Decorative Domingo: The Cabinet

Heh. I just love typing "decorative domingo."

On this Sunday, I present to you a piece of furniture I salvaged. An old wine (or liquor) cabinet, which began its life in Chris's studio apartment 11 years ago. It had been moved four times, finally landing in our forever house.

Here it is, BEFORE:


Nothing too fancy to begin with, the cabinet started to show its wear and tear. We had it hidden in the Reject Room, with the old couch and Target furniture, and Chris was ready to toss it. I sort of concurred, but I liked its shape and size. I decided to refurbish it somehow and move it into a rather gaping empty spot in the family room.

I wanted a big change, and I wanted to go BOLD. After all, the stakes were low. If I totally messed up the cabinet, well . . . we were ready to get rid of it anyway. I used a Martha Stewart chalk matte paint for the black, and a green I ended up mixing on my own (acrylic and spray--yeah, I learned a lot on this piece of furniture). I replaced the hardware with something cuter and more whimsical. And I ended up with this:


Now, I felt this was a jazzy little improvement, but the green top wasn't quite sitting right with me. So, using a shade of the Martha Stewart vintage paint called "Tomatillo," I repainted what is a pull-down tray and was satisfied. See?


Chris, the bubble burster that he is, scrunched his face when he saw the change on the pull-down tray. "I liked it better green," he said. After a couple nights of staring at the cabinet and questioning my repainting move, I decided he was wrong. After all, if he had his way, our whole house would have beige walls and espresso brown furniture and THAT'S IT. So, I kept the cabinet my way.

Regardless of which version looks better, Chris said that he liked the addition of the cabinet to the family room. "It adds some pizazz," he said, sounding like an old man.

I added the lantern on top--I'm hoping to find something a bit better one of these days, especially because that lantern is used outside on the deck during summer.

I'm pleased: another cost-so-little (just paint and knobs) project that makes a big impact.

Comments

Popular Posts