Old Cabinet Made New Walk-Through
Dear Fellow Creator,
I hope your summer is going well! Maybe you’re enjoying the sunshine and pool or taking refuge in a cool, air-conditioned space. Either way, I hope you’re feeling inspired and motivated to make all the things!
The hot summer has me seeking mainly indoor projects but the project I’m writing about today, flipping a piece of furniture, did happen outside for most of it. Pop-up canopies, fans, and a bit of shade chasing were involved in the process.
Furniture flipping is a project that checks just so many boxes. Reusing something that already is- check. Creating something new and original- check. Money saving if you already have all the tools – check. Custom results that work specifically for your space- check.
A whiiiiiile back, like a couple of years ago, I grabbed up this free hutch piece on Facebook Marketplace. It barely fit in my car and there were moments that we all thought I wasn’t going to be able to take it. But alas, the men were able to get it in and we triumphantly returned home with our free but somewhat well-earned piece of furniture.
In its initial state it was seemingly purposeless. Just a well-built box of wood, mirrors, and glass. I had no idea what I wanted to do with it but I loved the shape, size, and possibility of this solid wood piece. It rested in my garage until its time had come.
Recently I decided to give our completely unorganized home office (aka the 3rd bedroom) a bit of a refresher that would also work to make the space more functional. I have big visions of opening this room up to the living area one day. Today is not that day.
The goal with the home office is to make it more functional and organized without any major changes like opening up walls or built-ins. It pains me to say that as built-ins are my love language. One day maybe. Until then, I need storage and I need cost-conscious bookshelves.
That hunk of wood in the garage was now poised to be brought to life again.
In order to make it usable I needed to do a bit of work.
First things first, I needed to get rid of the mirror backing and all the glass. I wanted this guy to be more about storage and less about display. I did keep the glass shelves though. They are nice and thick and still functional.
Then I sanded. And sanded. And sanded. Really the sanding on this one wasn’t the worst I’ve ever had to do but sanding becomes very annoying when you get to sanding the bits the electric sander doesn’t reach. I had to settle in for several long sessions of tiny back and forth movements in tight corners.
Once all the sanding was done, I stained the whole thing with Minwax’s Special Walnut Semi- Transparent. The original color wasn’t bad but I like the change from the orange red to a warm brown that let the woodgrain show through. Then I sealed it with matte poly and moved on to the next phase, backing.
When I removed the mirrors there was a piece of wood on the back holding the mirrors in. I was surprised that this was the ONLY thing keeping that heavy mirror in there. We moved it around quite a bit and it was always super solid.
I debated on adding an additional layer to the back but ended up just reusing that thin wood panel alone. I painted it black with some leftover Dixie Belle chalk paint and attached it. Still feels nice and sturdy.
Next, I cut the side panels and door panels from some backer board that I had. I did have to buy another piece since I didn’t quite have enough. No big deal, a little trip to Home Depot never hurt anyone and to be real, I expect at least one trip to the hardware store during most home projects.
I used the glass as a template to avoid needing to measure. I love when that’s an option!
The middle section is going to stay open but I didn’t want to sand inside the cabinet so I decided to paint it black as well. For the sides and immovable shelf I used leftover paint I had, one of the blacks from Fusion- I just love that paint for furniture.
The sides and door panels were wrapped with peel and stick faux grass-cloth. It has a nice texture so it looks close to real without the real price tag. The black I got has some other shades of brown and gold and it looks so good with the refinished wood.
The little recessed sections at the top also got a bit of the black Fusion paint and I put on some 15 inch legs from Amazon to give it some height.
I kept the original hardware as it worked so well with the changes I made and was still in near perfect condition.
One more thing! I almost forgot about the lights!
When I first started this project I took out the mirror backing. At that time I tested the light fixtures that were in the cabinet. One of them worked and I considered moving it to the center section but it ended up getting pretty hot in the short amount of time that I had it plugged in. I scratched the plug in lights altogether.
Instead I installed a round remote controlled puck light for the center and then 2 motion lights for the side compartments. It turned out to be the perfect decision to keep the glass shelves so that the lighting is more useful as it shines down the whole cabinet through the shelves.
Okay, there it is! I’m pretty sure my husband thought I’d never get to doing anything with this big cabinet that just took up valuable garage space all this time. But I did it! And I love it! And I love that this has become a one of a kind piece that is also super functional! (How many times did I use the word “functional” in this article? I don’t know but it IS a great word 🙂)
More on my home office refresh to come!
