5/10/16

A Roadside Find Transformed into an Outdoor Beverage Cabinet

Sometime around mid March, as I was on my way home from one of the kid's basketball games, I came across this little cabinet sitting all by itself on the side of the road. Immediately I stopped the car and jumped out for quick inspection. It seemed to be in pretty good shape despite the worn finish and ridiculous number of spider webs and spider's eggs.


The piece sat in our garage for about a month or so until I finally decided to pull it out and take a really good look at it. I took the sander to the top and sides and made the happy discovery that this poor neglected cabinet was solid wood! Now I love painted furniture just as much as the next DIYer, but for some reason I kept thinking 'leave it o'natural!'

I also needed to determine where to put my new little cabinet. My mind quickly went to the thought of using the piece on our screened-in back porch because I was so desperately in need of some storage space there. To be honest I hated the fact that I had to run in and out of the house with my plastic plates and cups every time the kid's asked to eat outside. So while this cabinet is primarily the centerpiece for serving outdoor libations, I am also using it to house my outdoor dinnerware. 


I also made the decision to do away with the top drawer after seeing a few beverage cabinets on the internet.



The drawer was replaced with a sheet of pine I picked up for around $10 at my local Lowes, and then Mr. Rosemary Lane cut the sheet to fit perfectly in the cabinet. It was easily installed by removing the back of the cabinet and sliding the wood in place. I attempted to stain the pine to match the wood of the cabinet but that didn't work, it came out way to cool, no where close to the warm color of the cabinet. Next I tried to paint the wood an almond color which ended up looking really awful, even worse than the mismatched stains. Then, while rummaging through my countless cans of spray paint in the garage, I found a can of pounded metal paint in a silver color I had bought a few years back to make a Halloween costume for Michael. This turned out to be the perfect color because it totally tied together some of the other industrial elements used in the space. Square shaped drawer pulls in a bright, brushed nickel were purchased to replace the nasty ones that came with the piece. The hinges are the originals, I just sanded off their already chipped and rusted surface to reveal the silver color underneath.



The entire piece was sanded down inside and out, and both a clear poly acrylic plus several coats of polyurethane in a satin finish were applied. I already had the two polys, so the total cost of the project was roughly $15. Ten dollars for the wood and about $5 for the drawer pulls, plus a good three days of intense work, is all that was needed to create this beautiful storage showpiece for the screened-in porch. 




Now, the natural wood finish I felt compelled to use actually works to help break up the white of my wicker furniture by giving the eye a place to land while taking in the visual of this space.


How about you...have any furniture projects you are in the throws of???
Would love to hear about them!!!
In the meantime wishing you all a great week!

XO
Sharing this post at link parties hosted by these fabulous blogs...

14 comments:

  1. It's fabulous! Don't you wonder what the people who discarded would think now? thanks

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  2. The cabinet wood is beautiful & I can't believe the before & after pictures. Great job & well worth it!!

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  3. who in the world would just throw this away...crazy
    you did a fabulous job and it looks great natural with your white furniture. Perfect.

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  4. It looks terrific, you really did an outstanding job on it. It looks great on your porch and you will get a lot of use out it. You can't beat $15.00 for this beautiful chest.

    Mary

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  5. it looks amazing! Great job! Sure do love your porch, very relaxing space there

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  6. It looks really good and will be put to good use.

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  7. Wow you did a great job refinishing that piece of furniture for your beautiful porch. I know you will get a lot of good use out it. Enjoy.

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  8. What a great idea! I love your vision for this piece and you polished it up so beautifully! You have created such a lovely relaxing space for it to live too :) I hope you have a great week! If you feel like sharing this at Making Broken beautiful this week , it starts tomorrow morning and I would love to host this your talents!
    Smiles!
    Terry
    The Curator's Collection & Making Broken Beautiful

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  9. Barbara, it turned out so well and it really grounds the space by leaving the original finish. I like the drawer removed, just makes the piece a little more special and shows off your pretty glassware. Great job..xxo Judy

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  10. Don't you love those curbside finds. Especially when they end up being a beautiful piece of furniture.

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  11. Wow! It's so pretty! Thanks for sharing. You are one of the features at The Round-Up from the Before & After Wednesday party at The Dedicated House. Here is the link so you can check out your feature. http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2016/05/round-wednesday-19-3.html Have a lovely week! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  12. Absolutely beautiful! Can you please share what color the satin polyurethane that you used on the cabinet was? The color is absolutely perfect!

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    1. Thank You So much. Believe it or not it is actually a clear poly on the cabinet. The color is the natural color of the wood.

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  13. You have really transformed your cabinet into a very expensive looking one. Absolutely amazing! I hope I have the same talent as you and do this in some of my furniture at home. https://nwpsocal.com/

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