Repurposed kitchen cabinet

When I decided to remove this cabinet from my kitchen, I stuck it in the garage for a bit not knowing what to do with it.  I used one of the cabinet doors to make a pull out trash can and figured I would throw the rest out later.

Then my sister, being the clever gal that she is, stumbled on an idea from Pinterest to repurpose a cabinet into a storage table,

Supplies:

• Chalk paint (Americana Decor - Primitive.  Purchased @ Sutherlands $7.99)
• 4 table legs ($2.48/ea @ Lowe's)
• 4 table leg angle top plates ($1.98/ea @ Lowe's)
• 3 - 1"x6"x4' whitewood boards ($1.88/ea @ Lowe's)
• Minwax stain (dark walnut - didn't spend any on this, had from a previous project)

 After wiping down the cabinet, I filled all the existing holes with woodfiller and attached the new legs.

Then I cut the top boards down to size, my cabinet is 30"x12".

After cutting the 3 boards I used a router to make them look a bit more finished.  I attached them using staples, which I put in on the under side so you couldn't see them.  I also sanded the top.

I decided to stain the top first just in case I got messy....I know myself way too well.

Here's the paint I used.

Almost done with my first coat.

2 coats down, and I'm going to seal it with a clear wax.

Well, it didn't fit next to the bed.  I was going to use this in place of the two night stands I have but it just didn't work out.  So here she is...

And the before and after...

Faux Marble Countertops

Here's a brief little showing of how I painted my laminate countertops to look like marble for under $85.

Supplies:

• Big paint brush (I got a 4" from Lowes's for $10.98)
• Plastic drop clothes (@ Lowe's $2.98/ea  I got 2)
• 2 boxes of glaze coat (@ Lowe's $22.98/ea)
• 6 multisurface acrylic paints (@Michaels $1.69/ea, will show colors later)
• Sponge (@ Michaels $3.99)
• 2" foam brush (@ Michaels $0.99, I only used this to catch drips)
• Turkey feather (@ Michaels $2.19 came in a pack of 2, used this for veining)
• 2 pint sized mixing buckets (@ Sutherlands $1.99/ea, forgot to get this while I was at Lowe's)

I'm in process of fixing up the kitchen so don't mind the missing backsplash.

The first thing I did was scrape the countertops to make sure all the grime and stuff was off of it,  As you can see I'll be painting over this speckled blue laminate counter.

There were also some holes that were drilled into the laminate in the back corner (not sure why), so I patched those up with some wall putty...nothing fancy, but it's getting covered up anyway.

After scraping and wiping down the counters I applied 2 coats of a white primer.  I also removed the sink because the epoxy I'm using (glaze coat) once it's cured there would be no replacing the sink without cracking everything.  So I'm sinkless for about 4 days.

I also covered up my cabinets under the countertops with painters tape and the plastic draping.  I would STRONGLY recommend this because it gets messy!

Here are the paints and supplies I used (minus the big 4" brush and an old hand towel).  The paint is Folk Art brand.  (Vintage White, Camel, Coffee Latte, Bark Brown, Medium Gray, and I didn't end up using the black on the end)

So I watched a ton of tutorials and every technique was different.  I feel like I tried most of them.  So I started out mixing the paints in separate containers that were labeled (1-6 so I didn't get them mixed up).  I mixed 1 part paint to 3 parts water, in my opinion...this was way too watered down.  But I used my 4" brush to apply all the colors accept white and black in a diagonal pattern.

It reminded me of a watercolor rainbow...not the look I was going for.  So I set down the brush and picked up the sponge.  I also started putting the paints on a paper plate and dabbing them on since the watered down paints were SUPER watery (don't worry I used them in the end).

I tried another technique I watched where you get your hands wet and splatter water on top of the paint.  It was cool but I felt like for a granite look it would be more appropriate.  All I can say is the more dabbing and blotting I did, the more colors on top of colors I added...the more it appeared like stone.

I did that smaller section first as a "test section" turned out being my favorite and now wishing I would have done each step at the same time over all of the counters to make it look more cohesive.  Just a little tip you pick up as you go, I'll know for next time.  Remember those super watered down colors I was telling you about?  Once I got the general shape of the large veins, I used the watery colors and a bunch of white to make them blend better so I didn't have a sharp edge where the color changed.

Now the veining was tricky. I was going off of a picture that I liked (mine turned out nothing like it though) and it had a lot of black, gray and bronze colored veins.  I ended up going with just white.  More subtle but I was already taking a huge leap of faith just painting the countertops...no need to push my luck.  This is where the feather came in.  I used the white and watered it down (1:1 ratio) and used the end of the feather and a little bit of the side of the feather.  I read that if you used your left hand if you are really right handed that they turn out more realistic, I didn't find this to work for me.

I only let them dry for about an hour then I mixed my first batch of glaze.  You have to mix for a total of 12 minutes so let's hope your arm isn't tired from the last 8 hours of dabbing.  I used a foam roller brush that I had out in the garage to apply the glaze.  You have to work pretty fast to get it covered because it's self leveling and you'll end up with roller marks if you're not careful.  You have about 10 minutes to work with it once it's mixed.  My counters used both boxes and I really didn't have much left over.

And the 3 day drying countdown begins.

I removed my painters tape and plastic draping after about 3 hours from putting the glaze on.  I also checked on it about every 30 minutes from when I initially put on the glaze and used my foam brush to wipe off the drips under the ledge of the counter.

After about 12 hours from when I put the glaze on it's still pretty tacky.

24 hours post glaze application they feel dry, I did move the stove back into place but still going to wait the recommended 3 days before putting the sink back in.

