More Repurposed Kitchen Cabinets

More repurposed kitchen cabinets! I used wall cabinets this time. Floor cabinets would have been too tall and too deep for the space. The shorter and shallower wall cabinets fit perfectly under the window on either side of the floor vent.

I painted the cabinets in black and Halloweeny lime green. At first, I thought the green was too loud and intense.

But filling the cabinets with cans, jars, and painting supplies obscured the color a bit. Now it's calling out rather than shrieking. :)

Two lessons learned from this project:

1. Wall cabinets need not be hung on a wall.

2. A color (or pattern) that seems too intense when the cabinet is empty may be just right when the cabinet is full.

Repurposed Kitchen Cabinets

Two of my old kitchen cabinets have been repurposed in my workroom.

Just for fun, I painted them in a Halloween-inspired palette of black, orange, purple and green.

I added drawer liners made from a vinyl tablecloth.

Craft Along with GIY: Pets

The theme for the first Craft Along with GIY is Pets. For my project, I turned a pair of secondhand end tables into dog beds.

Both my small dogs love a cozy spot to snuggle into. The Chihuahua mix loves cozy little nooks so much, I named her Nook. :) When I saw how much she adores the enclosed bed I made from a repurposed kitchen cabinet (now known as Nook's nook), I wanted to make something similar to put in the living room. I also needed end tables in that room, so the clear solution was to find a couple of the cabinet-style end tables and make them dual purpose.

It's far less clear what to call the end result. It's not just a bed; it's enclosed. By shape, it's more like a dog crate or dog house, but a crate usually has a door that closes and a house is generally outside. From Nook's point of view, the whatever-it's-called has two important characteristics: it's soft and it's enclosed. Maybe I should call it a cozy box.

Anyway... Moving on to the project details!

I found the perfect cabinet-style end tables at a thrift store.

I began with a coat of primer. I used Zinsser latex primer which I'd had tinted grey. Straight from the can, this primer is quite thick and dries SUPER fast. I added a heavy dose of Floetrol, which makes the primer dry more slowly, providing more work time, and greatly reduces brush marks.

Next, a coat of paint. I used Behr latex paint in "Black" with Floetrol mixed in.

At this point, I could have just taken off the doors and considered the project complete. But I wanted the tables to have an opening on a long side, so I'd need to cut doorways. I thought picture frames would provide ready-made decorative trim. I found a pair of frames for $4 at a thrift store.

Using my chop saw, I cut the bottom off each frame.

I placed the three-sided frame on the side of the table and traced lines along the inside of the frame. These lines would guide me as I cut out the doorway.

These are the tools I used to make the doorways: a jigsaw, a drill with a spade bit, and an oscillating tool with a saw blade.

Before cutting, I placed masking tape along the lines. The tape helps prevent splintering or damage from the jigsaw.

Using the spade bit, I drilled a hole at each inside corner of the soon-to-be doorway. Then I put the jigsaw blade down into the holes and sawed along the masking tape to cut out the doorway.

I used the saw blade on the oscillating tool to finish each cut at the bottom and clean up around the corners.

With the doorway cut, the ugly brown inside of the table could now be seen. Rather than struggle with painting or papering inside the confines of the table, I decided to make a panel that I could simply slide into place. I measured the inside back wall of the table and then marked out those measurements onto a piece of foamboard.

I cut the foamboard to size.

I covered one side of the foamboard with adhesive shelf paper, folding the paper around to the back.

Then I simply opened the table door and slid in the panel. It was a snug fit and stayed in place by itself.

Next, I attached the frame around the doorway using construction adhesive. Then I gave everything a final coat of black paint.

To make a cushion, I cut a piece of foam to fit inside the table. Then I made a cover by cutting and stitching a standard pillowcase down to size.

In went the cushion and a piece of fleece. And both dogs went in immediately. :D

To share your Craft Along with GIY project, leave a comment with a link to your project.
(More details on how to participate here.)

Craft Along with GIY: Checking In

Hello, everyone! Just checking in with an update/reminder on the January craft-along. I'm making dog beds out of secondhand end tables. I have them primed and painted black.

I had planned to finish them this weekend, but instead I have spent the last 36 hours enduring the worst headache in recent memory.  I desperately hope to be better by tomorrow because I have a lot happening at work this week.

Luckily, we're only halfway through January, so I still have plenty of time to finish. I will post the completed project on the 31st.

How's it going with you?

