Old Fashioned Curio Cabinet Makeover

It had gorgeous details and provides great storage, so this piece is a keeper. It had been refinished decades ago with the stain. Stain wasn't at all what my friend was looking for in her house, so we needed to lighten this thing up.

Supplies Needed:

• Sanding blocks or sandpaper sheets
• Lint free rags
• Paint
• Primer (optional, depending on the stain and the finished look you want)
• Quality brushes
• Patience! Painting around all this delicate old glass is not for the faint of heart. It will test your patience for sure!

One thing we experimented with was color choice. Originally she wanted a darker gray outside and a light gray inside. But once I started, it just wasn't right. The gray was too dark and we didn't like the huge contrast between the inside and out.

Steps to Refinish:

• Clean it thoroughly. Especially on an older piece with years of built up grease, wax, oils, or grime. I use a cleaner formulated for removing oils and you can find various brands at home and garden stores.
• Sand - After your piece is clean, sand it lightly with sanding blocks or medium sandpaper. The stain on this one was so old, it wasn't hard to rough it up a bit. You want to make sure your paint adheres.
• Wipe it down after sanding. You don't want any sanding dust in your paint.
• Prime (optional) - I chose not to prime this piece because ultimately I wanted a distressed look and I wanted some of the stain to show through.
• Paint - I did two coats of semi gloss white, letting each one dry thoroughly in between. It was tricky getting around the glass, but a tiny artist brush was my friend during this process! If you get any paint on the glass, keep a damp rag handy and clean it off quickly.
• Distress (optional) - after the paint dried, I used a medium grit sandpaper to lightly sand the edges and different spots that would normally show wear naturally. Go easy at first, step back and look and see what if you want more.
• Leave it alone and let it cure. Let the paint cure for at least a few days before you put the shelves back in and add all the pretty accessories.

This project took me a few weeks, but that's because I didn't have consecutive days to work on it. It was very time consuming to paint around the glass. If you had several days in a row, you could complete it much quicker than me.

And here's the finished project!

I left the feet untouched so she'd have part of this cabinet exactly the way her mother left it before she passed.

Don't be afraid to paint an antique. If you love it for sentimental reasons or it has beautiful lines but you just don't like the finish - you can change it easily with paint! For more easy DIY Projects and lots more, check out Create and Find for inspiration!