Two and a half years I ago I bought this cabinet at an estate sale with the intention of painting it, but never did. Here’s why:

You know how there’s this certain guilty feeling that comes around when you really want to change something, but the thing you want to change is “nice” or “good quality” or others would probably be upset by the very fact that you did such a thing? That was me with this cabinet.

I found out about this particular estate sale via a Facebook ad on the last day it was going. Usually by the third day all the good stuff is gone or there’s a herd of people throwing elbows to get the remaining stuff clearanced. It was pretty sparse when I got there – with only an hour left to the sale most everything was gone except for a few furniture items. I had gone to the sale specifically looking for this cabinet and a black Windsor chair – both of which I had seen in the ad – totally expecting them to already be gone…

…lo and behold they were both still there! Not only were they still there but they were half off. The original asking price for the cabinet was $300. It was down to $150, so I offered $100 figuring they’d probably like to get it off their hands…and they accepted! It was definitely a close call, though – I had taken the tag off the cabinet and carried it with me to the front table. Just as they accepted my offer, a gentleman came up behind me asking the sales people how much the cabinet was and if it was still for sale! Yikes! Guess it was meant to be.

I bought the cabinet with the intention of painting it. As soon as I got it home (with the very generous help of my In-Laws!), my husband cried, “don’t paint it!” seeing the lovely tiger stripe wood.

I admitted it was nice vintage wood.

And so it sat, in my basement, for 2.5 years, piled with stuff, with me never really loving it and it feeling too dark and heavy and uninspiring….

…until a few weeks ago when I finally said, “You know what? It makes no sense – keeping something a way I don’t like it just because I’m supposed to value and like it that way.”

And so I painted it.

And I love it.

This was my first time working with milk paint.

I used Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in “Lucketts Green” for the exterior and “Linen” for the interior. I wanted something cheerful and fun and this definitely fit the bill! I purchased the paint from a lady on Ebay who was clearing out her supply after closing her shop. Mine was the original formula; they’ve since changed their paint formula to be completely natural and eco-friendly. You can find retailers that sell the paint here.

The paint was super easy to use – you literally just mix the powder together with water in a container, wait a few minutes, mix again, then paint away! I used a 1:1 ratio of paint to water but you can adjust according to what amount of coverage you want. I just used a regular old paint brush from the hardware store.

One thing I did find was that keeping a light hand while painting produced a better result – pushing too hard seemed to rub the paint off as I went.

Also, be sure to clean your piece before beginning. I like to give my furniture pieces a quick wipe down with Simple Green All-purpose Cleaner – it takes away grease, odors, and dirt.

I am seriously enjoying my cabinet so much more now! It makes me smile when I see it. I’ve even intentionally gone over to my craft area for no other reason than to just smile at my cabinet.

I hope the biggest take away you get from this post is not so much painting furniture or using milk paint, but to stay true to your style – to make your space one that makes you smile, no matter if other people like it or not.

I mean, if other people live in your house you have to respect that…but you know what I mean!

Happy creating!

Blessings,
Melissa

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I always enjoyed road trips with my dad when he would take me to visit colleges or when he’d drive me back up to school in the Fall. We’d listen to all our favorite music, stop for iced coffee, and talk while I worked on my latest crocheting project. Well we brought the tradition back recently with a mini road trip to go pick up my latest Facebook Marketplace find – this old vintage sideboard for my basement studio! Thanks, dad!

I got this diamond-in-the-rough for $35. I decided I would try cleaning her up and see how she looked – I could always paint her as a last resort. She was missing a door and a drawer knob, had most of the top veneer chipped off, and was downright dirty. She even came with miscellaneous items inside including a spilled box of carpet tacks and an old metal spring. But boy did she have CHARACTER!

Here are the steps I took in cleaning up this old beauty:

1. Remove the back mirror.

I knew before purchasing that I wouldn’t need the mirror, so we removed it and set it aside in case we ever want it. It’s totally reasonable to remove part of a furniture piece if it doesn’t work for your needs!

