I'll take it ...
I was excited when I found this cabinet because of the size. Most of the time I must turn away
from overly large beautiful pieces because I'm not physically capable to work on them alone or they won't fit in my home to be worked on. This was one of those larger pieces I could consider because it wasn't too large and it was 2 pieces.
I'll get straight to the before pictures so you can understand my vision with this project.
Mid 70's china cabinet with glass panels everywhere in the upper portion.
The glass just had to go ...
Below you can see the upper cabinet completely stripped down, no glass, no backing.
I prefer to work on cabinets from the open back, especially to get a good paint job inside.
The original backer was a piece of cardboard with a picture of wood on it.
I redid the back with thin tongue and groove bead board. Every now and then I find
a package or 2 while yard saling, just enough to complete some of my projects.
I seriously wanted this cabinet to look like it was from an old farm house. I painted it with an ASCP
light grey mix, distressed it, sealed the Chalk Paint with Minwax Natural, then got the final look with
Annie Sloan's Dark Wax. The dark wax does such a great job of simulating age.
The hardest part on this project by far was installing *CHICKEN WIRE* in the upper cabinet
but it looks absolutely perfect on this piece and there is no doubt it's from a farmhouse now.
Chicken wire is also known as hex wire, keep that in mind if you are in
the hardware store about to ask for it. When working with it you MUST have patience,
you SHOULD wear gloves, and the right stapler and cutters might help calm the process a little.
Once again my roll was found at a yard sale.
Inside the lower cabinet is open storage with a cutlery drawer front and center.
I added the perfect rustic old handle to the door.