We love seeing creative transformations of craigslist finds. AT reader Toni transformed a wood cabinet she scavenged into a cool bar cabinet birthday present for her husband, who is also a beer brewer for Pyramid Breweries in Portland. Inspired by this Eddie Ross makeover, Toni scoured craigslist for the perfect starter piece for her project. Click after the jump to see the amazing results and oh, Toni needs our help helping her decide on a finishing touch....
First Toni sanded to remove the old finish and to reveal the original wood structure. She also removed the shelving rails (thats true attention to detail!). After sanding, she applied a coat of primer on every surface, then sanded again with a super-fine grit so the paint would go on smoothly.
The bureau came without sliding doors so Toni made them inbetween her daughters naps!
To make the doors, she bought some sanded plywood at Home Depot for $8 and had it cut to size (first cut is free, additional cost a quarter). She made handles from trim and glued to the new doors. Sanded, primed, painted… lather, rinse, repeat.
And Voila! We think it looks great! The long handles look like they've always been there. Toni painted the interior a semi-gloss white, the exterior is a flat mystery Home Depot "oops" color ($1!) in the green range. While she was at Home Depot, she also picked up a panel display lock that'll make the cabinet babysitter & baby proof.
For a finishing touch, Toni was wondering whether she should take a can of high-gloss clear finish and make a large tone-on-tone diamond pattern on the top. She hasn't committed to the idea yet and we were hoping people would weigh in and help her decide. Opinions?
Happy birthday, Toni's husband, We're sure you loved it!
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
that looks great. nice job.
how much was the cabinet on clist?
view mscot's profile
how about finding a remnant of marble or some stone at a local granite/stone fabricator and putting a flat edge on it to go with the look??
view stephanie1980's profile
I love that there are kids toys on top and liqueur in the cabinet.
Haha - it looks great - good job.
view hessilou's profile
looks great!
view plasticorange's profile
Fan of the original wood. nice solid honest wood.
view greenlight's profile
I can barely check my email during my one kid's nap, much less make cabinet doors. Go girl.
view jenzoe's profile
Horrible! Looks like it once has a beautiful wood grain, now it's just a terrible stuffy green blob.
view catfishriches's profile
it looks amazing - i think i saw a similar piece on craigslist and if i had space in my kitchen, i'd be totally inspired right now!
i think a diamond tone on tone pattern would be lovely, and just the thing to make it pop.
view curvatura's profile
Sorry, i too think it looked better with the original wood.
view JG's profile
Mark me down as liking the original wood too, but the fact that this was a personalized gift is definitely commendable, nice work.
view TheCount's profile
Hey, Toni here. One quick correction and then a couple comments. Hubby brews at the Portland, not Seattle location for Pyramid.
I love, love, love the original wood finish on this piece. Isn't it lush? Unfortunately it didn't match our other wood pieces (light and blonde) *and* it was missing doors. If it were a complete piece then I wouldn't have messed around with it. Besides, we really wanted a "terrible stuffy green blob" in our living room.
If I do the tone-on-tone pattern, think I should add a diminutive version of it on the doors as well? Or would that be overkill?
view moptop's profile
Oh! And the cabinet was $30 on craigslist.
view moptop's profile
love the before a lot more than the after... im a fan of mid century furniture with caoba, don't like that tacky green srry
view Vicadin's profile
The more I look at the green, the more the color grows on me, actually. I can see how it would go with your lighter furniture (and I completely get not wanting to mix woodtones). I'm a big fan of mcm and probably would have taped off the metal on the leg or maybe have painted them a different color? I can't figure out why, but something looks wrong to me... maybe I just have way too many pieces with those legs.
Overall- good job and you can't go wrong for $30 plus materials!! I love CL.
view -haley-'s profile
People are silly. Like it would be better in the "before" mode, since it didn't have any doors! It was junk!
I like the avocado-colour.
And I vote "yes" on tone-on tone paint job, maybe not a diamond, but something midcenturyish. Go for it!
view Lilli K.'s profile
I would have like to see the wood with painted doors and chrome handles
But really what a great deal you got and you did a nice job on a budget. Definitely embellish it a little more. I like the idea of tone on tone harlequin or stripe.
I think it would be neat to paint the feet a different color. Maybe black, white or silver. Depends on whats going on with your decor.
view Expat Decorator's profile
i definitely would have kept the varnished look. but the green is ok too.
view mva1201's profile
The wood looked great.
For the painters maybe I choose 2 different colours.
Look on my blog I did the same but in different way
before
http://chezmadamebidule.blogs.marieclairemaison.com/archive/2008/09/29/avant.html
after
http://chezmadamebidule.blogs.marieclairemaison.com/archive/2008/09/30/apres.html
http://madamebidule.blogspot.com/2008/10/dco-rcup-sance-relooking.html
Let me your comment !
view MadameBidule's profile
Ack, I've had nothing but nightmarish experiences with Behr paint. It's crap. To call it "paint" is a misnomer since it has more of the consistency of stain, which means you have to do a bajillion coats to get consistently opaque coverage. F***ers!
view hejiranyc's profile
I love it! The color is superb. My only little issue is the legs. I would have liked to see them in a contrasting color. However, I really like that the interior is white.
Great work!
view Aiekan's profile
I'm always surprised at the number of haters out there. I see the point about painting wood, but doesn't it all depend on your own interior? My only qualm is the flat paint. Yuk! If it were me, I'd slap poly on all of it. Stains etc never come out of flat paint D:
view villain extraordinaire's profile
I actually haven't had any problems with Behr paint. So I think it'll hold up fine! If this is an item that takes a lot of wear and tear, and you don't like the shabby look, a coat of matte will keep it clean. :)
White or black legs (and maybe the handles) would have made a nice contrast.
view puck's profile
Maybe if you find a piece like this on Craig's List, or at the thrift store, you can do what ever you want with it. Really, you don't have to like it, but do you have to be so rude.
I LOVE the color. It is fun and it is recycled!
Good job!
view kevn's profile
Nice. I like the green but I am with the others that said the legs might look better in another color. I also think that a bit of polyurethane would not be a bad thing. It would definitely protect the surface from water stains, etc. I would love to see it from a wide angle, as part of the room it's in. Good work. Wish I had the time for cool projects. My husband does all that kind of stuff.
view WendyJ's profile