When I met with Megan initially about her space, she was really leaning towards built-ins for storage. Something similar to the ones in our home office, with a desk, lower cabinets and upper cabinets. As I thought through the space and how she uses it, I felt like a large cabinet would be more functional for her. We talked about it and agreed. It was not only more economical, but it would ultimately address her storage needs better.
I immediately started scouring Craig’s List and checked out a few local antique stores. I found a perfect wardrobe with a bead board back and everything, just like the one I sketched out in the plan. My dad sent the owners an e-mail to see if it was still available. A couple of weeks passed and we hadn’t heard anything, so I moved on.
Bummer!
I kept looking and didn’t find anything close. Everything I liked was too expensive or the wrong size.
Finally, good news! The wardrobe was still available! My dad and Jeff drove out to pick it up a few days later. It turns out that the owners were having a hard time saying goodbye to such an awesome piece.
They recently bought their dream home, an 1800’s farmhouse, and this cabinet conveyed with it. They didn’t have a spot for it, though, so it had to go.
Jeff and my dad assured them it would be well loved. (Megan, you’d better love it!) I think she will, but I certainly love it enough for both of us.
Here’s how it’s looking so far…
I tell you what, painting this piece is a marathon!! Actually, Kriste could tell you better than I could, because she’s the one who has spent almost two days with it.
Here’s how it looked when we first got it.
The body of the cabinet is old, but the doors are a recent addition. Whoever added them did a nice job.
The red wasn’t bad, but it just didn’t work with the design plan for the room, so we painted it. Here’s a video showing the progression…
The first coat is MMS Milk Paint in Typewriter. We painted it black to “neutralize” the red, before we went to green. I decided to add the Bonding Agent to the first coat, just to ensure we wouldn’t have any chipping. We don’t want that red showing through.
You can see in the video that we kept tweaking the green as we went. It kept looking too blue, so we lightened it up and added more yellow. We ended up with a mix of 2 parts Lucketts Green to one part Mustard Seed Yellow.
The color doesn’t need to match our green buffalo check, but I want it to compliment it.
Partway through the second coat, Kriste asked if you could apply MMS Milk Paint with a roller.
“Oh yeah, you can! I guess I should’ve told you that!”
I can’t believe I didn’t even think of it. I just always use a brush. So, she started rolling and it worked great and went so much faster!
We’re going to apply one more thin coat over the entire piece to even out the color and then we’ll go from there. The interior will get three more shelves and a coat of MMSMP in Linen, just to give it a fresh start.
You can see how the inside of the door is a bit bluer than the outside, which is closer to the color we are going for.
Some of the accessories in the wardrobe are my props, like the market basket and the books, but the enamel refrigerator box and the cake tin are for Megan’s office. When I was shopping for pieces for her, I was looking for cute and closed storage containers for office supplies, papers, etc.
The cake tin is just so cute!!
On Monday, Megan’s coming out to help us, since there’s still lots more to do. We have another chair to slipcover, curtains to sew and we need to finish this beastly cabinet.
Stay tuned…
If you missed the reveal of the slipcovered desk chair, you can catch up HERE.
If you’re new to this series, catch up here…
I read your blog daily and I really like everything you are doing for Megan’s office makeover but am curious why you chose a green with blue undertone for the storage closet instead of MMS Boxwood. On my monitor, the curtain material looks green with yellow undertone. Megan is a very lucky lady!
If you read in the post, we are actually moving the green towards a more yellow green, because it is looking too blue and that’s not what we want. We’re on the same page. 🙂
i love what you’ve done with her office so far! that cupboard is sheer genius. i liked seeing the progression of colour. the final green is sweet.
that chair though. everything’s great except the black base. hmmm. either green or ivory? just not black.
The chair will be up against a dark wood desk and a chalkboard wall, so I think the black is going to work better in the actual space.
It is all coming together nicely. I have to say, though, the cabinet is still too blue. I hope the last coat gets a little more of a green/yellow look to it.
I love the cake tin, the clock and the fan! Adorable finds!!
Loved the video, so very happy and inspiring! I love seeing spaces through your eyes; you inspire me to look at my house through a new lens, thanks!
I love that you are doing this. I have been helping friends design their houses for years, and it is so rewarding! I have always found that as the house became more like the woman, the woman became more like herself. I am curious to see if you find that as well. This is one donation of time and effort that you will never regret!
All the best,
The Other Marian
F*A*B*U*L*O*U*S!!!
Such a GORGEOUS piece! Totally jealous of all your amazing green finds too! Green must be popular around here because I can never find anything vintage in a green colorway and on the off chance I do the price is totally outrageous.
I love how this is coming together. Painting the cabinet black was a stroke of brilliance! I love what it did for the green.
Your updates on Megan’s office are delightful and something I so look forward to! I can hardly stand the wait for the reveal! Just a thought on the red beneath the green – if you sand back edges and patches to give it more of that worn look, as I’ve seen you do before, the red (and possibly the black) will come through, right? Personally, I think the red touches would be wonderful and might even give a direction for yet another accent colour (like possibly in the accent chair pillow, other accessories, etc.). Looking forward to the finished product!
The cabinet is awesome! I have a similar wardrobe but haven’t painted it yet. I bought it 12 years ago at the end of a local antique show. I use it in my hall as a linen closet. I am loving the green shade you mixed up. She is going to be hanging out in her office with all the fun storage features more than she ever thought.
I’m in love with that green!! Great choice!!
Beautiful as always !
I love the cabinet and I love the color! Nice job 🙂
It is coming nicer and nicer. I love this green and the white tone inside.
It looks great!
Anne.
Such a beautiful piece – I love the color you chose. Watching this makeover come together has been so much fun – I am loving it!
All fabulous! … and what’s not to love about that cake tin. It’s the cutest thing ever…
Cindy
Loving this series!!! The wardrobe looks awesome and I love that green/blue everything is going to look so amazing when it’s all together.
Lauren Baxter | Lovely Decor
xx