Friday, September 30, 2011

Repurposing a 1970's Record Cabinet

Hi everyone!! Today I'm going to share my brand new storage cabinet with you!! I'm so thrilled with the way this turned out that I couldn't wait to share it with all of you! I'm going to show you the before pictures, and than the after. The story behind this record cabinet...our elderly neighbor passed away last December and they just had the estate sale a couple of weeks ago. We were walking around in the basement and here stood this little cabinet all by itself off over in the corner. Now when I saw this little cabinet, I could envision it painted white, to match all of my furniture in my scrapbook room. I've been on the hunt for a cabinet to hold all of my larger Sizzix dies that I've gotten the last couple of years, but I also wanted a place to put my Big Kick on so that I could just go and grab a die and run it through my machine, all in one place, instead of being spread all over in my craft room. When I saw this I hoped that it would work and it was for sale for only $10.00. So my husband asked if there was anything there that I wanted and I showed him this cabinet. He said will wait until tomorrow (half price day), he said he didn't think anyone else would even be interested in it. So first thing the next morning we walked across the street and I made a bee-line to the basement, and yep, it was still there!! Oh boy was I ever so happy, but before I bought it, I took the extra-long die that I had brought with me to see if it would really work for what I wanted and....YES!!!! it did!! So I hubby carried it upstairs for me and I laid my $5.00 on the table to pay for my treasure (the cashier just looked at me like, "really, you are buying that ugly thing?") So I got it home and started working on it that afternoon.



As you can see, it was pretty ugly, even had to wipe off the cobwebs...



Yes, there is a small piece missing on the left, but I can work around that, no problem.



As you can see the top was in very sad shape, it looked like they had used it to store laundry soap on it. The metal feet had rusted too.


After sanding it, wiping it down, I primed with with spray paint...


Than use Rust-oleum white satin spray paint to finish the cabinet with. Didn't the top turn out nice!!? Look at all that storage underneath! I even taped off the metal and spray painted them silver.


Here it is in my craft closet holding my Big Kick and all of my dies too!


In the space behind the doors, I have some of my crafting supplies, all nice and put away!!



Now if I were to do alot of repurposing of ugly/old furniture, I would invest in a paint sprayer because it did take three cans of primer and three cans of the Rust-oleum. I did get the paint at Wal-Mart so I did save there. So for around $30.00 dollars, I got a nice piece of furniture and I know Frank and Dorothy would both be pleased that it is still being used!!



























5 comments:

Chanda said...

OMGosh! Mary, it looks awesome! What a great find! You did a really good job of painting it, too! How nice to have everything in one spot! Great job! :)

Linda Tarolli said...

Your "ugly" cabinet came out great! I wonder if you could tell me if it had any "cellar odor"? I have a fantastic cabinet that I rescued but haven't been able to put anything in it because it is so musty. I even asked a pro and was told there's nothing to do about it. Would painting it help?

Mary said...

My response would be to set it out in the sunlight for about a week, but bring it in every night so that it doesn't get wet with the evening dew. I found some information on the internet here:


http://www.fcs.uga.edu/pubs/current/C767.html


Thoroughly clean mildewed surfaces, woodwork, and other wooden parts by scrubbing them with a mild alkali, such as washing soda or trisodium phosphate (eight to 10 tablespoons to a gallon of water), or with disinfectants, such as a quaternary disinfectant or pentachlorophenate. Paint and grocery stores and janitors' supply houses sell these products under various trade names.

Rinse the wood well with clear water, and allow it to dry thoroughly, then apply a mildew-resistant paint. Mildew-resistant paints in all colors for outdoor wood surfaces are available for use in untreated paints.

If the mold has grown under the paint or varnish, remove all the paint or varnish from the stained areas, then scrub with a solution containing eight to 10 tablespoons of trisodium phosphate and one cup of household chlorine bleach to a gallon of water. Use stronger solutions if necessary. Wear rubber gloves. If the stain remains, apply oxalic acid (three tablespoons to one pint of water). Finally, rinse the surface thoroughly with clear water. Dry well before refinishing. (The acid is poisonous, so handle it carefully).

Hope this helps!

Linda Tarolli said...

Thanks so much! I will give it a shot.

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

super transformation on your record cabinet. It's so practical now!
gail