Tuesday, May 26, 2015

GIVING NEW LIFE TO AN OLD CABINET



We're in the middle of a remodeling project at our house that includes my home office.  The room doubles as my craft room as well so I'm always trying to come up with ideas that are a good blend for both uses.  I love crafts that incorporate both paint and fabric and have one to share with you. 

One of the top needs in an office or craft room is storage.  My office had an old painted cabinet with lots of storage but zero character.  The color scheme in the room is white, yellow and navy so with that in mind I put my creative juices to work.


Remove the doors from the cabinet
and remove hardware.




Supplies you will need: 

- Cabinet or other piece of furniture
- Fabric (enough to cover each door and wrap around to the back)
- Straight Pins
- Liquid Starch (available in the laundry aisle at the grocery store)
- Paint Roller and Paint Tray
- Squeegee
- Paper Towels (it can get a bit messy)



Step #1: Cut out fabric (a few inches wider and longer than the cabinet door so it can wrap around to the back).  I was able to cut the width in half and cover both doors.  Pin the fabric at the top and down one side to keep in place.

Step #2:  Pour liquid starch into the paint tray and load the roller with starch.  Starting at the top saturate the fabric with liquid starch.  Use your free hand to press the fabric down to adhere to the cabinet.

Step #3: Once the top has been saturated with starch take a squeegee to eliminate air pockets and adhere the fabric completely to the cabinet.  Start at the top and work your way down. Wipe off any excess with a paper towel.






Here is how your cabinet doors should look after the three steps above.  Allow the fabric to dry completely (it will take some time).




Once the fabric has dried, turn the cabinet door over and use the same process to adhere the fabric to the back.  Take time to finish your corners nicely (think of wrapping a gift).

Once done reattach the cabinet doors (I added a fresh coat of paint to the cabinet) along with some cute knobs.