Hello, lovelies! It’s furniture Fixer Upper Day once again where I join my friends in bringing you a good old fashioned furniture makeover! I’ve got a fabulous painted pine armoire to share and then be sure to look out for my friends’ makeovers at the bottom!
Today’s pine armoire was a housewarming gift from my parents when I bought my first home, and it held our big box TV. It was unfinished when we bought it, but I immediately painted it navy blue to go with my blue living room.
A few years later, I painted it white, adding gold hardware. Then, it pulled garage duty for nearly a decade at our last house holding supplies and looked like this by the time we moved to this house in 2017:
When we moved here, it was once again deemed garage storage and to make it match the gray cabinets I already had, I painted it gray. In my recent workspace purge and reorganization, I decided it needed to go.
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Here is what it looked like at that point:
I honestly wanted to donate it to the thrift store or put it on the curb and announce a curb alert, but my sister gave it to me straight! She said that if I saw it sitting on the curb on my way home, I would slam on my brakes and try to find a way to get it into my minivan!
And you know what? She’s exactly right ha ha! She knows me well.
So, it was the perfect candidate for a Furniture Fixer Upper day makeover and here we are!
But just wait!
Wait until you see what color it ended up! We’ll get there…
Clean
I had already vacuumed the layers of dust off when I did my garage clean out.
Then, like every serious furniture makeover, I gave it the best prep possible with White Lightning and boy did it need it!
You know how I’m always asking how pieces get so dirty on the inside?? I think I might have an idea now lol!
I cleaned both the inside and outside:
I wiped it down well and then swapped my dirty water out for clean water and gave it another wipe down to remove any residue. White Lightning is a degreaser and deglosser, so it is not recommended for pieces you do not plan to paint. Gloves are recommended.
(And I dispose of it in the toilet, so it can be properly diluted and treated.)
Prime with Bonding BOSS
This is pine which means lots of knots coming through the finish. I have never tried Bonding BOSS on pine knots before, so I thought I would give it a go!
I primed inside and out as well as all three super large shelves with just ONE coat:
I let that dry for 24 hours so it could do its thing!
Now here me out!
As I mentioned on Tuesday, my mom was in the hospital this weekend. (She’s home now and doing well.) But that meant that I was going back and forth a bit, so I was working on this armoire in between.
Original plan
My original plan was to prime this with the white Bonding BOSS, and then paint it in one coat of Vintage Duck Egg blue. It was quite beat up, so I would then sand a bunch for a relaxed, beachy look to help camouflage all the nicks and dings in this soft wood.
Now I’m going back and forth to the hospital, right?
So I left this and came back a couple of times, and when I came back to it before painting, I started thinking that this might not turn out that great and maybe I should go a bit more neutral so that it will have a better chance of selling.
What color did I decided on instead?
How does a nice, soft gray sound?
Nice and neutral, right? It will appeal to more buyers, right?
It wasn’t until I came back to it the morning after painting it that I realized…
I painted it the exact same color it was before!!!
You can’t make this up! It never once crossed my mind that it had been gray before.
Paint
Here’s how that went! I mixed up a custom mix of about a third Hurricane Gray with about two thirds Cotton:
This silicone mixing paddle that attaches to your drill is awesome for this!
Here it is going on…
Same dang color. (It’s actually looking more brown here, but it is really a light gray….same dang color.)
I knew at this point that I needed to find other ways to make this thing shine brighter than before.
Sand
I did just one coat and then decided to go ahead and sand really well to help hide all those imperfections it has collected over the years:
Next, I wanted to add some dimension and chose to paint the inside trim of the raised areas in Cotton:
That was on the drawer, but I painted those areas on the cabinet doors as well.
Adding embellishments
In an effort to give this piece a fresh new look, I decided to cast some decorative pieces with the Enlightened Etchings Mould using Amazing Casting Resin:
I glued it to the panels at the top of both upper doors using Titebond Quick and Thick Glue. I laid the cabinet on its back for this part until the glue dried.
Highlighting with White Wax
Once it was good and dry, I went back in with White Best Dang Wax to highlight both the new decorative pieces and all around the edges of each inset panel…
The French Tip brush is great for this step.
