Hot China Cabinet Makeover
The older I get the more I want to laugh, and I want the decor in my home to be happy and fun. That doesn’t mean I don’t take decorating seriously.
Oh no, I take fun decorating very seriously. 🙂
Here’s the before of the huge vintage sagey green china cabinet. And when I say huge… I do mean huge! It’s 7 feet tall by six feet wide.
This cabinet held our year round Christmas Village for years, but we decided a while back to downsize our village and pack it away. The smaller version will be set up elsewhere each Christmas.
I’ve known for ages what I wanted my china cabinet to look like and when I told my wonderful hubby what I had in mind, he said what he always says…. go for it.
Lucky me! 🙂
So I let myself go, and I have to say that there’s something so therapeutic about total creative freedom.
What better time to do a hot makeover than in the middle of a cold and snowy winter? You probably know what the ‘hot’ in hot china cabinet makeover means but if not, you’ll see shortly.
Hot China Cabinet Makeover
Before I could repaint the inside of the cabinet I had to get the glass shelves out of the way. They stretch all the way across the interior and the only way to take them out is to remove an end pane of glass.
I remember what a pain that was when we brought this piece home from an auction years ago so that was definitely not happening.
Instead, I very carefully lowered the three shelves down one by one onto the bottom of the cabinet interior, separating them with books.
I covered the glass shelves with newspaper and painted the interior with 3 coats of an ooops white.
Then I painted the outside with two coats of the hot pink that I used on my craft room ceiling.
I used this thrifted funky hot pink fabric on my chicken wire inspiration board a few years ago, and had plenty left over to use here.
I measured the inside of the cabinet and laid out my fabric.
Then I measured and marked the fabric.
After I cut out my four pieces it was time to hang them using this double sided adhesive hanging tape.
I cut and placed the adhesive along the back of the cabinet in 5 places across each back section.
Then I simply removed the protective paper from the tape and hung my fabric, pressing down firmly where the tape and fabric met.
I did the top three areas first, and put the glass shelves back in place.
Then I painted the bottom area white and hung the fabric.
The reason I painted the back areas white, even though I was hanging the fabric, is because if I ever decide to remove the fabric I’ll be starting with a nice blank white canvas. I’m also thinking that dark blue might have shown through.
I really wanted the hardware to be white so I spray painted it with Linen White chalk spray paint, and I used a  wax spray coating on top that didn’t make it into the picture.
Here’s the before again.
I wish I had a before of the before, but I painted this china cabinet sage green years ago and I didn’t worry about before pics before I was blogginh. The original finish was very fake wood looking, probably from the 60s or 70s.
And here’s the hot after.
Now every time I walk into the living room and see my china cabinet it and makes me smile.
I’m tickled pink! 🙂
All I have to do now is fill it with my silver treasures. I’ll post that when I’ve got it done. It could take longer than this makeover did. lol.
UPDATE: You can now check out how I displayed my vintage silver collection in this china cabinet.
When was the last time you just let yourself go on a project? Doing exactly what you wanted to do without thinking too much about it?
Try it… you’ll like it. 🙂
Don’t forget to pin me.Â
Thanks so much for reading and until next time…
keep on keepin’ on!
XOX
OMG Tuula…that is awesome. I LOVE it! The fabric really makes the whole unit pop. Good job!
Thanks so much Karen! I’m soooo happy with how it turned out.
Soooo pretty!!
Thanks very much Susan!
That is amazing. Truly gorgeous……….and YOU! The fabric, the hardware…….fabulous. And dropping the shelves down, rather than taking them out-brilliant! I can’t wait to see it filled with silver……please don’t forget to post a pic of it for us! So you got all 5 of your goals done! Good for you! I only had the one….to finish the sewing for that wedding and I did get it done, even after spending prime sewing time in the hospital! Now, February. Are you going to post your new goals? Hope so, then I’ll tell you mine! Dona
Thanks Dona! I’ll definitely be sharing my silver collection when I get it all displayed just the way I want it. Setting my goals for January really worked helped me get things done. I’ll be posting how I did on Friday, with my February goals. I look forward to reading what your goals are. 🙂
Wow, and double wow!
Thanks, and double thanks Florence!
WOWIE! I love it!!! (Pink girl at heart here) I love the fabric too and the silver is going to just be the icing on the cake. Great job and good for you for painting it like you wanted to!
Thanks very much Jill! I’m very much a pink girl too, and I’ve always wanted to do a big piece like this one. My only regret is that I didn’t do it years ago.
PS… If you get a chance I would love for you to link up with “Let’s Talk Vintage” today…I’d love to feature it next week for Let’s Talk Vintage!
