cabinet “before”

This blog post is not a “how-to” for painting furniture.  There are plenty of sites offering lots of advice on that topic.  No, this post is a little “nudge” to anyone who has been thinking about painting a piece of furniture but has been hesitant for whatever reason.

I wanted to paint the cabinet in the above picture for a few YEARS.  It is a number of years old, was passed among a couple of family members and had two heat marks from tea cups by the time we got it.  The color is very dark, too.  But I really like the piece of furniture itself.

glass door cabinet painted turquoise to match the vessel

The problem was, well actually I should say MY problem was that I was afraid of “messing up”.  My fear of not doing a good job stopped me from trying.  Simply stated: I was chicken.

That is pretty sad, isn’t it?  But thankfully, I have some pretty awesome friends in my life, and they tackle all sorts of challenges, all of the time. That kind of pushed me and inspired me to give it a go. Also, I wanted my kids to see me go out of my comfort zone, to teach them that they can do anything they put their mind to, too.

A bit of color in the bathroom

Everyone is different.  Some people might not understand this “fear” of failure. I think they are pretty lucky.  The other thing is, it is only ‘painting a piece of furniture’. Logically, it wouldn’t be a big deal if I messed up.  But “fears” aren’t usually based on logic!

But that fear is now very much behind me, because I researched what I needed to do and tackled my project head on! I am very happy to say that I am absolutely delighted with my new turquoise cabinet.

If you are looking to paint furniture for the first time, I would recommend this site to get you started:  http://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/tips/a266/paint-furnishings-and-learn-from-my-mistakes/

The color was inspired by the ceramic vessel, which you can see in the above photographs.  I brought the vessel home last year (in carry-on luggage!) following our trip to Paris.  I just loved it, and how it reminded me of the wonderful time our family had on our vacation.

Painted cabinet (I might have an issue with buying multiples of soap & stuff …)

This is the cabinet now.  It is being put to good use.   I didn’t really know I had that many soaps! Now that they are in a glass cabinet I can keep track of all of our cleaning items.    🙂

I wonder what project I’ll tackle next?

Go on, tackle that job you’ve been putting off for all the wrong reasons!

In peace,
Dana

A fall look at our Pears, Sunflowers, Blueberry plants, Strawberry plants