Sage Green China Cabinet

This is a China cabinet that a friend of ours from Lynchburg, VA found for us. It was in need of some major love, but we saw a lot of potential with its French provincial style.  It took a ton of work, but we love the way this came out.  Plus, we were able to incorporate designer wallpaper into the project, which really brought the piece to another level! We apologize, the phone that we took the before pictures with stopped working on us, so we lost those pictures.  (Note: more finished pictures are at the end of the blog).

Before you get started, you'll need to gather the following materials: 

• Purdy 3-Pack Polyester-Nylon Blend Angle Sash Paint Brush Variety Pack
• Sage Green Behr Paint
•  Minwax Polycrylic Satin Base 32 fl oz Polyurethane
  •  Unlike oil-based poly that goes on clear, this will go on milky, but we have honestly been very satisfied with the result thus far.
• Purdy Syntox Finish Brush
  • You will need a special brush for the Polycrylic finish. The Purdy Syntox brush will do the trick. 
• Bosch 2.5-Amp Orbital Sander
  • Just remember, this is a staple item that will continually be used, so you can utilize this on a ton of DIY projects after you make the purchase.  We decided on the Bosch sander because of the quality of the Bosch brand; however, you can probably get away with a cheaper option if you don't want to invest in a nicer sander, and if you only plan on doing a few DIY projects with it.  
• Gator 50-Pack 80-Grit 5-in W x 5-in L 8-Hole Hook and Loop Sanding Disc Sandpaper
  • Depending on the type of stain that the original manufacturer of the dresser used, you may be able to get away with just sanding down the dresser without using any type of stain remover (This is huge, because stain removers are a pain).  Just keep in mind that if the dresser is not solid wood, then you may want to go with a more gentle approach; i.e., a combination of stain remover and hand sanding.  
• Frog Tape Trim Painter's Tape
  • Frog tape is a life saver if you are going for a more professional look.  Generally speaking, it is a time consuming task to tape up the dresser, but you will be happy that you did when you see the finished product.  ​

Step 1: Removing the Original Finish

We sanded the body and the drawers down. As we usually do, we start our sanding process with our orbital sander using an 80 grit sandpaper.  Then, we use 60 grit sandpaper to make sure all of the original finish has been properly removed.  Finally, we hand sand with a 120 grit sandpaper to get a smoother wood before applying paint. .  This process seems to be extremely effective in putting the China cabinet in its bare bones state.  Make sure you wash it off with a damp cloth so that there is not any dust or residue left on it. Once it is dry, it is time to tape around the edges! ​​

Step 2: Taping the China Cabinet and Preparing the Glass

​Before we painted the drawers and the body of the China cabinet, we made sure to tape the inside of the of the body and the inside of the drawers.  It is always important to remember to tape the inside of the body where the drawers slide in and out, and the inside portions of the drawers where paint might drip/or the paint brush might touch.  We will admit that this is not a necessary step, but if you want to have a re-purposed China cabinet that looks professional grade, then every detail matters.

Step 3: Painting the Body and Drawers

After we were finished with taping the China cabinet we painted the China cabinet using sage green paint. We also painted the inside of the China cabinet using a white paint. We usually do two coats of paint to make sure that everything is sufficiently covered. We generally use Purdy paint brushes so that we can ensure that we get an excellent finish. ​​

Step 4: Re-taping the Dresser for Detail Painting

The China cabinet had some awesome detailed carvings that we wanted to highlight with white paint. So we ended up having to re-tape portions of the dresser that were  painted sage green so that the white paint would stay in the places for which it was intended to stay.

Step 5: Wallpaper 

Sydney thought that adding designer wallpaper to the backplate of the China Cabinet would make a bold statement, and it definitely did! We followed the instructions from the wallpaper package carefully, and made sure that everything was lined up when we glued it to the backplate. We should note that we removed the backplate from the China cabinet before we started the wallpaper process.

Step 6: Applying Finish

After the paint was dry we were ready to apply a coat of water based Polycrylic to both the body of the China cabinet and the drawers.  After the first coat we sanded down the dresser using 320 grit sandpaper, then we applied a second coat of Polycrylic​. 

The End.

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