Hey friends! Welcome to Trashtastic Treasures! I am so glad you are joining me today, I have a great file cabinet makeover to share with you. Trashtastic Treasures is a series on my blog where I take something I thrifted or already own, and give it a brand new life! I have been on the lookout for two matching file cabinets that I could make over for a couple of years now, but have never been able to find two matching ones. Until a couple of months ago when I found these beauties at The Mission. I scooped them up for $15 for both. They were different colors, but the exact same size and hardware. Take a look at the before pictures below.
For this file cabinet makeover, I started by removing some stickers that were on the fronts of the cabinets, and then I cleaned and taped off the keyholes and the drawer pulls. There were a few spots on both that were starting to rust, so I lightly sanded them until they felt smooth. Next I cleaned them inside and out. I decided to use my HomeRight Paint Sprayer to paint these cabinets. I love my paint sprayer and don’t know what the heck I would do without it. I decided to paint these cabinets both inside and out, and it took about three light coats using my spray gun. You can see a couple of progress shots and the HomeRight Paint sprayer I used for this job below- I love it so much!
I am still up in the air about whether I want to leave the cabinet hardware as is, which is a brushed looking silver, or paint them. I am using them for much needed storage in our dining room/office, and maybe when you can see them in the room during the remainder of this post, you might have some suggestions for me! I was going to paint them white, but I didn’t feel like going out and purchasing white paint, so I decided to try something i already had on hand. In the end, I decided to use the same paint I used to paint our living room and our master bathroom. The color is a Benjamin Moore color called Gray Owl, but I had it mixed at Home Depot in with Glidden Paint. I thought using this color would help to tie the dining room and living room together a little more, and it is so funny when I look at the finished cabinets now in the room, because the color looks so completely different on the cabinets than it does on the living room walls. And I like both! I highly recommend this color if you are looking for a light grey.
These cabinets fit perfectly in this little corner of the room! They are the perfect size to hold LC’s printer (that he has to have for work), and there is room for the cordless phone and a few pretties! Plus there is plenty of space for our family files, LC’s work files, my camera equipment, and one drawer to spare! I am sure it will get filled, trust me. This room is the hardest working space in our house, since it serves as our dining room and our home office, and it has been a work in progress ever since we moved in.
I thought of painting the cabinet hardware gold, but then I started wondering if that would make too much gold in the room. What do you think? I also debated doing a bronze or something like that. I would love to have your opinions! I have also considering adding some rustic wood across the top of both cabinets to marry them together a little more. What do you think of that idea? I thought it might make them feel more like a single piece of furniture. Coincidentally, the giant wooden utensils you see on the adjacent wall were also a find from our local Mission, and I spray painted them an apple green.
Here is a close up shot of the finish on the cabinets and the current color of the hardware. I will be also adding some type of labels to the drawers eventually. My HomeRight Spray gun provided a wonderful finish on these cabinets. I am very happy with the results. When you spray with this gun, it is important to follow the directions in the owner’s manual because the paint will need thinned depending on what type of paint it is. When you spray, use a firm wrist, and stay about 10-12 inches away from what you are painting. I find the spray gun to be just as easy to use as a can of spray paint, but you do have to clean it up when finished, which is really easy. Below is a close up shot of the file cabinet makeover after I had them in place.
I have been slowly making a nice little succulent garden on this window sill, and I think it is now on of my favorite spots in the room!
This is the office side of the room, for those of you curious about it! The desk and shelves are both from Ikea, and the chair is a Goodwill find for $5. I also found the lace hoop art just as is at The Mission for like 25 cents or something, and I thought it was a great find! I hung it on the wall just as I bought it.
I made the cute little journals you see pictured below, and you can read all about them by clicking here. The wine bottle was another thrift store find, as most of my home decor is! I love the hunt and I think these things add so much more character to a home.
If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may have noticed that I removed the area rug that was in this room. My daughter needed a rug for her college bedroom, and I gave it to her. I have been wanting a new rug for this room for years, and I figured I could live with a naked floor until I find something just right. I even feel like it is easier for me to image different thing in this room now that the floor is bare. I don’t mind it. I hated the rug that was here, it was old and dingy, and so I am happy with it for now. If you are new to the blog, you may not have seen my new chandelier that I recently added to the room. I love it! I bought it at a yard sale for $15, and painted it gold. It is exactly what I pictured it would be in here! But it is one of the reasons I am iffy about painting my file cabinet hardware gold. Too much or not?
Here is a good look at the newly bare floor. These hardwood floors are not my fave, but at least they are real wood! And you can see my new file cabinets peeking out on the left, There is plenty of room to get around to the window.
The cloche you see on the buffet was a little DIY project. I bought the glass bowl and the metal small round tray at Goodwill, and they fit perfectly together, so I hot glued this glass know on top and made it into a cloche. Right now it is holding a paper rose. Cloche’s just make small things feel more special, don’t you think?
I am so happy that I finally found file cabinets that would work in this space! And I am so glad I decided to paint them with my HomeRight Spray Gun! I could just spray everything with this spray gun, I’m telling you. I recently loaned it to a friend, and they liked it so much that they kept it for themselves and bought me a brand new one, no lie!
Now, to find the perfect rug. That is going to be a while because I have no clue what I want in this space. Any suggestions? I don’t feel like I am great at pattern mixing. What do you think would look good in here?
Thank you so much for joining me today for this edition of Trashtastic Tuesday! What do you think about my file cabinet makeover? I would love to read your thoughts in the comments below. I love comments, and I read and respond to every one! Have a great weekend friends!
Do you have champagne taste and a tiny budget like me? Love fashion, DIY, crafting, all things vintage and thrifty? Stick with me, I’ve got you covered!
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