Tag Archives: upcycled furniture

Cabinet Rescue

Several years ago, friends were throwing-out this antique wardrobe.  It was pretty much a BFI rescue.  I must admit, it was pretty ugly.  It was painted chocolate-brown and despite the fact hat it was heavy, it was not overly sturdy.  The original piece had a bar across the top and was designed to be a wardrobe.

Antique Wardrobe

The original interior of the wardrobe.
BEFORE: Wardrobe Trash Rescue
In the midst of stripping down the wardrobe.
Here is the wardrobe completed stripped.

I loved the carvings on the front doors, but the oval panels were quite warped.  Once it had been completely stripped down, we realized that the sides of the piece were done in a different wood than the front and thus we decided that stain would really not do it any justice.  It was huge work stripping the paint from all of the nooks and crannies around the decorative carvings on the front, but it certainly made for a beautiful finished project.

Wardrobe Transformation

We also reinforced the back and replace the bar with shelves.  The panels were removed and replaced with chicken wire. This piece has always served as our dining room china cabinet, but we are planning to move it to our spare room for clothes and linen storage. Who knows, it might make its way back to the dining room yet!

AFTER: Painted China Cabinet

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Magazine Rack Upcycle

I found this vintage magazine rack/side table on Kijiji for $15 and thought it might work for a piano bench.  We have a very old piano and when we bought it there was no stool or bench to go with it. I had hoped to find something to match, but it just wasn’t happening, so I decided to go for a completely different look.  At the time both kids were taking piano lessons, so I thought that the slots on both ends would serve as great storage for their piano books.

Original Magazine Rack/Side Table

original magazine rack

The original piece had been painted with a pebbled finish, so I had to strip the entire table.

stripped table

stripped tableThe stripped piece was not in great shape and it would have been way too much work to restore it for a stained finish.  I gave it a thorough sanding in preparation for paint.

Upcyled Magazine Table

The height of the table worked perfectly for a piano bench.  I taped off a small rectangle on each side of the magazine rack and painted the interior of the rectangle with homemade black chalkboard paint. I then used some decorative molding to make a little picture type frame for each side of the unit and nailed it around the little chalkboard rectangle on each end of the unit. I then taped off the chalkboard (for protection) and primed and painted the rest of the piece white, including the frames around the chalkboard.  I cut an old piece of board into a rectangle that was slightly smaller than the existing top of the table.  I added a piece of three inch foam and some fabric that I bought specifically for this project.  I stretched the fabric over the top and sides and staple gunned the fabric to the bottom of the board, creating a smooth upolstered look.  I then screwed the completed seat onto the top of the existing table from the bottom and up into the wood base of the new seat.  We added a white wicker basket for extra storage, the kid’s names on either end of the new bench and their piano books into the corresponding slot.

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