2. Strip off broken veneer.

Most of the veneer on the top was already gone, leaving giant splintery chunks like this along the edges:

I used a large flathead screwdriver and a hammer to chisel off the chunks and pry the veneer off the sides of the top piece. It came up pretty easily for the most part, with a few little stubborn sections that we got off using a hand plane (which worked quite well!). Be sure to wear eye protection and gloves while doing this – those little splinters go flying everywhere!

The veneer on the inside floor of the cabinet was also in rough shape – buckling and bubbling from water damage – so I stripped off all of that as well.

3. Smooth down the top with a belt sander.

My husband volunteered to use the belt sander to smooth down the top for me. I gladly accepted his offer since he’s experienced with that tool and got the job done a lot more quickly than I would have (plus my brother recently borrowed and burned out my little sander, so I currently don’t have one…boo). The top was so splintery before that it definitely would have given me splinters while working, but now it’s nice and smooth!

4. Clean, clean, clean!

Now that all the chiseling, sanding, and general dust-making were finished, it was time to clean this dirty piece! I started by brushing off all the sawdust with a whisk broom, used a dust buster to get up larger bits of grit and grime, then gave the whole piece a good wipe down with rags and a diluted solution of Simple Green.

I love this product for cleaning and prepping furniture! It’s non-toxic and biodegradable, plus it’s amazing at removing grease and odors! You can either use it full strength or dilute it. My mom’s been using it for years to clean her house, including greasy kitchen cabinets.

See how much better it’s looking already with a good cleaning! Let it dry completely before moving to the next step. Wish I moved that quickly in real life…haha.

5. Modifications

What I mean by this is that I removed the lone door from its hinges and set it aside in case I want it later. From the start I planned to remove the door rather than try to replace the missing one. It made me a little sad to take it off, but I knew I had a plan for those openings – large, pretty baskets! While cleaning out the cabinet I found the missing drawer knob (yay!), so I replaced it using a larger screw since the original had been stripped. At this point I also went through and tightened all the screws in the cabinet. Don’t be afraid to be creative when modifying a vintage piece – you’re not going to “ruin” it by removing something that doesn’t look right to you or work for your space. The whole point is that the piece is enjoying new life in its new home with you!

6. Boiled Linseed Oil

What is boiled linseed oil? Linseed oil moisturizes and deepens the existing finish of a piece. It is derived from the ripened seeds of the flax plant. It comes in both raw and boiled varieties – the boiled kind has gone through a treatment process and has a considerably shorter curing time than raw (we’re talking hours/days vs. weeks or months!). It’s great for restoring furniture that is bare wood or wood previously treated with oil (not recommended for oak). Painted and/or waxed wood will have to be stripped before applying linseed oil as the paint/wax will prevent the wood from absorbing the oil. (Linseed oil is also used for improving the flow of oil-based paints.)

I would not recommend using boiled linseed oil on a piece that you may later wish to stain with a water-based varnish, as the oil will close up the pores too much to absorb a water-based product. An oil based varnish or a gel-stain would probably work okay (possibly not as deeply) and you can certainly paint over an oiled surface once it has completely cured, but may need to rough it up with some fine sand paper and clean it first.

It is absolutely amazing what a difference boiled linseed oil can make!

How to use boiled linseed oil:

Once your wood is clean and dry, apply a small-moderate amount of the oil to a lint-free cloth and gently wipe onto the wood. Let it stand for a few minutes, then use a clean lint-free rag to gently buff off the excess. Let dry completely. It’s that simple!

That being said, it’s incredibly important to use boiled linseed oil safely, as it is highly combustable. This article from The Craftsman Blog has a great overview on using linseed oil safety!

7. Wax the drawers

The drawers on this piece did not slide smoothly – in fact they were quite stuck! To assist them, I simply used a chunk of paraffin wax rubbed along the edges of the drawers. It made a huge difference!

