Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Small Home Improvement Project - A "New" China Cabinet



I was so very excited when I found a china cabinet listed on Facebook Marketplace and even more excited when I saw that they were only asking $5 for it.  At that price I assumed it would be a fixxer upper and I was totally fine with that figuring it was worth the risk of $5 to give it a try.  So the youngest and I headed to the next city over and picked it up in our truck.

 

Three shelves and a drawer with a knob missing.

And not my preferred color choice either

The cabinet is the style I wanted and the size I was looking for which has been really difficult to find so I was excited and hopeful.  When I got there I was pleasantly surprised to find it was made of solid wood, in fact it was pretty darn heavy, but the owners helped us load it up and home we went.


The back on the cabinet was in pretty rough condition


Disassembly begins!

I was able to get it unloaded and into my driveway without too much difficulty.  After a more thorough inspection I found it to still be in pretty good shape with a fairly lousy paint job.  The drawer in the bottom of the cabinet had been broken, but the repair job the previous owner had done wasn't too bad.  The drawer is still sturdy and big enough to provide good storage so I can't complain about that.

 

Followed by lots of sanding

Soaking the hardware in straight vinegar helped me strip off the paint

I began to take apart the cabinet by removing the drawer, shelves, top and doors.  The hardware had a lot of paint on it but a soak in some vinegar made the perfect paint stripper to clean it all off as well as the screws too.  I sanded the cabinet to smooth out the paint drips and other imperfections as well as the top and components of the doors.  I had removed the glass from the doors to make it easier for sanding and painting.  The glass also needed a really good cleaning.

The first of two coats of paint go on

Already an amazing transformation
 

Once I was done sanding I wiped everything down with a damp rag to remove dust and debris and set the cabinet up on blocks (two pieces of scrap 2"X4") for painting.  I used leftover paint from our living room walls to paint the interior of the cabinet and the drawer as well as the shelves.  I picked up a quart of Graphic Charcoal paint by Behr to paint the exterior, the doors and the drawer front.


The top required a lot of sanding to remove old paint and a lot 
of nicks, dings and scratches


Then two good coats of paint made all the difference


Lots of pieces and parts

While the paint dried I washed the glass for the doors and got it ready to install.  All of the pieces of trim that hold the glass in place had been sanded and painted to match the doors.  The brackets that hold the top onto the cabinet were given a quick coating of black spray paint to blend in with the new paint color. 

The old knobs from our bathroom vanity

I gave them a good coating of my favorite Metallic spray paint

Next I used some leftover Metallic spray paint to give the old knobs from our bathroom vanity makeover a makeover of their own.  I had filled in the old holes and drilled new ones as the "new" knobs had much smaller holes.  I think they turned out pretty nice.

 

The hinges got a facelift too

After carefully sanding and painting the back
was completely salvageable, much improved!


I had removed the pin hinges from the cabinet and soaked them in vinegar as well to remove the paint that had been slopped onto them.  They cleaned up very nicely like the other hardware and once dry I have them a couple good coats of Metallic paint to match the knobs.

 

Moving it into its new home

Fits perfectly!

The drawer looks great too

Lastly, but definitely not the least, I got to fill it up!  My grandmother's beautiful china and my Christmas china now have a lovely new home.  I finally have an appropriate place to keep my great grandmother's silver in the flatware case I found at a thrift store and refurbished.

 

And then I got to fill it up!
The hardest part was waiting 48 hours for the paint to cure!

My grandmother's 25th wedding anniversary china
and my Christmas china


I am incredibly happy with my china cabinet and how it turned out.  It gives me great joy to have this special place to keep and display my precious china and other heirloom pieces that belonged to my grandmothers and great grandmothers.  They are my treasures and I really love them.

 

I absolutely love it!

I hope you found my latest project was worth the wait.  For you it was a matter of days, but for me I've been waiting years to complete this project.  It was definitely worth the wait and I am very much enjoying it.

 


41 comments:

  1. Wow! Your china cabinet looks fantastic. Great job!

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    1. Thank you Lisa. I am so in LOVE with this cabinet!!!

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  2. That looks awesome! What a great job! Love how handy you are and what great transformations you make on tight budget. You are inspiration!

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  3. Congrats on your $5 find and the hard work you put into making it match your dream :-)

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  4. I ditto Lisa. For $5.00 buck and lots of "sweat equity," you got a beautiful cabinet. Great job!

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  5. Great job..perfect for your china! Wish I had some of your energy!

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  6. Wow! I admire your thriftiness in fixing up this beautiful china cabinet. WELL DONE!!!

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    1. Thank you Jane. I walk in the room and still can't believe it is here! :0)

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  7. You did an amazing job! It looks wonderful. What a testament to using learned skills. It is these types of skills I need to learn more about. Did you learn from family growing up or have you learned these skills as you became a mom?

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    1. When I was in high school and college I worked for a furniture stripping & refinishing company. I learned A LOT about furniture those few years.

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  8. What an amazing transformation. You have a lot of patience and talent!

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  9. That is definitely a WOW transformation

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  10. Gorgeous! I would have used the words 'silk purse' and 'sow's ear,' but I highly doubt Mr. Jack would share you with a pig...

    Really, really nice job.

    Have you thought about fancy lace or paper doilies under the dishes? Protects them and keeps them from moving around, in case the cabinet is bumped or shaken. I'm thinking out loud here, but if you come across a thin flat dowel in your 'free wood' box, it might not be a bad idea to install that as a 'lip' in front to keep the dishes from moving forward.

    Granted, this is coming from someone who's been living in a trailer for a while. Our first longer trip, we lost a bunch of plates and cups because there wasn't anything in front of the shelf to keep the dishes from (you guessed it) moving forward.

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    1. Oh yes, I've had my share of trailer experiences. Ugh, but we learn quick, don't we?

      I have felt rounds under each of the dishes. That cabinet is solid. It would take quite a bit to rock it.

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  11. Beautiful! You really are amazing. ;0)

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  12. Wow. It's lovely. What's the name of the China patterns? (I love China.)

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    1. I love china too. Mine is called Poinsettias & Ribbons. I don't know what my grandmothers pattern is called and it isn't stamped on the bottom.

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  13. That is beautiful. You did a great job.

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    1. Thank you Kathy. It was a great project to take on. I just love it.

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  14. What a great job. It looks beautiful. You are so talented. Well done that woman. Ronnie (England).

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  15. It looks incredible!!! Great job on finding such an amazing deal and then transforming it into something beautiful. So amazing!!

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  16. Wow! What a nice piece it ended up being after your hard work. I expect you will enjoy it for years to come

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    1. Thank you. I think you are right Rhonda. It should last me quite a while. :o)

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