the top and c) I knew I'd never get a nice even coat on it like it has now.
china cabinet after

As you can see, I took off the doors. I was thinking about doing that and when the husband saw me taking the doors off to paint them he commented that it looked nice like that. Sold! Then I mentioned that it was really nice that their was already beadboard on the back. He looked at me like I was a bit loopy ... oh, he said, you mean the PANELLING. I then gave him the stink eye and told him, no, the BEADBOARD. (full disclosure, technically it IS panelling, but I wasn't giving that to him).
hardware before and after

Without the doors I've been able to add my pride and joy ... my Keiller Dundee marmalade crocks. They look much better here than they did in behind glass in the kitchen.
Keiller Dundee marmalade crocks


Linking to Funky Junk Interiors' Saturday Nite Special.
Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special


Edited to link to Life in the Fun Lane's first Fresh Coat Friday.

16 comments:

Ali @ Honey and Maple Syrup said...

What a transformation! It looks great!

Jane@Little House of Projects said...

Wow! What a makeover! I love it!

Anita @ GoingALittleCoastal said...

I love the makeover! It looks terrific with a coat, or two, of paint! I need to do the same to mine. I think it will lighten it up!

The Frosted Gardner said...

I love hutches! This turned out beautifully. Glad I stopped by!

Anonymous said...

That looks far better than I could have imagined - the colour is so good, and the new hardware, and keeping the top wood is inspired (I know you said it was just practical!) It looks Martha to me...

Michele {The Scrap Shoppe} said...

Stunning makeover! Its amazing what paint can do for some things. Thank you for stopping by my blog!

Barbara Matson said...

The cabinet looks amazing, so much better! Beautiful!

The Pennington Point said...

Wow! It is 1000x better. You didn't even notice the "beadboard" before you painted it. Now it is a piece you can enjoy. I love it and I love your humor. Lisa~

Dana @ Bungalow'56 said...

Dear Carolyn, Thank you for the flattened chicken recipe. My girl were oohing and aaahing first thing in the morning. We are going to give it a try. Wish me luck. Your hutch by the way looks sooo much better. Love it! I'm about to embark on some furniture painting myself.
Dana

Becky said...

That looks incredibly gorgeous! And the way you have it styled is perfect.

I am lacking a china cabinet, and you have inspired me to think that all the old orange-y ones I see for sale secondhand can be made pretty.

Catherine @ van Breugel Design said...

You are so clever! I love this idea too! Thanks again for all the great ideas you're giving me!

Jen said...

you really gave that piece a brand new life! i love to see people who have an eye for things like that! GREAT JOB!

Anonymous said...

Wandered over from Holly's Fresh Coat Friday and so glad I did. I've been dying to get my hands on a hutch to redo. I love the color you choose although I bet it would have looked just as great in a darker shade of gray (men...geesh). Looking forward to checking out the rest of your site!

Jan said...

love the color you used! great job!

Unknown said...

LOVE that you decided on a whim to just go for it! I tend to work like that and it is best to just do it when the creative urge strikes. Your hubby sounds a lot like mine too, doesn't give a hoot until I am about to actually do something LOL. I think the original top actually makes the piece, so glad you left it!!

Thanks for sharing in our first Fresh Coat Friday and hope to see you in again!

Holly

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