Repurposing Kitchen Cabinets

My kitchen looked like this when I bought my house:

Yes, I bought the house anyway. ;)

I gave it a makeover, and it now looks like this:

As you can see, I removed all the upper cabinets. I like to repurpose or upcycle when possible, and four of the cabinets are now performing new duties.

I turned one into a trash bin (shown in the photo above) and one into a dog bed.

 
Two more went in my little workroom. They happened to fit perfectly under the window, on either side of the vent, between the table and wall. I added a board across the top to make a work surface.

Of course, it wouldn't be a GIY project if I didn't paint everything black.  XD

I added black adhesive shelf paper to the board so it's a more durable work surface. I put a power strip on each end, one for the lamps and one for my power tool battery chargers. The cabinets hold my paint and painting supplies.

There are two cabinets left. They're currently storing things in the basement, but maybe I'll find them a more glamorous job in the future. :)

DIY Faux Fireplace

This project has a bit of backstory...
The wall opposite my bed was totally blank, and as usual, I wasn’t sure what to put on it.

I had been mulling over some ideas about picture frames and candle sconces, but nothing seemed quite right. Then one day, an idea struck me… I truly have no idea where it came from… that I should put a faux fireplace there.

I perused Google and Pinterest, and I concluded that building a faux fireplace was within my skill set. I pinned a few inspiration pictures of what I wanted the fireplace to look like. After measuring the wall and deciding on dimensions, I began to contemplate how I would build the fireplace. I was assembling boards in my mind when suddenly I remembered I had this bathroom cabinet (which I had set aside after the frustration of two failed paint jobs).

Of course! An over-the-toilet bathroom cabinet would make a great fireplace! Okay, so that connection is a bit of a stretch... but it's how my mind works sometimes. :)

I began by rearranging some of the cabinet parts. The thing was essentially two pieces – a top cabinet and shelf sitting on a bottom framework which functioned as legs. What I needed for the fireplace was mainly the bottom framework.

First, I took the top off the framework and placed it on the bottom to serve as a sort of hearth.

Next, I switched the back and front pieces, putting the smaller piece on the back and the larger piece on the front.

Then, I took the top from the cabinet and placed it on top of the framework to serve as a sort of mantel.

I added two 1" x 2" boards to widen the facade.

Then, it was time to add decoration and make this thing resemble a fireplace. I pulled all sorts of boards and wood trim up from my basement. I also brought in some decorative onlays and two balusters which I had purchased for about $1 at the reuse store.

I played around with the bits and pieces until I got a look I was satisfied with.

I put it all together with construction adhesive and a few screws. Then I painted the whole thing black.

To make a back, I covered a board with "tin tile" style textured wallpaper and painted it black.

Two benefits of using a bathroom cabinet: It's fairly shallow and doesn't block the path past the bed, and it has a notched area at the bottom so that it fits neatly over the base molding. :)

I finished by adding candles and decor.

Black-on-Black Dresser Part 3

And now the conclusion of our dresser makeover! (See part 1 and part 2.) We have finished painting everything...

Now it's time to add the stenciling. Use a gloss or semi-gloss sheen in the same color as the matte paint used on the drawer fronts. I used Behr Premium Plus Ultra in "Black."

Use a stencil of your choice. For a continuous, overall pattern, a wall and floor stencil works well. I used "Victorian Baroque" from Stencil Ease (available from Amazon).

While not a requirement, stencil adhesive will make the process much easier (especially if your dresser has curved drawers!). I used Krylon Easy-Tack spray.

Before you begin stenciling the dresser, I strongly recommend practicing on cardboard. Adhere the stencil in place. Load your roller lightly with paint and gently roll over the stencil. Practice will indicate how much pressure to use. Too much paint or too much pressure will cause the paint to leak underneath the stencil. Once you feel comfortable on cardboard, use the same process on your dresser.

I'm sorry I couldn't get photos of the actual stenciling process. I don't have enough hands! :( But there are lots of tutorials online.

Stencil the sides of the dresser. Stencil the top if desired.

And stencil the drawer fronts.

Next, cut liner for the drawers. Adhesive shelf paper works well, or you can use wrapping paper. I used silver wrapping paper. For regular rectangular drawers, you can simply measure the bottom of the drawer and cut the paper to size. Curved drawers are trickier. I made a pattern (the purple paper shown below). I traced it onto the back of my wrapping paper and then cut the wrapping paper along the lines.

Place liner in each of the drawers.

Attach the knobs/handles/pulls.

Slide the drawers into place... and your dresser is complete!

Here's the before and after:

I used the same gloss-over-matte technique on a chest of drawers.