I then went back in and buffed those areas a bit with a soft cloth until I got a look I liked:
Here is the difference with and without:
I let that sit for about a day and then sealed with Clear Coat in Satin using the blue sponge applicator to apply it:
I gave everything two coats, but the shelves for the insided were sealed using Gator Hide instead for a bit more protection from whatever gets thrown on those shelves:
Let’s jump to the after and see if there really is a difference!
Painted Pine Armoire After
What do you think?
Better?
While it is still gray, I think it now has a much softer, more romantic feel…
The hardware
I went with this hardware I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby a couple months back, but do you remember I stole the rounded pieces from one of them for this box makeover not too long ago?
That left me with two short since I only had four of this style hardware. So to improvise, I once again pulled out my air dry clay, just like I did with this ornate dresser, to make a copy:
I poured Amazing Casting Resin right into the clay while the clay was still soft. The resin only takes about 12 minutes to set up, so once it was ready, the clay was still pliable enough to pull off.
Can you tell which ones are copies?
In person, you can, but not really once they are in place on this armoire:
The two on the bottom of each handle are the fakes, but no one will ever know mwah ha ha!
As you can see, I painted the hardware much like the moldings, except instead of using wax, they were white and I haphazardly added gray paint. Then I spray sealed them with Rustoleum Clear Satin Spray.
The Inside
You got a pic of the inside while I was cleaning it, but here’s a better look at the rest of the inside before:
Yikes! Maybe that gives y’all a better idea of why I wanted to put this piece on the curb lol.
Here it is now…first, a peek:
You know I had to get my stripes in there somewhere ha ha!
I just couldn’t leave the back plain.
I doubled up the widest Frogtape to get these wider stripes, and pulled the tape off as soon as the second coat of gray paint went on:
As you can see, I painted the rest of the interior as well as the shelves white.
I had cut out holes for the TV and cable box cords when it housed my TV, so to cover those, I painted these stars:
Hey, it’s all I had at the time and they can easily be removed if someone needs to run a plug through the hole.
The bottom area is painted all white…
I just love what these decorative pieces add to this cabinet!
The hardware became decorative details as well!
The Drawer
I almost forgot the drawer! I decided to add fabric there using Matte Mod Podge to attach it which I applied with a synthetic chip brush:
These wash up great and can be used over and over again.
And here is the fabric I chose:
Luckily, I had this in my stash already!
See how I line drawers with Fabric HERE.
And that is my Furntiure Fixer Upper for this month!
What do you think? Was I able to change it up enough??
Let me know in the comments what you think!
Then, be sure to see what my friends have for you today!
I’ll be back to my haul on Tuesday sharing the redo of these two items I found while thrifting with Nancy:
AND, I’ll havea BRAND NEW Thriftshop Shakedown video. Stay tuned!
UPDATE: See the video and what I did with these two pieces HERE now!
XOXO,
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Mary Kaiser says
Not only did you change it up, you totally changed it to BEAUTIFUL!! I love how that tranformed. I love the color, the fabric in the drawer, the stripes inside, the embleshments, and the handles! It turned out amazing! Your sister is spot on about you stopping your vehicle and picking that up, so good job to sister for reminding you of that! This piece would be in my home if I lived closer, and it will sell fast!
Christy says
Aww thank you so much, my friend! I am SO glad I listened to her ha ha! Now it can go on for many more years and not as garage storage! XOXO
Sue Cox says
You have a wonderful skill and artistic talent, too–that looks terrific. I love the molded hardware. It adds a lot of romantic detail and no way anyone would be able to tell. (Although, to be honest, if I’d done something that smart I’d be telling everyone!)
Christy says
I appreciate that so much, Sue, thank you!! I went around and around with hardware really wanting to use those but not having those round pieces I needed until it finally occurred to me I could create some!! XOXO
Jenny Shealy says
Gorgeous! So glad you listened to your sister. Lol!!
Christy says
Thank you so much, Jenny! I am so glad I listened to her too!! XOXO
Elena says
Wow Christy, very good job, very beautiful, elegant!
Christy says
Thanks so much, Elena! XOXO
Irene Sokol says
Beatiful makeover on the amoire, the added decoration, strips and drawer lining kicked it up a notch or two. I assuming you put it your shop?
Christy says
Thank you, Irene! I’m so glad you like it! It is still here, but it will be heading to my shop. I sure did think twice about that as it looks so good in my dining room right now lol! XOXO
Janice Redden says
Christy……..this is so charming …but, darn….I have a piece all primed and ready and my color in mind but after seeing this beauty that may change; sometimes, it’s easy to get stuck in our own “color rut” and then, “Christy the inspiration angel” appears. I think the added details make it stand out. Also, most important, glad your mom is doing well.
