Tutorial Upcycle a vintage buffet and hutch into Restoration Harware style mudroom cabinetry Part Three

TaDa!! Audrey is ready to make her debut! Are you ready? First a reminder of how she looked the day we met, at the very back of the consignment shop, one step away from a trip to the dump:

and here she is today:

My Fair Lady!!!

If you remember Part 2 of Audrey's story, I had gone as far as painting the outside and took you through those steps. Today is about the finishing touches.

Audrey's interior was in very good condition and I could have left everything stained in the rich brown that was so common for a fruitwood piece like this in the 1970s. It actually didn't look too bad but you be the judge:

That shot was with two coats of Old White and before her Coco wash and dark wax.

I just felt that Audrey wanted to be more French country girl, so I chose to paint her interior in Annie Sloan Duck Egg. I thought this would be a pretty surprise and be in keeping with the French country style. I did a couple of practice boards of the Duck Egg, one with dark wax and one without, and after much backing and forthing I decided to just go with the clear wax. Both are lovely in my opinion but the dark wax tends to bring Duck Egg into the green tones to my eye and I am more partial to blues.

Next step was finishing the buffet doors. These were originally raised panel doors concealing the shelves on the bottom of the unit and they were in excellent condition, but I intend to use the shelves for shoes and boots in the mudroom. Because of this I want the cabinet to be ventilated, and so I removed the panels. (I shared that tedious step with you in Part One of this make-over. You can review that if you have forgotten or if you are joining in late!)

I know that a lot of Upcyclers are using chicken wire in cabinet doors, and I think it looks fine if you are going for a shabby chic look. Since in my humble opinion chicken wire looks more shabby than chic (please accept this as personal taste, not a put down) I looked around for alternatives. I checked out radiator panels, and they might have worked, but were not quite what I was looking for. Then I remembered that my son and daughter-in-law had used a product that I quite liked when they did their kitchen reno. Lucky me! when I called to ask where they got it, they volunteered that they had some left over and I could have it. But was it enough for all four cabinets? YES!! Audrey you are going to look SO FINE!  (happy dance)

And that is how I ended up with decorative 1/2 inch diagonal steel mesh for the door inserts. These meshes have wires running at 45 degrees to the panel edge, and they are crimped to prevent slipping. This is what the mesh looks like .

What you see here is how I used masking tape to mark the pattern that I needed to cut to fit into the door. You can also see that this wire mesh was galvanized steel grey. Nothing at all wrong with that. However, Audrey's jewellry (aka the cabinet pulls) are the original brass with such a lovely patina. I didn't want the wire mesh to clash (translation: I decided to spray paint it to match). It took all of 5 minutes to change it to antique brass thanks to my trusty can of all in one covers any surface any angle indoor outdoor spray paint.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. That wire mesh had to be cut to fit where the panels had been removed and I want to warn you right now that if you ever try this you need, NEED, to wear safety goggle and protective gloves. Bits of the wire go flying everywhere when you start cutting it and I had a piece in my hair when I was done, so I was very glad for my goggles. And no, you do not get to see how I looked in them. And the edges of the wire are extremely sharp, so the gloves will keep you from looking like you were trying to bathe a wild cat.

Here is the step by step on the wire mesh inserts:

Trace the outline of the panels you removed and mark it out on the mesh using masking tape. Then carefully cut the mesh. This part took longer than putting two coats of paint on Audrey, if you can believe it.

Then spray paint each panel. I waited until I had cut them out so I wouldn't ruin the paint job when I was cutting it. And, here is a tip for spray painting: paint inside a box to avoid overspray everywhere!

 

 

 

Next step was to fit the mesh into the doors, and pray that I hadn't screwed up when I traced or cut it out, because there was just barely enough of it for the four doors. I had some palpitations on this part, as I knew that this is actually not a cheap product and although I got it for free I absolutely hate the thought of wasting anything.

 



Although the mesh fit nice and tight into the rabbet around the door, I wanted to be sure it wouldn't slip. And because I am no good with finishing nails (split the wood every time) I decided not even to go there. Instead I used some picture hangers I had in my trusty tool box. They worked nicely.

I also wanted to cover the sharp edges of the wire so nothing could get snagged or scratched (like me or a grandbaby). Now a proper carpenter would have made some molding to go around the rabbet and do a professional job. However, I am so far from a carpenter that it isn't even funny. So I went scrounging around in the garage for something that I could use. And voila! I found this package of foam insulation for around doors--completely UNOPENED, LIKE IT WAS MEANT FOR AUDREY. A sign for sure.

This stuff is soft, pliable, easily cut, has an adhesive backing, and was just sitting there with nothing to do and nowhere to go, so obviously it was meant to be. Here is how the back of the cabinet doors look with the mesh installed. You can see how I used the foam around the edge and kept it all together with the hammer on picture hangers:

Now this cabinet is just for me. If I were doing it for someone else I know I would have found a way to finish it more professionally. However, this is on the inside and so I am okay with it being less than professional looking. But take a look from the front:

And here she is again, all ready for her new role in my mudroom (which still hasn't been built--insert eye roll here). Until then, Audrey will be sitting plumb in the middle of my dining room, making it impossible to walk through or have people over for dinner.

But, the good news is that a friend came by the other day and said Audrey looks so good she should stay in the dining room. Nope, she will be my elegant mudroom cabinetry. Do you remember what our architect had envisioned? Here is a little memory jog:

And do you recall my inspiration piece from Restoration Hardware? Here it is up beside Audrey:

Nice, but I like Audrey SO MUCH BETTER!! I hope you like her too, and that this tutorial was helpful. Oh, people have asked me how much time it took, start to finish. Not including times when I was waiting for something, like paint to dry or trying to find hooks, etc,  I think this project came in around 9-10 hours total. If you decide to tackle something like this, I'd love to hear about it.

Blessings,
The Duchess of NewLife