A Vintage Cabinet Refresh

Around ten years ago, I picked up a sweet little showcase cabinet at auction. I can’t remember the exact price but, I know it was cheap. When I bought it, the cabinet was painted a soft buttery yellow. It would have been perfect with my current interior scheme. It had smoked glass mirror panels in the front. (Not so perfect.) I took them out, leaving the opening bare for some time, then finally adding chicken wire. The cabinet is exactly right for this cottage. It has dainty carved details and mostly original hardware. It’s the ideal size for spaces between the chimney breasts, and gives us more storage options. I just wasn’t in love with colour. Great for the farm, not so good in our cottage setting amongst floral wallpaper and gingham fabrics. So, a vintage cabinet refresh is on the cards. Let’s see how it comes out below.

Uses for this Vintage Cabinet

Over the past decade this little cabinet has proven itself to so handy and versatile. The original shelf brackets are still in tact, leading me to think it was used for display originally. But we have employed it as bathroom storage, a linen cupboard and a wardrobe. It’s currently used as overflow hanging space in the guest room. So, a vintage cabinet refresh is definitely needed.

How I Transformed the Cabinet

My first thought was to paint the cabinet again. This would the quickest and easiest method of transformation, and given my penchant for quick and easy, a no brainer. However, I am leaning into raw wood at the moment, so I decided to strip the layers of paint off. .I knew I was more work. But Im a sucker for punishment.

Gavin and I used the heat gun to strip the majority of paint off the wood. It was easy going as most of the layers were mineral or chalk paint with hemp oil sealer. The details around the doors were more problematic. We used a combination of stripper, sanding, a wire brush, plus any small tool that would get into crevices. I’m not going to lie, It was tedious and I swore I would not strip furniture in the future. I’ve said that before. I never stick to it.

Anyway, after a good sand all over to make the cabinet smooth, I set to painting the inside. The aim here was to cover the ugly veneer and earlier paint jobs. I wanted a uniform appearance. To achieve this, I used left over cream wall paint. I also cleaned up the original knobs with a polisher/grinder attachment on the drill. I decided to keep the Waverley wallpaper I added some years ago. The cream paint enhances the colour in the trailing leaves and flowers..

The last piece of the puzzle was deciding on how to fill the gaps where the mirror used to be. A gathered curtain seemed like a good choice, so I raided my stash. I finally chose this pretty pale green sateen with pink roses. It pairs nicely with the roses on the wallpaper and adds an extra accent colour to the room.

What I Love about the Cabinet Now

This vintage cabinet refresh has breathed new life into this piece. I love:

• the brass look of the knobs that were dirty brown
• my decision to keep the wallpaper on the inside creates a cute surprise when the door is open
• the details in the timber pop now they are not painted
• the soft green fabric looks lovely agains the timber.
• how it fits with the room and is a feature now.

I’d love to hear what you think about this update. Leave a comment and let me know.