Redoing a Vintage Sewing Cabinet

Now that the holidays are over, we are all back with sharing our regularly scheduled "Furniture Refresh"!

This month, we have a theme: "Spray Painting".
Perfect for this vintage sewing cabinet I found at a thrift shop!

If you follow me, you may remember my thrilling moment when I bought it. (posted here) Intending to give it a makeover, I wanted it to go from "vintage" to more of an "antique look".

The exterior is covered, or "upholstered", in fabric. I originally planned on removing the coverings and replace them with wood. After considering what it would entail by attaching pockets on the inside, I might as well build another one!

So, painting this one made sense.

I cleaned it up. Then spray painted it with a spray enamel paint.

It needed more than one coat.

So, before painting again, I added scrolled wood appliques in the corners and one in the top center on each exterior side. They are glued on, then I used small finishing nails to secure them further.

Once the appliques were in place, I finished spray painting the entire exterior.

While the cabinet was drying, I printed out antique sewing ads in 3" x 5" size onto iron on transfer paper.  (Using three graphics per large pocket on the inside of the cabinet.)

I handpainted the interior of the cabinet with chalk paint. Then, ironed on the graphics by placing the opened cabinet on the floor with hardcover books tucked inside the pockets for a hard surface.

 The paints were dry, the ironing was done... and this was a wrap!

I was going to add a graphic on each side of the exterior, but I ran out of time. When I do it, I'll just add a photo of it on this post. 

Now that the cabinet is finished, I can fill it up with all of my useful sewing notions. And "sew" on and "sew" forth... (wink!)

Although this is fabric covered, it does have a thick cardboard in between the inside and outside fabric pieces. It's quite sturdy. Now, the painted surface makes the cabinet easier to clean.

The appliques give it a whole new personality.

The faded look of the ironed on graphics makes the interior pockets appear aged. 

Overall, the goal of going from "vintage" to "antique" is accomplished.

Now, let's go on to the rest of the "Furniture Refresh" group!  I can't wait to see what has been created! Join me while I check out what pleasant surprises awaits us!

"Before Photos"

Sue at A Purdy Little House

Robin at Redo It Yourself Inspirations

Anj at Making My Apt a Home

Michelle at Michelle James Designs

Michele at Shelstring

The thrift shop jewelry tree transformed into a pin cushion can be found "here".

Featured at

With Angie at Tuesdays with a Twist

With Evija at Wonderful Wednesday 

Antique Chair Revival

It's time for another makeover! Each month, our "Furniture Refresh" group takes a piece of furniture and refreshes it into a new life. You never know what we come up with! 

I was excited to redo this antique Windsor style chair I found at a flea market in the Hudson Valley. It's one of my favorite places to go for great farmhouse things. I scored with the chair, an antique cast iron bell, and an old milk box. 

There were several chairs available but this cutie caught my eye. 

Those spindles are so slim, crooked, and just plain sweet. Even though the chair was banged up quite a bit, I could envision it refinished to remain old looking. 

Normally any beat up piece with cracks could be filled in, sanded, then painted. But this chair deserved to show its years by leaving all of the scars exposed. 

A fan back American Windsor like this dates into the 1700's. If it survived this long, why not show it? 

So I sanded it. A lot. But not too crazy in the creases and cracks. Allowing the old paint to accentuate all of them. Including a lot of old wormholes. 

After becoming impatient with sanding, I cleaned the dust off, rubbed in coconut oil to condition the wood, then used a dark antique wax to seal the whole chair. It brought back the true identity. 

A few of the spindles were previously broken and repaired. And done well, as they were holding up. (Probably why the chair was painted.) The dark wax shows where the breaks were. Wormholes are all over the hand carved seat and they actually look amazing. 

Check out these handmade spindles. A bit crooked, but so fascinating! 

In fact the whole backrest is bit off. Like, it became twisted. 

The cracks are really obvious with the paint removed. 

Surprisingly, the chair is sturdy despite its age. 

I'm a sucker for antiques like this and believe they should be refinished if they can. Although it isn't valuable because of its condition, it sure is handsome; war wounds and all. 

With all of its scars and age lines, it's very functional. 

And it displays plenty of character. 

Sitting there all twisted and crooked, it fits into our home just fine. 

It will sit in our dining room as an accent piece. Used when necessary. After all, being a couple hundred years old, it should rest. After several more polishings, it should continue to shine in its own glory. 

Well, that's my makeover of the month. Let's see what the other group members did with their crazy amazing talent!! 

Here are the before photos: 

Click on the blogs to see the finished outcome: 

A Purdy Little House

Our Crafty Mom

Michelle James Designs

Redo It Yourself Inspirations

Shelstring