8. Paint the inside of the cabinet

The inside of the cabinet was very dark and water-stained. Since I planned to use it sans doors and display pretty baskets in those openings, I decided to paint the inside white to brighten it up and help the baskets pop.

When it comes to hiding water stains, a stain-blocking primer is the best bet. We’ve been pleased with Zinsser Bulls Eye over the years and that’s what I used on this project. You can easily add any other paint/color you desire over the primer. I’ve also come to realize that I much prefer using Frog Tape for my painting projects over the original blue painter’s tape I grew up using. It’s just “meatier” and easier to pull off in my opinion.

That’s it! Then came the fun of styling my refurbished cabinet!

You can find all the details and sources for this space in this blog post on my studio makeover, part 1.

Is it perfect? No, of course not – it’s old and vintage! But it’s so much better and more functional. That’s the beauty in this – getting to enjoy a vintage piece that has been made functional and enjoyable once again.

Sometimes all a piece of furniture needs is someone to see the potential in it. To quote Linus from A Charlie Brown Christmas, “Maybe all it needed was a little love.”

I’ve wanted a space that was completely my own where I could create beautiful things and dream up my next project…

Think along the lines of Miss Mustard Seed – how she has a studio that’s a mix of woods and whites, airy yet grounded, vintage touches all over… it encourages one to dream up a project. I wanted something like that.

As I have an Etsy shop, I knew I also wanted one section of my studio to assist me in packaging orders. This brings us to the first installment of my studio makeover!

The kick in the pants I needed to start happened when I was approached by a company, Garage Royalty, to come up with a creative way to use their products outside of the typical garage setting. At once I knew it would be perfect for my Etsy packing station / workbench. I love the flexibility of the system – it’s so easy to move things around as my needs change and holds all my packing tools nicely! Plus, it is reminiscent of white shiplap which fits in perfectly with my vintage vibe.

And who says it has to just be for tools?! As you can see, I had a lot of fun decorating it with everything from vintage books and plates to my homemade “Market” sign! (I’ll link all the resources at the bottom of this post for you!)

Around the same time, I found this vintage sideboard on Facebook Marketplace to use as my workbench. I’ll be writing a post soon about how I cleaned it up, along with some tips for refurbishing antiques.

For my space to have the desired feel, I really wanted something besides bare cement under my feet. For a while I had a large thrifted rug in this area, but it had seen better days and was adorned by everything from water stains to crayon from my toddler. I wanted something that felt more upscale and that covered from wall to wall.

I thought about simply painting the floor and trying to stencil it, but wasn’t convinced the outcome would be very good – plus, as much as I like DIY projects, my time and energy are definitely worth something! My pregnant body can only handle so much… So one day when I was shopping at Target I stumbled upon these peel and stick tiles – a lovely light bluish-green with a vintage style pattern! I was in love!

Admittedly I’m not finished tiling my whole area yet – I’m about halfway done because there’s so much stuff on the other side to shuffle around. However, these tiles went down very quickly and easily. I made sure to thoroughly sweep & vacuum, mop, then let the cement dry completely before laying them and tapping them down with a rubber mallet. PLEASE NOTE: the company recommends painting the cement with latex paint first. I chose not to do this, at my own risk, but please be sure to read their instructions and decide what is best for your space!

I’m thrilled with how it’s all turning out and I can’t wait to start the next phase of this makeover! Items left to do include:

• Finish installing floor
• Paint and Wallpaper Wooden Display Cabinet for Dish Collection
• Paint Freestanding Work Table & Add Storage Underneath
• Find Comfortable Seating
• Hang Artwork

I hope you’ll join me as I continue this process! We’re also in the midst of redoing our master bedroom, so it’s all the projects all at once!

Resources:

Garage Royalty CrownWall System

Peel and Stick Floor Tiles

Hanging Storage Baskets

Large Storage Baskets (Sold as set online, individually in store.)

Vintage Flowers (I made them into a swag)

Blank Sign Template

Small Faux Plant