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New Life for a Little Old Cupboard

ByDiana Hours Published: Hours Last Updated:
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Hi everyone! I’ve been cleaning and reorganizing my pantry lately. In the process, I’ve inserted some shelving (all by myself!) to replace a couple of mix and match small pieces of furniture that weren’t really working in there. One of them is this little country-style cupboard with wire mesh inserts on the front. I don’t have a place in mind for it just yet, but I was in the mood for a painting project, so I went for it.
New Life for a Little Old Cupboard
As you can see, this poor, tired out cabinet was screaming for a make-over. I recently purchased a quart of Behr Premium Plus Gray Granite paint at a garage sale for a dollar and decided to use it for this project.
New Life for a Little Old Cupboard
Are you getting the idea about the condition it was in?
New Life for a Little Old Cupboard
Pretty dried out, and whatever finish was on this little pine piece had worn off quite a bit.
New Life for a Little Old Cupboard

After giving it a light sanding, I painted on just one coat of the Behr Premium Plus, let it dry over-night, and then distressed the edges a bit with a sanding sponge.

New Life for a Little Old Cupboard

You get some idea here of the sanding I performed. I kept the little brass hinges clean by applying a thin coat of Vaseline to each of them prior to painting. Any paint that hit them, easily wiped off after the paint had dried.

New Life for a Little Old Cupboard

I decided to leave the top unpainted. I thought the warm wood would be a nice contrast with the paint, and so I used a product called Howard’s Restor-A-Finish Restore in Neutral that I have used many times throughout the years. Sometime it accomplishes exactly what you hope for, and this was one of those times. It took care of all that dryness you saw in the early photos and gave it a nice even, moisturized surface. A small container lasts through numerous small projects, and Amazon has it available at the lowest price I’ve found:

New Life for a Little Old Cupboard

After applying the Howard’s Restore product, I then rubbed on a coat of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax to the entire piece. After letting it sit for about 10 minutes, I then rubbed it with a lint-free rag until I achieved a smooth, hard surface with no streaking. I use this product for most of my painted projects; it protects the surface from scratches and other kinds of wear.

New Life for a Little Old Cupboard

Here’s a close-up of some of the distressing, and the nice surface that the wax leaves behind.

New Life for a Little Old Cupboard
New Life for a Little Old Cupboard
New Life for a Little Old Cupboard
I think he’s kinda cute. What do you think?

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12 Comments

  8. Diana, I think it turned out so cute! Love the color. reminds me of a little cupboard I had and gave to my oldest daughter. We repainted hers a mustard color a few years ago. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  10. Great color – I am in love with gray right now. Like the wood top. Two products I have used for years and can attest to their ability to make a piece of furniture special.

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