Refinished Liquor Cabinet

I worked on a commissioned piece this week – a very ornate liquor cabinet that the owner wanted toned down a bit:

I can’t help it, but as I was looking at the photos all I could think was;

A little bit of silver in my life,

A little bit of gold by its side.

A little bit of beige in the sun,

A little bit of dark wax gone all wrong. (Mambo No. 5 – refinisher style)

It’s a beautiful liquor cabinet, but just so…. in your face.

Even the insides needed a little toning down.

Tracey opted for a black makeover – BM’s Black Iron to be exact – which would allow the detail work to be seen and appreciated without taking over the room.

Per usual, the refinishing process started with the sand-down, a TSP bath and then the primer.

Better already right?

I really should have used a grey primer on this liquor cabinet, but I didn’t have any and it wasn’t a big enough project to warrant going out and buying a separate quart. Using the white primer will work just as well, but it requires that you paint an extra coat of your colour to get the full depth of the black.

Given that this might be a high-traffic piece of furniture, three coats was probably best for durability and hardness.

I can’t remember working on a piece with this many nooks and crannies before. I used the paint sprayer to handle most of the heavy lifting, but there were still tiny bits and cracks that required a tiny, little paintbrush.

Three coats of Advance formula later and the outside of this liquor cabinet is a thing of beauty.

There weren’t obvious cut-off lines in this liquor cabinet for me to paint the entire interior white (BM’s Pale Oak), so I pieced it in sections.

The sides and bottom I kept in the Black Iron because the hinges and cabinet doors are inset slightly and white would have shown around the edges, but painting the entire interior in black would have made it too dark for reaching in and quickly identifying what you want out of it. Having some white in the mix makes the interior brighter and will make finding your favourite liqueur much easier.

That’s very important you know – no one wants to search when they need a drink- grab and ~~chug~~ pour is the way to go.

I tried to dress the liquor cabinet up a little with a few Holiday decorations – but there’s no hiding those turquoise lockers in the background and the skid (my painting dolly) – so you’ll just have to imagine it staged with beautiful crystal low ball glasses, an ice bucket and tongs and a bottle of something “smoooooooth” on top.