Thanks so much for the invite Jill. I’ve linked up and I’ve added your party to my page. I’m honoured that you want to feature my china cabinet.
Another sister with the love of BoHo bright and happy decorating. I haven’t done this in our home (yet) but my Art Barn is slowly going from white and turquoise to bright pinks, lavenders and yellows added to the mix . . . I want to walk in there and have “happy” hit me in the face, LOL. Great make-over 🙂
Thanks Connie! I totally get that. That’s exactly how I want every room in my home to make me feel. Love the pink, lavender, and yellow combo. That sounds amazing!
So pretty. I love how you love color and are not afraid to go for it. This is so pretty with the fabric too.
Great job.
Hugs,
Kris
Thanks Kris! You know how much I love pink. Well, now I guess everyone knows it. lol.
This is so great….I am doing the same with my pine wood china cabinet….ONLY, I am using creamy white and haven’t decided about the inside yet……I am so excited…..thank you.
That sounds amazing Rin! I know you’ll love it after you’ve painted it. Paint can make such a big difference.
Wow, beautiful! You’re a brave girl…not sure I am brave enough to paint such a large piece pink…I would be too scared I wouldn’t like it and all that time would be wasted when I had to repaint! But it sure looks great, I can’t wait to see it filled.
Tania
Thanks Tania! I knew I would love it so it didn’t really feel brave to me. I’ve been imagining this makeover for a few years. Now I’m going to have fun organizing my silver treasures in this huge cabinet.
Gorgeous! Love that color!
I let myself go when I painted the dining-room-turned-library medium aqua. The next thing is a pale pink living room that can be seen from the library and the kitchen. The whole house was B.E.I.G.E. when we moved in. We are having fun changing it one room at a time. We decided that our B.E.I.G.E. kitchen will be last, because we are going to re-do the whole thing at once.
We must have fun with our houses, otherwise we might as well live in a rental {with B.E.I.G.E everything that we can’t change}.
Thanks Fonda! I totally agree with you. This house was filled with beige wallpaper in every room when we bought it 19 years ago. It all came down pretty quick. Aqua and pink are two of my favourite colours. Your house is going to be fantastic and fun when you’re all done.
That is one hot redo and it looks fabulous! I love the fabric panels you added to the back. Very fun.
Thanks so much Judy! I’ve hung onto that fabric for the last few years just waiting to do this makeover. I’m so happy that I finally did it.
You are so daring and it always works! Wow, what a color. Love the fabric and the white hardware. I think silver inside will finish it off perfectly. Did I miss the finished kitchen pictures?!
Thanks AnnMarie! I’m so glad I went with the white for the hardware, and the fabric was a favourite thrifted find of mine from a few years ago. You didn’t miss the kitchen pics. I still have a few kitchen projects to hopefully finish it off as part of my February goals, which I’ll be posting about on Friday.
I really love it, Tuula! Great job!
Thank you so much Cecilia!
I guessed the hot was going to be fire engine red but I sure like this hot pink better!
Thanks Debbie! Me too. I tend to love red as an accent colour, but pink I can and will put anywhere. lol.
Stunning.
Thanks so much Colleen.
I LOVE therapeutic, total creative freedom!! So glad you went with your vision, Tuula–it’s totally fun and wildly creative. You’ve challenged me to “let go” on a project, now 🙂 Thanks for linking up your hot cabinet at Vintage Charm–
Thanks Diana! I look forward to seeing your “let go” project. 🙂
I must admit never would I have thought pink for a china cabinet but that color is amazing! I love it. Did you ever post the picture of it filled with your silver as mentioned? Would love to see that picture. Wondering what type of paint you use? Do you have a certain type you stick with? Do you use chalk type paint?
Thanks Debra! I have used homemade chalk paint on occasion, but I do use a paint and primer water based paint for most painting projects. It just works for me. I don’t stick to any brand in particulate, really just what’s on sale or what I find at the ReStore. There’s a link in this post to where I organized my silver collection inside the cabinet, but I’ll to make it simple and add it here for you. https://colormethrifty.com/2017/02/how-to-display-a-silver-collection.html/ Thanks, Tuula
Thanks for answering my question. I was just curious. I went to the link and saw the silver collection in the china cabinet. So pretty. It’s funny I like certain things with their patina, like wood, copper but what I love about silver is how it shines and sparkles when polished. I know you don’t like that but your collection would just sparkle in there if you polished it lol. I know…to each his own. It looks great though.
Love this!! I was wondering if you remember the brand and color you used?
Thanks Casey! It was Beauti-Tone Designer and the color was Moulin Rouge. I hope that helps. 🙂