After refurbishing the art-deco armoire, a sweet reader messaged me and let me know that they had an antique wardrobe that they wanted to give away. She said that while it needed a lot of TLC it was an amazing piece and she could see the beauty in it. My busy body self of course was already in love with the piece!
My husband and I loaded up in the trailer and headed to pick up the wardrobe.
The piece is close to 100 years old , and even had the original label on the back. Sadly, due to moving the piece the label came off. But I framed the label and I want to keep it with the piece as a part of its history.
The Process:
Can you spot the hidden corgi butt??
As you can see the piece needed a LOOOOOOT of TLC. The wardrobe had the doors off, one shelf had fallen out, and it was dirty from being in a storage shed for a while. However, I will say this was not the dirtiest or roughest piece I've ever done. I was unfazed by the task ahead of me, and I drove right in.
First step was cleaning and there was a LOT of cleaning. Dusting, scrubbing, more dusting, and more scrubbing. I also found an errant spider. I named the spider Jeremy and released him into the garden where he will have plenty of bugs to eat.
After several rounds of cleaning (and I mean SEVERAL rounds) I was ready to sand! Note, the main reason this piece needed to be cleaned so much was the dust. The original stain was apparently quite attractive to the dust and the dust just clung to it.
Then it was time for sanding. It was a bit of a weird scenario with this one. One side and the inside of the wardrobe had the original stain, and the other side had brown paint. The doors also had brown paint on them. So someone had painted them a long time ago as the stain started to dull. Therefore it was two different types of material I needed to sand through. The paint was the hardest one to sand through. It was an older paint as well so I wasn't sure if it was lead based--so wearing a mask and locking up all the animals I set to work taking all the precautions I could.
It took a while of sanding, and it was quite dirty work. The side that made the biggest mess was the side with the stain on it. The stain was everywhere, literally everywhere! You may be asking "Why did you sand in the house??" Well...this piece is heavy as crap and it took trucks to get it into the house. I usually sand on the tile floors and put down tarps for painting. It's hard to move the piece outside and put it in a space where I can properly paint it and then move it back into the house without damaging the new paint.
After sanding was done and a bit more cleaning, I started painting. I did a poll on my Instagram (@BrockBride) and the verdict was that it should be painted white and distressed! For those who voted, thank you!! It was a great choice!
I used plain semi white paint, and it took three coats. I wanted the more rustic/unfinished look because this cabinet has been through the ringer and has a rustic look already to it. I wanted to make it shabby chic, so I didn't really worry about being able to see brush strokes. The strokes add to the shabby chic look and avoids further sanding. For me, brush strokes are much easier than sanding or using wax.
It still took a good three coats to make things look the way I wanted, but the end result was worth it! After painting, it was time to put the doors back on. That was a bit of a pain to do, especially since I tried to do it by myself and not with my husband's help lol. However, I managed to get the doors back on correctly which was a triumph for me!
I am going to eventually add magnetic strips to the insides of the doors to help the cabinet doors shut easily. I also added hooks to hang pretty wreaths on! I am really happy with the results of this remodel. Currently, we are using the wardrobe as storage for paper goods that have trouble fitting into our pantry. We also are keeping the pet's food inside the wardrobe.
Once again, having an old home has small closets, so having extra space is a HUGE plus.
Side note: we have ordered new and beautiful metal chairs for our dining room! I can't wait to show them to y'all when they arrive!
The wardrobe is finally finished and I couldn't be happier with the results! I'm so excited to add in the new metal chairs and have the dining room completely finished!
What are your projects for this coming weekend? Drop them in the comment section below! Remember to follow us on the majors of social media and to have an awesome day!
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