Turquoise Cabinet Makeover

So here is my "Exciting New FINISHED project". :)

We'll be using it in the lounge room as an entertainment cabinet for storing our DVD's. 

I purchased this cabinet at a yard sale for $20.  Thank you! And yep, I haven't disappointed, I have AGAIN forgotten to take a before picture!  Bugger, bugger, bugger!  

So, again my creative friends, please use your imagination and picture this cabinet a plain baltic pine with a boring red/brown wood stain with the usual round wooden door and drawer knobs.  

BORING, and ugly.  Something like this ...

Here's what I did:

First I applied a coat of undercoat. Then I mixed up some flat white paint with a small amount of powdered grout to produce a chalky paint texture.  Most of our furniture has been painted white, with the exception of one that I did grey doors on recently.  So, this time I decided I'd seen so many gorgeous turquoise creations, that I would try it on this piece.  I added blue and yellow acrylic paints to my white paint and mixed and mixed, and mixed, and mixed, until I got a shade of turquoise I was happy with.  Of course this was last night, the worst time to be mixing colours cause they ALWAYS look different in the day light, but of course I never learn and I get too excited to wait. :)  I applied one coat with a roller and let it dry.  

Half hour later I was using my sandpaper to distress the edges.  Wow, it was turning out fantastic.  I did however think the colour was a bit too close to being a mint green, rather than turquoise, so I decided to wipe over a black stain with a damp cloth to darken the colour a couple of shades.  It did darken the colour, however dried really splotchy.  Not happy. :(

I'd used all my turquoise paint and did not fancy trying to mix another batch.  I'd also run out of sandpaper.  So I went hunting through the cupboard and found some steal wool.  I'd read somewhere that you could sand and distress paint with steel wool, so I gave it a try.  Woohoo!  I was able to blend the splotchy bits, while keeping the dark stain still visible.  And it also brought more traces of the white under coat out which I also love. Following which I added a coat of clear poly. Now I must share that this my first time using poly as it had scared me before.  It just looked so sticky and I was sure I would leave paint brush strokes, but guess what.  It was SO easy!  And it left a gorgeous glossy clear coat.  I can't wait to use it on some of my other finished furniture projects. 

Then I added some new, or should I say very old, hardware. :)  Love the door handles.  They are so old that they have nuts on the back to tighten them!

The drawer knob is a bit small for the size of the drawer so I'll probably replace it in the future.  

The original door hinges looked great so I kept them.

So overall it might have needed a bit more sanding and staining than I had anticipated, but I am very pleased with the result.

I'd love to know if anyone has any suggestions for a more appropriate drawer handle and how you apply stain evenly. :)

Thanks,

J