Red, Red, Entry Cabinet

A girl has to paint! I don't know what it is about refinishing furniture, but I love finding old pieces and giving them new life. I search for solid pieces at thrift stores, yard sales, and craigslist. When I find something I like, I'm either keeping it for Lewisville or flipping it to make some extra money- also for Lewisville!

 This is what the cabinet looked like originally, for the most part. I took off the knobs and started sanding before I remembered to take a BEFORE picture.

 I found her on Craigslist for $20.

 Not perfect of course and she needed a good cleaning.

 I sanded the gloss off with my orbital sander and 100 grit sand paper, then hand sanded with 220 grit.

After sanding, I brushed on a coat of white primer over the entire piece.

 Then I made the decision to paint the cabinet RED, a color I've never used on my pieces before. I wasn't sure if I would use the color again, so I chose  just to get a sample jar of Heirloom Red.

This was a very exciting moment, but I was a little deflated when I realized I needed a brown or red primer to help cover the piece. The white primer would need about 1,000 coats of red to fully get it covered.

 So I used a brown spray primer  by Rustoleum over the white brushed on primer. Yes, you can do that. While I waited for that to dry, I primed the hardware.

 And spray painted it black.

One coat of red paint, but not quite what I wanted. Another coat of red paint, but still not ready.

So I decided to add Valspar Antique Gel to the piece. I love antiquing painted furniture with this product (and this is not a paid post).

For details on how to use and apply this antique gel, go HERE and  HERE

 A coat of polycrylic was applied after everything dried, the original hardware was returned, and here is the final product!

 I love the results. Black and red make a statement and they're a beautiful combo.

But I was never going to keep her. Sigh.

 She went right back up on craigslist...

  And flipped immediately. My entry way is tiny, so even a cabinet as small as this just wasn't really going to work after a while. I need something with less depth.

 I'm loving the red!

I'm still searching for the perfect entry piece for this little space, until then, I'll keep painting all the cabinets in the world!

Blessings, 

Lisa