Dear Diary, a china cabinet has changed my life...

My first blogged-about-project - YAY! - is a furniture makeover. I found the cabinet OF MY DREAMS on kijiji for $100, which I thought was a steal.  I loved its pretty details, but it wasn't TOO busy and it was solid wood (pine's not my favorite, but it's certainly better than laminate or veneer... plus I was painting most of it anyway).  I immediately sent the link to my husband who asked the owner what kind of shape it was in, because it looked pretty rough in the picture and we were driving from out of town.  The owner said: "Well, not too bad.  It does have one scratch though."  He agreed to $60 because of the scratch.  60$!!!  Can you believe that??!?  So my Papa came with us and helped with all the heavy lifting (thanks and sorry, Papa!) and when we got there, our first reaction was 'Which scratch is the "one scratch?"'  But we said nothing, and I happily took it home for refinishing.

My inspiration came from this high chair, at A Little Touch of Love:

First, I removed all the hardware.  Then I gave the buffet and drawer fronts a light sanding.  *Life Lesson #1: CHEAP DOES NOT EQUAL A GOOD DEAL.*  Sand paper from the dollar store is almost LESS effective than throwing one grain of sand at your piece of furniture repeatedly.  Invest in real sandpaper.   I learned the hard way.  Not only because I wasted a dollar.  But also because I was all geared up to start on the buffet and then I had to get back in the car and go to a real hardware store and buy real sandpaper.  In mucky work clothes, no less.  I used furniture stripper on the table top (all of this was done outdoors for good ventilation), then sanded it smooth with a power sander.

Buffet with "one scratch"

I taped off the table portion, then primed the bottom (with Kilz) to get rid of the dark colour and musty smell of having been stored out in the garage for who knows how long.  It took three coats of paint.  I used exterior paint, only because we had some left over in a colour that I liked.  I painted with a brush first, and then used a roller overtop to get rid of the lines while they were still wet.

Once I was happy with the paint job on the bottom, I got ready to stain the table.  This is when I realized I had made a big, yucky, lazy mistake.  *Life Lesson #2: USE TOOLS FOR THEIR INTENDED PURPOSE ONLY.*  I had used scotch tape to tape off the edges when I realized we were out of painter's tape.  (What?  Tape can be a tool.)  I wanted to get going on my project and not make YET ANOTHER emergency trip to the hardware store.  But when I went to take off the scotch tape, it left adhesive all over my beautifully stripped and sanded tabletop.  ARGH.  So I took off a lot of it with a cloth soaked in hot vinegar.  But I did have to get the power sander out again to remove all the adhesive.

Now, one might logically conclude that I would make the trip to get painter's tape before staining the top.  But no.  No, I just went ahead and used more scotch tape.  I really don't even know what to say about that.  But it all worked out.  I used a dark stain that you paint on and then wipe off.  And it came out just like I had hoped.  The tape even came off clean this time!

Hutch

So by this time, the weather had taken a turn for the worse and my husband told me I would have to wait for the spring to do the hutch portion of the cabinet.  This will not do.  The cabinet (that I love, mind you) has been taking up my sewing room for long enough - it will not stay there for the winter if I can help it.  SO.  I had already removed the hardware and glass shelving and windows.  The next day of above zero temperatures, we brought the cabinet up the stairs and outside (this time without Papa's help - sorry again, Papa, MAN that thing is HEAVY.  And awkward.) and I gave the whole thing a quick sanding.

"Well begun is half done." - Mary Poppins

Then we brought it inside and sat it on top of the buffet (protected by a drop sheet for priming and painting).  I finished the hutch exactly the same way I did the buffet.  Primer, then 3 coats of paint.  Brushed, then rolled.

Once it was good and dry (well, maybe a little sooner than that... I got impatient), I put all the hardware on.  I really liked the original hardware; I found it it went nicely with the cabinet and I didn't want it to look VERY modern.  But it was pretty yucky looking and covered in the cabinet's original varnish.  So I sanded the pieces down to give it a brushed bronze look.  Some pieces had a very heavy coat of varnish on them, but it came off nicely with hot vinegar.  But smelled gross.  Fair warning.  Then I attached the doors and put in the shelf and windows and it was done!

My fantastical husband even moved the thermostat over several feet to make room for the cabinet.  See where it is now?  Above a light switch makes sense to me.  What on earth do I want a thermostat in the middle of a wall for?
 

Check out all the pretty details that were just hiding in the shadows before:

I'm very happy with the results.  Hence, I started a blog to shout it to the world: "I NOW HAVE A CHINA CABINET!"  And now I want to completely repaint the interior of the house to better co-ordinate with my china cabinet.  It's my new style.

PS - I have an extreme dislike of typos.  Please be sure to point them out to me, and I will correct them.