Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Diamond in the Rough?

As I have mentioned, I am in organization mode these days, so when I spotted the item above, I immediately saw potential ~ especially after discovering that it was metal (from a distance I thought it was cardboard) and that is was an affordable price. Despite not having room for it and not really having time for another project, opportunity was knocking, so the lovely sponge painted 30 drawer cabinet is waiting patiently for its makeover in my garage. I took the handles off yesterday and will see how far I get today with getting rid of the paint ~ my hope is that it will look similar to the second cabinet below!

{Before ~ Untouched!}

{After ~ The look I am striving for! ~ image via Cafe Cartolina}

Check back in a few weeks (dare I promise? ~ these projects always seem to take much longer than anticipated!) when I share a before/after post!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Julie-I'm about to start stripping a cabinet too in the hopes to reveal a more sleek industrial steel underside.


It has a powder blue finish (!)

Would love to hear your progress or products that were hepful in getting that 'lovely' speckle off...

Julie said...

To SV: My plan is to use a wire brush and grinding tool to remove the majority of paint - then finish off with steel wool and a clear coat of some sort of sealer. I used this method for some metal chairs (at least I got as far as removing most of the paint since I was going to repaint them). Wear a mask and eye protection when using the grinding tool!

Thanks for the suggestion to post about the progress - I will have to remember to take some photos along the way as I am sure others will find tips useful too!

Anonymous said...

Julie-I have a few of these old cabinets in the oh-so-lovely powder blue--2 uprights with 4 drawers and then a large 'legal bookcase' style--where there is a cover that lifts up and over, then is pushed in and the drawers pull out side ways. there are 3 full drawers on it and it is quite tall.

I am eager to give it that industrial sandblasted look.

Who only knows the painting process that was used to paint it--appears to be a much thicker coat than the finishes you see today.

I also have some metal stripper which I want to "test" on an area as well, as I would love to coat some on and walk away for a bit before the heavy elbow grease stage--the grinder.

Yes, definitely show us your progress.

Janice

FONT LOVER said...

wonderful!

keep up the good work 0_0

Cathy ~ Tadpoles and Teacups said...

I love a good storage cabinet...and I have enjoyed exploring your blog! Such wonderful, vintage imagery and ideas.
:)

Cathy

Anonymous said...

Oddly enough I was trying to find some info on 2 cabinets I just picked up and they look almost identical to yours. They are a powder blue and have 27 drawers not 30. Mine still have the mfg label on them "Imperial Equipment Company"

I'm very curious as to their age and they are solid and heavy! Made when things were built to last..