Grain Sack Cubby Cabinet

 It happened again! Another diamond in the rough on the side of the road! My two boys are so used to me hitting the brakes and veering in to the shoulder just so I can get a peek at a piece of furniture someone has left out for the garbage men! Well, luckily for me this was getting thrown out  two doors down from my house so I didn't have to travel that far!!

This was such an adorable cabinet and it looked like it had been maybe used in a nursery school. It had stickers plastered all over as well as names of the kids that used the cubbies.  

I used a paint color from Home Depot Behr's paint and primer in one in  Ashwood in a Matte finish for the inside of the cabinet. What a pain in the neck!! I needed about 2-3 coats to give enough coverage.

I used my homemade chalk paint recipe using plaster of paris and water mixed with latex paint.  I painted the entire piece.  Here, I just used a white that I had on hand already.

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I painted a grain sack stripe using painter's tape to tape off the design and I filled it in with the same color I used for the inside of the cabinet.  I distressed the entire piece using my hand sander and sanding sponges.

I found a font that I liked on the computer and I printed out the letters and numbers that I wanted.

I usually use a cray pas or dark lead pencil to scribble all over the back of the photocopy so it makes a carbon copy.  Then I attach the page onto the area I want the image to be with blue painter's tape.  I trace over the image with a ball point pen, usually red so I can see where I've traced.  When that's done, I remove the page, and I use a very fine brush and fill in with a watered down paint. In this case I used black.

What a beauty this one turned out to be! 

When the hand painting and distressing was done, I waxed the piece using Johnson's Paste Wax I found at Home Depot.   I really gives a nice sheen and protection to the piece.