I was out on one of my “gathering” expeditions when I came across this antique chifferobe. It was a “hot mess”! The legs were beat up and practically falling off, the top was peeling, the bottom was warped and cracked, the mirrors had more age spots than Father Time, and it had two drawers that were completely eaten away by an anonymous small creature. BUT… What a perfect project piece for someone in need of functional space. I knew immediately what I wanted to do with this great find. Here in Alabama a lot of people have beach or lake homes and if they don’t, they decorate to get the feel of being at one. So, project “Sandcastle Chifferobe” got underway.
Here is a before picture with the two remaining drawers removed.
Here is a picture snapped after removing the doors, the top and bottom, and gluing the legs and sides.
With bungee cords holding things good and tight, we play the waiting game.
This project had a lot of small jobs to be done: Cut two pieces of new flooring for the bottom; New knobs for the cabinet doors; Painting the whole cabinet with Annie Sloan’s Old Ochre Chalk Paint; Hand painting the sandcastle and beach on the cabinet door; Hand painting (not stenciling) the wording on the outside of the wardrobe door; Paint the inside of the wardrobe door with chalkboard paint, and hand paint the decorative embellishments on the chalkboard; Cut and install the molding to wrap around the bottom of the cabinet; Find the perfect basket for the space to replace eaten drawers and put a bow on it. Whew!!! Now here are some pictures of “Sandcastle Chifferobe”
Shot of me working on the inside of the wardrobe door.
While I wait for the wardrobe door to dry…
See the new top, and the bottom molding that now surrounds the old legs.
Take a look at the mirrored cabinet door and the basket set in the bottom.
After attaching the wardrobe door.
It’s all in the details. The mirrored cabinet door up close.
A sandcastle should be made of nothing but sand… and a coat of paint of course!
The mirrored outside of the wardrobe door.
A burlap basket with rope handles to hold your seashore treasures, (or toys, magazines etc…)
replaces the two drawers eaten to satisfy something’s munchies.
Shot of the finished project in front of a window with the wrong lighting. Sorry!
Another shot, this time in the studio with too much white in the mirror’s background. Sorry again! LOL!
And finally, the inside of the cabinet. The wardrobe door is a chalkboard for special messages. A vintage slip hangs from the wardrobe bar to show that it functions wonderfully for it’s intended purpose.
For me the hardest part about a project like this is all the waiting. But so simple. Well…What do you think?
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
