Bathroom Remodel: Trash to Treasure Bathroom Cabinet

Finished for Friday is hosted by the very crafty lady at Lit and Laundry's Blog. She always has something wonderful to show that she has finished in time to post on Fridays. I am going to participate this week, it is my first post for Finished for Friday...and if you are wondering why that is...it is very simple...I don't finish much around here these days! There.. I said it.

Many of you have been following along with our bathroom remodel....and no...we are not finished. But I did want to show you a project I have been working on and did finish for today.

I knew I did not want to purchase a new cabinet to install in the bathroom. A new cabinet just did not have the look or charm I was looking for. I have been searching online for older, wooden cabinets, vintage cabinets, or something that would fit in our new decor for the bathroom.

Oh, believe me when I say I found plenty of cabinets that fit the bill....however...the bill was just more than I was willing to pay. Remember, I am cheap. I was not willing to pay the steep cost of getting "old, vintage, charming, unusual"... even for the one cabinet I did not think I could live without. But once the builder emailed me the price of $385.00 for the dimensions I provided, the price was way out of my budget. Now, granted I am sure some of you think that might not be a bad price, and believe me, it was a real hard thing not to go ahead and purchase the cabinet but something just would not let me do it.

Little did I know, the perfect...well almost perfect cabinet was waiting for me to discover it just a couple of weeks ago.

I was at a local estate sale two weeks ago and stumbled upon this beige colored cabinet sitting in a hall at the sale. There was no tag, so I figured this was either sold, or was more than I was willing to pay.

The cabinet was old...just like I wanted.

The size was so close to being the size I was looking for.....it was ironic.

This was most likely handmade...although, really not my style at first glance.

This had vintage hardware......just what I wanted....and it was in perfect working order.

The price....$20.00......SOLD.

Now, on the drive home, I questioned my purchase and was worried this was not going to work out....thinking I should have just spent the $385.00 on the cabinet I wanted originally. I was worried that I might not be able to make-over this cabinet to my liking. And I knew I would have to hear about it from my husband. He has little faith as it is. When I showed him the cabinet, as you can expect...he just looked at me and shook his head. I was scared to even start the project. The cabinet sat in the spare bedroom for two days. Untouched.

Then, one afternoon I was looking at a candle holder we purchased at Canton last summer and that was it...the look I wanted for my new cabinet.....Perfect.

I know you are thinking how cute these little doggies are...they are salt and pepper shakers and look just like Sophie and Dora. OK sorry...back to the cabinet.

The first thing I did was remove all the old hardware and carefully put it away. Next I sanded the whole cabinet with a hand sander. I kept the original paint just sanded it down to the original wood in some places to rough it up.

Next, I applied a coat of Valspar Woodlawn Charm Blue paint from Lowe's. Let dry. Sanded. Then painted with a coat of Valspar Homestead Resort Moss paint from Lowe's. Let dry. Sanded.

I sanded at the edges, corners, and behind the hardware areas. Remember, I was looking for a rustic finish, so there really is no right or wrong in the process.

The final coat was Valspar Waverly Classics paint in a Bangkik Rust color. I painted the inside solid and distressed the outer perimeters with sanding and dry brush painting the blue and green and red again in layers.

To give this the aged look I was after, I brushed on a coat of Black Valspar Antiquing Glaze. Brush on, and wipe off with an old t-shirt or um....an old pair of your husbands undies....sorry, that is what I used. Let completely dry. Finally, I sealed this with three coats of a matte finish polyurethane.

Here is a close up of the front of the cabinet. What do you think?....does this look old to you or freshly painted? Truth.... please.....you won't hurt my feelings. If too many of you think it does not look old....I will just have to buy the one my heart was set on to begin with....not really. I know some will not care for this look...my daughter is one of those people...and that is OK. You will have to see the big picture of everything together and then, you will understand what I was looking for in this old cabinet. But I am happy with the way it turned out and the price, even if some folks I know say I should have purchased a new one.

Here is a look of the inside before I painted the final interior coat of paint and sealed it.

Here is a close-up of the wonderful vintage hardware. I just love this about the cabinet. It works wonderfully, and I love the look.

Yes, I finished this by today so I could show it off. Imagine...going from this candle holder to the cabinet below. I think it is a close resemblance and I like how it turned out.


Total cost for the cabinet:

$20.00 for cabinet at estate sale
$15.00 for paint and glaze
$ 6.50 for sealer
Total: $41.50

Hope you enjoyed my Finished for Friday post....check back Monday for more of the final stages of the remodel..we are almost done...promise! I will show you what we did for the mirror, and how this cabinet looks with the mirror and lighting.

Be sure and visit Lit and Laundry for more great items Finished for Friday.