I just finished this open cupboard.
It looked really old to start with. I mean really old. I showed it to you a few days ago, looking like this.
Tons of chippy paint, tons of bugs and dirt and tons of scars.
I totally loved the pumpkin orange paint, and wanted to just clean it up, and distress it a little more, but two sides of it weren’t painted (which I didn’t even notice until I got it home), so Plan A wasn’t going to work. I just loved the orange doors with the glass knobs, so I decided to remove them for other projects.
Plan B
I thought I’d try for a rustic, Sante Fe look so I added some turquoise blue on parts of it.
Stay with me…
I know it looks bad right now, and nothing resembling the Sante Fe look.
Next I put antique white over the whole thing.
My plan was to lightly sand the whole thing down, so it would have a washed look, with the blue and orange just barely showing, then heavily distress the edges and scars.
Up to that point, I think it was a good plan, BUT, the shelves hadn’t been painted at all.
Logically, I could have painted them turquoise and white, but noooo…I decided I’d paper the shelves in antique book pages, because I’ve got scads of falling apart books in my stash.
I spent the next hour papering shelves.
I was really pleased with how they turned out, and then it occurred to me…antique books that don’t have a southwestern look, really don’t work too well with a southwestern-style cabinet.
Are you still with me?
Plan C
I slapped yet MORE white paint on the cabinet, to totally cover the blue and orange.
I thought I’d just slightly distress the cabinet, but at that point I didn’t want the orange and blue to show,
so instead I got out my Valspar antique glaze.
I wanted every bump and bruise to be accented, so I went pretty heavy in those areas with the glaze, then rubbed the rest with a wet rag to tone it down.
I didn’t have a board to add to the back, so I added a vintage table runner instead and I absolutely love
the contrast in color and texture it adds. I also added a scrap piece of vintage fabric edging to the center shelf.
There are 3 shelves, but I decided to only use 2 of them. I like the taller shelf on top, instead of 2 shorter ones. All dressed up with some vintage goods.
I still wish the whole thing had been orange, because it would have looked wonderful decorated for autumn.
But, sometimes you just have to go with Plan B…or Plan C. And that’s okay.
Blessings,
Due to unethical websites stealing content, I can no longer provide a full RSS feed. I work too hard to produce original and inspiring content to have it stolen by others. Thank you for your understanding – I appreciate each one of you that take time out of your day to visit Knick of Time!!
This is adorable. I’ve been trying to decide on just how to take my plain laminate bookcases and make them ready for my booth and this may just be the trick. Thanks!
everything is beautiful!! I would love you to link up at Tell me Tuesday!!!
thanks
ash
love it! what a transformation!
I would love it if you would share this and/or any other projects you have been up to at Tuesday Talent Show at Chef In Training Tomorrow! Plus there is going to be a fun giveaway too! Thanks so much and I hope to see you there!
-Nikki
http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/
Beautiful project! Thanks for sharing. Hope to see you on my blog:)
Oh wow – that turned out great!! I love the vintage paper and all the sweet items inside. hard to believe it was once a giant pumpkin!!
Turned out really adorable!
Thank you Angie!
I love that you went to Plan C…it looks fabulous!
Love this!!!
enjoying my stroll through your blog.
blessings
barbara jean
it was a journey for you, but it looks awesome!
I love it that there’s always another plan and another can of paint! The finished product is charming.
-Revi
It turned out wonderful!
What darling little cabinet! I’m a fan of colorful pieces so this suits my taste perfectly =) I would love for you to share your talents at my VIP party today. http://designergarden.blogspot.com/2011/09/vip-party-26.html
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
I LOVE it….LOVE IT! The fabric is perfect! where are you putting it?
Mmmm…GREAT up-do……love love LOVE the vintage papers!
Deborah [visiting happily from http://upcyclingmylife.blogspot.com}
[Hope you can visit too!]
OK is right! Love the details here. Thanks so much for coming by Market Monday. Can you add my link?
http://mollysusanstrong.blogspot.com/2011/09/market-monday-with-linky-creating-from.html
love this! Thanks so much for linking up to Tuesday Talent Show! I would love to have you stop by and link up again tomorrow with more great projects!
-Nikki
http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/
Lovely re-do
Smiles,
The Joyful Thrifter
It came out great! I love the way you used the fabric on the back… I’ve gone to plan C more times than I can count… guess it goes with the whole creative thing! Great repurpose Angie!