Will check back later once the sink is back in for a final before and after photo.

The glaze dried pretty good, I was a little nervous putting the sink back in but seems to be pretty rock hard.  I'm happy I decided to go with this top coat instead of another polyurethane.  That's way too much work to only have a thin coat on top.

And as always, happy to share the before and after picture.

Now on to the backsplash and cabinets!

Old Cabinet Turned Work Bench

So on to something new now that the fort is done.  When I bought the house lots of stuff was left here, including this old cabinet.  I considered throwing it away many times, but I need a work bench and instead of starting from scrap I figured I could bring some life back into this old thing.  Here's what we are starting with.

The lovely pink, cracked laminate top was the first thing to go.  Followed by using a hand saw to take off the trim that ran along half of the bottom of the cabinet.

I also cleaned out my garage and did some rearranging so I thought I would share that too.

Then I took some measurements of the opening in the middle, looks like there used to be 2 cabinet doors there so I was just going to make new ones.  I was sure to make a mental note to divide my measurements in half to get 2 cute cabinet doors....

I took some time making a frame for the cabinet doors.

I used a table saw to cut out grooves where you could slide the cabinet facing into the frame.

And there they are...

So I got home...and guess what I forgot?  To divide my measurements in half....so I guess I'll settle for 1 gigantic cabinet door.  I also added casters to the bottom, so the work bench is mobile now.

Another thing I picked up was peg board.  The plan is to hang in on both sides of the work bench.  I just cut it in half and ended up spray painting them both black.

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Next order of business was taking all the old handles off the drawers.  You know me, I can never stick with the original drawer pulls or knobs.  I ended up just buying some wooden knobs from Lowe's, they were $0.89 a piece so how can you say no?  I put wood filler in all the old holes and drilled new ones in the middle of each drawer.

Call me crazy but I'm painting it red.  Originally (after sanding) this cabinet was yellow, then repainted this hunter green color.  I'm just using a flat red paint from Olympic that I had left over from the yard game project.  It's going to look a little crazy at first but I plan to antique it (I know what you're thinking, but yes I do prefer a pretty work bench).

Well, 2 coats of red down and it doesn't look to be covering at all.

A family friend gave me some of this tin looking back splash, spray painted it in a flat black...planning to put it on the cabinet door...not sure how that's going to end up looking.

Well, I was running out of red paint so I decided to cheat a little and spray paint the drawers red....not a good decision, you can totally tell.  Oh well, it's going to get dirty anyway right?

Believe it or not I did do the antiquing, still looks SUPER WILD to me.  Maybe after adding the top it will tone it down, although I have my doubts.

I just used hot glue to attach the backsplash panel to the cabinet door I made, I did this after doing the painting on the parts you can see..,I didn't worry about painting the middle.

Then I reattached the cabinet door.  I couldn't put the bottom drawer in tonight because the screws from the casters were poking through...so it looks like a stop to Sutherlands tomorrow to get some new grinding bits for my drimmel.  That's alright, I need to go anyway to get some wood to make frames for the pegboard.

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On to a new day.

I did get all the screws grinded off so the drawers all go in now.  Also, on my lunch break I made some frames for the pegboard, which will go on either side of the workbench.  Nothing fancy but I ended up spray painting them black so they wouldn't show once the pegboard is attached.

Pegboard is up and look at my cute little knick knacks....oh so organized!!  Maybe I'll be able to find things easier now!

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Last orders of business will be the top and the mount for the miter saw.

I'm just using some old boards that I had stored in the shed outback that came from a deck someone was tearing down.  These are the same boards I used on B's fort...and there are still a bunch in there.  Anyway, sanded them down...they're looking a little better.  Looks like it's time to go purchase a miter saw!

Originally, I wanted to stain the top in dark walnut...you know it's my favorite!  But I didn't figure there would be so much black going on with the bench so I picked up an ebony stain from minwax...I'm a little nervous to see how this turns out.

What's left on the agenda:

• Cut the board lengths down to size (I think I want at least 0.5" overhang on either side.
• Make a base for the miter saw to sit on so it's flush with the top of the cabinet.
• Get 1"x1" board to run across the top so that all cuts stay square.
• Stain/Poly the top boards. 
• Thinking about making another cabinet door so you can't see the tools stored in there (it would probably look more finished that way).

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So I got a little carried away and put the top on.  I think I'm finished for now.  I'll probably go back later and build the miter saw in and add another cabinet door.  The stain didn't look like how I pictured it at all.

All I did today was cut the wood pieces down to 70" and sanded them again.

I attached the top boards with 2" screws.  Followed by one coat of stain.  I was proud of myself, I wore gloves.

Yep, that's it for now...

Before and after photos

Royals Desk

I cannot even begin to explain how proud I am of my son.  He stuck with me through this entire project, the only thing he didn't work on was the lettering.  We were given this desk, and weren't quite sure what to do with it.

Benton is a Royals fan, and needed some furniture to go in the new fort.  So we decided to use a baseball theme for the desk.  He painted two layers of blue chalk paint on the desk.  We really didn't sand it because it's veneer.  I did have to sand the sides of the drawer a little because it was really hard to pull it out.

A friend of mine gave me a projector.  COOLEST THING EVER!!!  I used some templates for the baseball stitches and the Royals logo and painted them on with the help of the projector.

I also had him paint two coats of white on the drawers.

After that we did some antiquing using dark wax.  I sort of wish now I just would have used clear wax but...I'm not re-doing his masterpiece.

Another view.

My hard working boy

The before and after photo