Monday, November 21, 2011

Natalie's Cabinet Makeover

Hi!  Today's post is a cabinet upcycle done by one of my very best besties, Natalie.  Isn't she adorable?  We served missions for our church together ten years ago and she's just one of those people that you can talk to after months of no communication and it's like nothing has changed.  Love her!  And just to show you how good of friends we are... notice the dress?  Yeah, how many people's wedding dress can you borrow?  


I borrowed hers, by the way.  And that said... Here's Natalie.


One thing I need to tell you, I practically suffocate at our house on toys. We have too many toys. Any of you out there in blogger land have that problem? Ha ha . . . if you even have one child, you have this problem. So, I needed another place to put toys. Something in the family room that the toys can be invisible in. I knew I wanted a cabinet to stick in the corner. Enter KSL.com :)



I found this little beauty on KSL. They were asking seventy bucks. I offered forty. We settled on fifty. I could see the massive potential!!


Okay, so I brought the thing home, took off all the hardware (doors, hinges, drawer) and began sanding. Here's something I didn't know. When people say 'sand' something, they could mean that very loosely. They (whoever 'they' are) could probably mean something more like 'rough up' so the primer or paint will stick. Sanding sucks. It's horrible and time consuming. This is how far I got after an hour. I called Kelli bummed and ready to be done. I had ONE day to finish this so it could sit and get paint fumes off before I took it in the house and set up before Tyler's arrival home. I did NOT have a week to sand this whole thing off. She set me straight. You rough it up, which would take maybe one and a half sheets of sand paper, not the FIVE I went through for half of the top and maybe 20 minutes. So I roughed up the rest (notice, I didn't NOT say sanded) and called it good.


This color looks black, but it's actually dark walnut. Just thought you'd like to know. And I actually painted this whole thing with spray paint (seriously, all five layers). Not something I would do again. 'Why not' you ask? Because my forearm is still sore. And, the worst part for me, it's really really hard to control drips when the can is almost empty because of it's spraying inconsistency. So there's that.


Also, if you were doing this, I would take off your wedding ring or wear gloves. I now get to make a trip to the jeweler to have my ring cleaned. I've been assured over and over that they can remove this paint from my ring. I have high hopes.


So you LOVE this color?!?! This awesome color is called Paprika and it's by Rustoleum. It really is the color of the spice! Awesome! I kind of love love it (yep, I said love twice!! That's just how I feel).


And I left the inside, the back of the cabinet door, and the inside of the drawer the dark walnut color. I just like it like that! After that I slightly distressed it. I forgot to take a picture, but on the drawer and a couple of spots of the doors the paint fish-eyed. I didn't care because I knew that I was going to distress it, but that would have made me completely furious if I was going for a more modern look. Fish-eyeing is when a contaminant gets on a substance that repels paint. I happened to be talking to my brother who works with paint all the time. A garage isn't exactly a clean space :) Whatever. Then I went ahead and stained it with, what else?, a dark walnut stain!! I instantly liked what I saw.


SO . . . . drum roll please . . .


TAH DAH!!!!!!


I am completely amazed with how much I love it. Seriously. Oh, and just so we're clear, I bought new knobs. The other ones were hideous. But I adore the little hinges, so they totally stayed and I didn't do anything to those other than wipe off the dust :)


Honestly, not to toot my own horn, but BEEP BA BEEP BEEP BEEP!!! I'm so excited about this that I just may do something else. Who doesn't need a reddish orange cabinet in the corner of their living room?!?! If you need help . . . well, I suppose you can call me, but I would recommend calling someone that knows what they are doing. I just guessed and pretended to be confident about it :)

WOO HOO!!!


(Kelli again)
I asked Natalie if I could post this on my blog because I am absolutely in love with it and with the fact that she didn't know what she was doing, she just went for it.  Isn't that how it is for most of us?  At least that's how it is for me.  


So, what do you guys use?  Spray paint?  Roll on?  Brush on?  I made a poll so use that to tell me!

What paint method do you like best?


9 comments:

  1. Great job Natalie...just like the most of the rest of us, like Kelli says..winging it! I love the colours...very rich looking. And you talk just like you've been blogging all your life! I like to use a small roller and a brush for furniture, but spraypainting is my favourite for anything else!

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  2. oh my gosh I love love love the finished product! I love when people have furniture statement pieces!

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  3. I'm busy thinking up something I can paint Paprika - this turned out great! Pinned!

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  4. This looks phenomenal! Love the resulting color..it has truly transformed the piece. She has done a great job!

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  5. Hi, Kelli

    I love this piece and its my favorite color too.

    Vanessa

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  6. Wow! Love that... you gals are talented! And I find it absolutely hilarious that you borrowed her wedding dress- TRUE FRIENDSHIP :) Thanks for following me, by the way - I'll be following you too! :) - lauren @summitstreetjoy.com

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  7. Beep-beep, toot-toot! I love it, thanks for sharing a very funny post too!

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  8. So awesome to see before & afters! I bought the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation Kit (in Paprika, of course) last summer and couldn't finish. In my defense, it was over 100 outside and I had to work during naptime.

    A year later and I was second-guessing myself on the color I chose...fyi, we have maple/orange-y trim in the entire house. Too much? What the heck, Paprika is a stunning color and has to be better than the poop-brown cabinets I have now!

    Wish me luck!

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  9. Absolutely Gorgeous! You should be very proud! WoW!

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