My office space desperately needed more storage as I had books and supplies stashed in nearly ever corner. It was clearly getting out hand and needed some storage ideas. Instead of purchasing new, I searched my home in an attempt to find something which might be suitable for the storage I so badly needed. To my delight, I found an old country cabinet that had been long tucked away. While the size and shelving were a perfect solution for my office, this piece was dated and needed some TLC to suit my current style and color preferences.
Inspiration
When searching for ideas online, I spied a beautiful French gray cabinet which instantly became my inspiration for this project (see photo below). To achieve this look, I chose to paint my cabinet using One Step Paint from Amy Howard in the color Luxe Gray. Then found some lovely French inspired gold knobs, and wallpaper (from Magnolia – pre pasted) to complete the transformation.
Getting to work
Before beginning to paint I wiped down the surface with a product called Clean Slate (also from Amy Howard), which thoroughly cleans and preps the surface. Then painted the surface with the first coat of paint (because of the dark cranberry color, this cabinet would end up needing two coats of paint).
After the first coat of paint I noticed lots of small holes and imperfections, so I used Plastic Wood to fill them. After drying the cabinet was then easily sanded and smoothed.
Finishing touches for the exterior
After the second coat of paint dried, I applied a thin layer of Clear wax as a top coat, and buffed to a light sheen. Adding the pretty gold knobs was the perfect finishing touch to the exterior of the cabinet.
Wallpaper for the interior
As an added touch of loveliness my husband added wallpaper strips to line the back each shelf space. I used gray tea rose wallpaper from Magnolia and it complemented Luxe Gray perfectly!
The finished cabinet
To help increase storage of the interior, I added seven French wire baskets to hold supplies and misc. odds & ends. You can find the post of how I updated the baskets here (Updated French Wire Baskets).
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