In the dark, Spanish Mediterranean house once owned by my parents, this dining room cabinet made sense. It's incredibly well made, sturdy, and offers ideal storage capacity, but it was grossly outdated for my space. Confronted with my mom having to dispose of it I realized I had to make it work so I could keep this valuable piece in my life.
I envisioned it as a moody curiosity cabinet to house my collection of random antique items I grab during any sourcing trip. My dining space is small, so I chose to paint the back of the cabinet the same color as the wall (Sherwin Williams Alabaster White 7008) leave the interior the existing brown (to warm it up), and paint the exterior the same color as the molding (Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black SW6258) to make it feel like an architectural detail.
First Step:
- Clean, then sand to give texture for the paint to adhere to and remove existing top coat.
Second Step:
- Prime ( I cannot stress this enough. I have skipped the priming step one too many times and had to repaint. It's not fun.)
Third Step:
- I chose to finish the interior and paint the 1st and 2nd coats of white paint on the back of the cabinet.
Fourth Step:
- Paint the exterior. This cabinet is quite large so I broke it into bite size sections as to not get overwhelmed.
Fifth Step:
- Add furniture wax to protect, seal and give it the sheen for depth. I used Jolie Clear Finishing Wax.
Photo by Caroline Sharpnack
Sixth Step:
- Polish. I used microfiber cloths to wipe excess wax and rub my grimy fingerprints off.
Photo by Caroline Sharpnack
Final Step:
- Style and Enjoy!