Last summer Hubby bought two different baker’s cabinets on auctions-actually, I bought one but I was bidding for him. Â He’s been working on fixing them up but never came up with a plan that he was in love with. Â He’s not a fan of painted furniture so he stripped them only to find that the cabinet was actually made up of several different woods. Â That left staining them not an option.
He kind of lost his gusto for the project once he figured out that they would need to be painted. Â He decided that being they were going to have to be painted he’d wait with painting the first one until the second one was ready to be painted too. Â So here they sit in the garage waiting for him to get excited about them again. Â Right now they are in so many pieces I can’t even tell it’s a baker’s cabinet.
In the meantime, we started working on kitchen plans for the house again…remember the ones I showed you last week? Â We were planning on an island using our butcher block as part of it. Â About that same time, I saw this via my Facebook Page.
I LOVE it!! Â Can you see it is made from an old baker’s cabinet?
One of the problems with baker’s cabinets is that they are so short. Â We had thought about using one of the baker’s cabinets as an island before but being they are so short, that’s virtually impossible. Â This design makes it possible. Â The cabinet was put on 2 x 4’s and then put on wheels. Â Boards here added as a shelf across the bottom. Â We’d put locking wheels on it to keep it stationary.
I am not positive but I think the plan is for Hubby to construct this with the baker’s cabinet that we have. Â Then for an island we are going to but the baker’s cabinet and our butcher block back to back.
Yes..I miss some of the features of the custom made island cabinets but I have something cute that Hubby made along with some storage. Â If I end up not liking it, we’ll have the cabinet maker make us an island a couple years down the road. Â We’ll also save a couple thousand dollars if we decide not to replace it down the road.
My only regret is that this island set up won’t have electrical plug ins. Â But with every option that comes along there is a little give and a little take. Â Right now I’m willing to give up the custom built island and electrical outlets for fewer house payments and complete cuteness.
Does anyone know how to get the look of that paint style in in the picture. Â Please give me some ideas because we’d really like to recreate that look.
Jo, can you run an electric line under the floor, then up the inside of the leg? You can put something like a surge protection strip under the edge, and that will give you power options. Think of school rooms with outlets in the floor. I love the look, too. We had rolling tv carts with power cords on them. We could lift the cover in the floor and plug in the cart. If you don’t plan to move it, why use wheels? Just build a shelf with similar legs to your cabinet, making it the height you want.
I was thinking the same as Maryellen. Put outlets in the floor. You would have had to run the wiring there (probably) anyway for an island and if you decide in a couple of years to get the island, the wiring would be in place. Thanks for sharing all that you do.
To get that painted look…..look into Annie Sloan chalk paint. It’s a wonderful product… And then you use her wax to get that vintage look …..it cures and then it’s ready to go. Great stuff!
Well, I see that I’m thinking the same as Maryellen and Cindy. Maybe you can put an outlet in the floor. My parents did this in their living room hardwood floor guessing where the ends of the couch would be and it worked out great! From what I can recall from when I was into Pinterest more, I think the white “paint” may be a “chalk” type of paint. Try your favorite search engine for more information. Or search in Pinterest. Or distress the piece after painting it the color you want with a sander.
Hi, when I saw the cabinet you already have I thought the paint on it looks fab – distressed and vintage and very shabby-chic. It could be washed with wood soap and then some clear wax applied to protect. Some pieces of painted furniture can add interest to a room. Annie Sloan-style chalk paint can be achieved for a fraction of the cost simply by adding chalk powder to standard paint and stir. I love painted furniture as each piece can be made unique and pieces that are less than pretty can be transformed. Give it a go, but beware it’s addictive!
Regards from me in England.
American paint company has wonderful chalk paint and with tutorials. You literally cannot mess it up. americanpaintcompany.com
you can get this look making your own chalk paint, once it is painted brush on a glaze and around the edges and very quickly wipe it off. finish it off with a wax, again, put on, wait about 15 minutes and wipe off and buff for shine. let that all cure about 48 hours. the paint will be set, the finish seals everything to a hard finish, holds up really well. I made my own chalk paint over the weekend on a project, perfect product, no sanding required, no primer required. excellent finish. I love your idea of using these as your island. very nice!
Oh that’s a fabulous find and a fabulous idea for the island. Yes, outlets in the floor was my thought too. I am with your hubby, I bought a hosier cabinet and stripped it to find a dozen different types of wood. I didn’t care, I stained it anyway and I think it looks great. Maybe someday I’ll paint it for a fresh new look… maybe not! :) I’ve never done it but am told to paint, sand part of it back off, stain, and then wax.
Hometalk.com has ideas like this that link back to blog posts about how they were created. Not only about furniture, but rooms and landscaping. I have picked up not only good ideas but how tos from there.
I’m with the other gals. . . . if you can run the electrical up from the floor you should be able to get the electric up to the top. Since the island will be stationary you won’t have a lot of “wiggle room” to worry about.
Of course, you don’t really need to have wheels, do you? Would it be possible to have something else instead of the wheels, like a box, for the cabinet to sit on? That might also make it easier to hide the electrical cords.
Good luck!
Check out centsationalgirl.com. Wonderful project gallery, you’ll get lost in it!
Check out http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com/p/furniture-makeovers.html. You will love this website/blog I think. I believe she has information on painting furniture to make it have that aged look. I’ll echo the electrical outlets in island still. Very doable.
Beyond the Picket Fence blog has some great ideas too.
Also, just a thought, why not do a mix of paint and stain for the island. I’ve done that before with a redo where I leave some area stained (say top) and the the base,legs/shelves, etc. painted. I sand the painted areas to reveal the old stain or whatever was on the wood originally. Kind of a cool effect and “marries” all the wood in the piece to make it look intentional. Good luck with it all. I’m sure it will all come together beautifully!
Antiquing wax over distressed paint would work … for a darker outcome, you could apply a stain with a rag in those areas being sure to wipe most off the paint straight after …