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Metal Cabinet Makeover {Roadside Rescue}

I’m sure you remember my sweet neighbor who gave me the fishy tray that I turned into a chevron masterpiece.

Bless her. Just to summarize, she was moving in with her daughter and gave me multiple treasures including that tray, several mason jars, more furniture than my garage can hold and even more that I won’t go on and on about.

Well, about two days before she moved, I came home after ice cream with Grunt Labor and the kid one evening to see this vintage metal cabinet and a metal cart on the roadside in front of her house. In all honestly, I had lusted after this cabinet since I saw it in her garage one afternoon. Now, this sweet lady had asked me if I wanted every single thing she was giving away before she gave it away, so, I thought that maybe someone was already coming to pick up that cabinet and cart. But, just in case it wasn’t earmarked for anyone, I ran over to her house and asked her if anyone was coming to pick it up.

The sweet thing said no and that she was too embarrassed to even ask me if I wanted something so old and beat up like that cabinet.

Bless her heart. Little did she know, I love beat up stuff.

And a metal cabinet makeover was right up my alley.

And even more, I seriously needed some storage in my craft room. Metal Cabinet Makeover {rainonatinroof.com} #metalcabinet #makeover #roadsiderescue

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Rust-Oleum, but y’all know how I roll, all opinions are 100% mine. This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Even though, this piece would be in my craft room where no one but really me, Grunt Labor and the kid would see it, I still wanted it to be pretty and reflect me.

And what best reflects me?

Navy blue and kelly green.

You knew it was coming. Just deal with it.

First though, this cabinet was seriously gross.

Metal Cabinet Makeover {rainonatinroof.com} #metalcabinet #makeover #roadsiderescue

There was dirt.Metal Cabinet Makeover {rainonatinroof.com} #metalcabinet #makeover #roadsiderescueAnd there was rust.
Metal Cabinet Makeover {rainonatinroof.com} #metalcabinet #makeover #roadsiderescueI started by just hosing the entire thing down and scrubbing it really well.

I removed all the hardware, and then gave the entire piece, as well as the hardware, a good coat of gray primer to seal out the rust. Next, I took kelly green (ok, really its called meadow green) and went over the edges of the doors and drawer with it. I didn’t need to cover the entire thing with the green because part of it would have just gotten covered up by navy as you will see.

Before taping up where I wanted to keep green, I gave the cabinet a full twenty-four hours to dry.

After the 24 hours, I taped along the edges of the doors and drawer to kind of make the green a frame around the blue.

Metal Cabinet Makeover {rainonatinroof.com} #metalcabinet #makeover #roadsiderescue

Metal Cabinet Makeover {rainonatinroof.com} #metalcabinet #makeover #roadsiderescueI pulled out my deep blue spray paint and went to town.

Metal Cabinet Makeover {rainonatinroof.com} #metalcabinet #makeover #roadsiderescueI used my comfort grip spray paint holder for all the painting. It makes spray painting so much easier. No more tired and sore fingers! It just clips right onto the can and you can get to work!

So that I didn’t peel any of the blue paint off after it had dried, I pulled all the tape off the cabinet while the blue spray paint was still wet.

Finally, I topped it all off with a couple gloss topcoats.

It all resulted in amazing storage for my craft room.

Metal Cabinet Makeover {rainonatinroof.com} #metalcabinet #makeover #roadsiderescueI know these photos are not the best, but my craft room is in my basement, so great lighting there is a luxury we don’t have.

I went for gold on the handles. Initially, I tried a yellow color, but it just took away from the blue and green too much.

Metal Cabinet Makeover {rainonatinroof.com} #metalcabinet #makeover #roadsiderescueMy craft table is now actually a table and doesn’t have to hold all my supplies. They are stylishly hidden away in my roadside rescue.

Wait, does it still count as a roadside rescue if it was just next door?

Need more furniture makeover inspiration? See my entire gallery of just that right here!

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Comments

  15. Beth says

    I love the finished product…..i have a few similarly disgusting metal cabinets that need repainting. What do you use for the final gloss topcoats?

    Reply

  17. Jessica says

    We have metal cabinets like this in an old apartment style house out back. They aren’t a one piece, but are the same type with the same handles. The house we live in has Youngstown metal cabinets & we had to paint over a lot of rust, inside. We used Rustoleum in a redish brown color, then painted antique white. I love them, but they are hard to keep clean.

    Reply

  18. Theresa says

    Hi there. Great job on this cabinet. I am helping a friend paint some old lockers this weekend. It has been over a year and a half since you posted this, would you mind commenting on how the paint job has held up? Thank you.

    Reply

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