Crowned

When we were cleaning out my grandma's house after she passed away, I asked if I could have this grubby little old cabinet that was in her basement.

It was my Great Grandpa's, then my grandpa's and now it's mine.

My grandpa kept it in the laundry room and used it to hold his tools. It was dirty, and dusty, and for me, full of memories, of my grandpa building things as I grew up. My grandpa was a carpenter, and a cabinet maker. He was always building something or fixing something or jerry rigging something. I have so many memories of my grandpa with a tool in his hand.

I knew this little cupboard needed a makeover to help it blend into my home and I was scared to death to do what I wanted to do, for fear of screwing it up and having regrets.

I painted the whole thing cream, then dry brushed a light aqua leaving just the panels in the doors and on the sides cream.

I then used a projector to trace an image from The Graphics Fairy Blog onto the front of the cabinet. I tried to do this in my walk in closet because my house is too light and I was too impatient to wait for night. Unfortunately, my closet door is really narrow and I couldn't get the cabinet through the door so I sat it my closet with the cabinet up against the door frame trying to see the projection. It didn't work well enough for me to see anything but the basic outline so that is all I traced. I traced the outline onto the cabinet with a black sharpie marker, then used the marker to sort of free hand shade in the drawing while referencing the picture.

Yes, those are towels, that tile floor in the bathroom is HARD =0P I don't have an artistic bone in my body so I was really worried about whether or not I could pull this off.

But eventually I finished, and hey, it didn't look too horrible either.

After that I just distressed it with my sander, waxed it, and put the hardware back on.

I have to say I am pretty darn proud of myself. I think this turned out so wonderful. Better even than I could have hoped. I know both of my grandpa's are up in heaven rolling their eyes wondering why I had to go and girlie it up, but I also know my Great Grandma is cheering for me. If ever there was a girl more girlie than me, it was my Great Grandma! This little cabinet now sits in my living room, right next to my Great Grandma's rocker. I can't help but think that two sweethearts have been re-united =0)

I can't wait to try this technique again! Go out and try something that scares you, you just might surprise yourself!