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An 80's-era timber cabinet was stripped, sanded, paint-washed and stained for a rustic appearance.
The project
This 80’s teak / mahogany farmhouse cabinet was a lucky FB Marketplace find - only $50! I had a vision for it to be stripped, tan paint-washed and upcycled to be more ‘rustic’ looking, in keeping with our Mediterranean farmhouse inspired renovation.
To create depth and contrast, the interior was painted a darker colour so that the items inside would ‘pop’ visually.
This upcycle certainly wasn’t a quick one - but worth the effort in the end!
Steps
Step 1
First I cleaned the entire piece and taped every window with Scotch painters tape to avoid them being scratched when sanding and in preparation for the eventual paint wash.
Step 2
Next I used a paint stripper in an attempt to remove the cherry wood stain. This was only partially successful so many hours of sanding followed. I did all the larger, flatter surfaces with the orbital sander, then used the detail sander for the more difficult parts. The carbine scraper was used to remove the old stain from the profile ridges around all the windows (384 in total). I used a credit card wrapped in sandpaper to hand sand each of these.
Step 3
Once the entire piece was sanded, I applied the tan paint wash using one part Dulux Earth Kiss to 9 parts water. I left the wash on for approximately one minute before wiping off with a clean cloth.
I repeated this twice on the exterior and interior of the doors (not shelves).
I then followed with two coats of Cabot’s Water Based Walnut Stain - again watered down one part stain to three parts water.
Step 4
I finished with painting the interior in Dulux Hog Bristle to create depth, contrast and warmth. I used the UniPro Little Ripper rollers to do three coats of this.
Step 5
The final step involved cleaning and updating the hardware. I used steel wool and bicarb soda to bring the hinges, lock and key back to life. I removed the handles and replaced them with two brushed brass door pulls from Bunnings.
A Bunnings trailing Ivy plant and teracotta pot completed the styling on top, with some wicker baskets to create texture.
Tools and materials
Materials used in the project:
- 80, 120, 180, 240 grit sandpaper
- Painters tape
- Paint brushes
- Paint rollers and tray
- Dulux Earth Kiss interior paint
- Taubmans Hog Bristle interior paint
- Cabots water-based walnut stain
- Brushed brass knobs
- Steel wool.
Tools used in the project:
More inspiration for your upcycling project
Bunnings Workshop member Ebony upcycled a cabinet using a homemade whitewash and decorated the door fronts using dowel.
Community member Claire created this upcycled sideboard by sanding and painting, with new handles and vinyl inserts added.
Get more inspiration from our collection of Upcycled buffet projects shared by Bunnings Workshop community members.
