musings, mutterings, and creative muddle. . .





Thursday, February 21, 2019

Robin-Re-Do: Antique Embroidery Cabinet Make Over

See that Embroidery Thread Cabinet there on the right? It is a Magnificent Gift from my Daughter. ALL. The. Loooooves!!!

This photo was taken in the midst of its Make Over. . .




But let me start at the beginning of the six week Re-Do...


This cabinet had been unused in its original embroidery thread retail capacity for quite some time.


My guess is, based on stains and few 'bits' remaining, it was used as either art/paint/ink storage and/or hardware (nails and screws) organizer. Regardless, it was dirty and needed some serious cleaning and TLC to make it pretty again.


First step was figuring out how to take the dividers out WITHOUT damage. 


In the end, a fine-bladed screwdriver and jewelry wire snips were VERY helpful. 


From there, they nearly disassembled themselves. 


Gentle hammering from the inside pushed the finishing nails to the back 


and allowed them to be easily pulled.


Having the dividers removed and separated made clean up and painting so much easier!


As I wasn't wanting to risk damage to the cabinet, I opted to do, what I call, a Robin-Re-Do. Essentially, smooth the rough, cover the ick, make it happy, and protect it for the future. First step was to pull the loose paper.


Then scraping with a gentle, but effective, plastic paint scraper.



A quick vacuum of all the loose bits then some sanding with a fine grained sanding block to smooth the edges.

More vacuuming. 


A thorough wiping with a damp cloth to remove all remaining dust and it's ready for taping.


Painter's tape to protect the original wood exterior and the glass fronts. 


And now time to choose paint colors. Okay. . . there really wasn't a lot of  'choosing'. If you know me, you probably already guessed that Robin's Egg Blue was the plan from the beginning.  Spray painting commenced!!! (I LOVE spray paint!!!)


A perfect color to peek out of all four of the glass-fronted drawers.


For subtle contrast, and nod to the original color, a chalky cream white for the the 'solid' drawer and all the dividers. I worked drawer by drawer - so this pic shows the original drawer on top and the drawer interiors as they were completed below.


All the divider pieces received a wipe down with damp cloth and a couple light coatings of the chalky cream white paint.


I needed the cabinet to sit up off my workstation to allow the bottom drawer to be opened while I was creating on a work-board directly below it. So I designed a sort of  'shelf/platform' for it to sit on (and also not allow things to get 'lost' underneath.


Works perfectly!


And all my sparkly beads and parts and trinkets and bits fit beautifully!!!




I LOVE it!!!! Definitely brings a big ol' Blingy Smile to my face every single time I walk into my studio. And it makes me think of my Beautiful Daughter. Doubly inspiring.



Have a Re-Do kind of day ~
Peace, Love & Bling,

Robin Z


P.S. Wondering about the spray paint used in this project? This should help!!!


And yes. . . these are two of about four colors that I buy in multiples and make sure I ALWAYS have available in my stash!

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