Christy says
Thank you, my friend! Oh no…ha ha! I don’t know if I would have considered this color for my own home, but it looks so good in my dining room right now, that I’m eyeing my china cabinet….that may end up this color lol! XOXO
Karen Jacobs says
Awesome! Looks like a totally different piece.
Christy says
Thank you so much, Karen!! XOXO
Cecilia says
Lol, I mean someone would have snatched it up if you’d put it on the curb but could they have made it look so romantic? I’m glad you prettied it up. And grey didn’t come to mind at all. So funny. I smiled when I saw the stripes; I was like “there’s the bling!” Love that touch. One would never know it had been used for garage storage. Beautiful!
🤩 Cecilia
Christy says
Ha ha thank you, Cecilia! I’m so glad now that I didn’t give up on it, and you know I had to add some bling in there somewhere! Have a great weekend, my friend! XOXO
Josee says
Every last detail, just lovely!
Christy says
Aww thank you, Josee! XOXO
Mary Smart says
Another Masterpiece Christy! I love the tip about using clay to make additional moulds using resin. I never thought of that! I did have to laugh when you ended up painting it the same color. I think most craft people have done that before. But you added all of the extras so it looks beautiful!
Christy says
Thank you so much, Mary! I’m so glad I remembered that I could do that with the clay. I couldn’t believe when I had ended up with the same exact color lol. I think I literally stared at it for what seemed like forever deciding if I should repaint it. In the end, I’m glad I didn’t. XOXO
christine says
I CANNOT believe you even contemplated curbing this piece! I am with your sister!! Looks great!
And I feel the more neutral, the more saleable! And I have always wondered if you have ever considered a paint sprayer? You do so many large pieces, wouldn’t spraying go faster?
Christy says
I know… I can’t even believe I thought about curbing it either ha ha! I’m so glad now that I kept it and redid it! And yes, I agree that the neutral color will sell it more quickly. I have a paint sprayer, and I have used it on several projects, but I genuinely love the quiet business of hand painting a piece…very therapeutic for me. Although hand painting is more time consuming, it’s much less mess, less stressful, and uses less paint. XOXO
Laura J. says
Looks beautiful Christy. Too funny that you painted it the same color!!! It’s softer & more elegant now. Love the stripes, fabric drawer, and how you cleverly made more knob embellishments!!! And, your staging is always perfection! Just love your makeovers!
Christy says
Thanks so much, Laura! I know…I was so irritated when I realized, but I’m glad I could still get it to look different on the second go! I’m glad you enjoyed it too…and the staging is my favorite part, so I appreciate that! XOXO
Denise - Salvaged Inspirations says
I’m so happy your sister convinced you to give this armoire because it looks FABULOUS. Very different with the appliques and all those beautiful details you added. So glad to hear your Mum is doing better.💕 Hugs and have a great weekend my friend. XOXO
Christy says
Girl, me too! I would have had serious regret I’m sure if I had left it on the curb. Thank you so much, my friend!! XOXO
Jackie C says
The transformation is amazing. It’s beautiful. I’m glad you didn’t use a transfer on it. I spied those stripes right through that first door. Love love love them. so glad your mom is better. Wishing her a full and speedy recovery.
Christy says
Thanks so much, Jackie! This piece had lots of panels, so a transfer would have been a bear to apply, so I actually took the easy way out with just paint ha ha! Thank you for the well wishes for my mom! XOXO
Natalie says
I have to say, the inside might be my favorite part too. The color and decoupage give it so much personality. It feels like a little hidden gem. Great work!!
Christy says
Thanks so much, my friend! Funny how the inside can often outshine the outside! XOXO
Cyndi says
Wow! This was its best transformation yet! I love the color, especially with the white highlights. The embellishments and added details are all perfect. I know it was a lot of work, but so worth it, I think!
Christy says
Aww yay! I’m so glad you like it, Cyndi, thank you! This one took much longer than expected, but I’m so glad now that I took it on! XOXO
Lizzy says
It’s gorgeous. That shade of gray, stripes, drawer liner, and white wax make all the difference.
Christy says
Thank you so much, my friend! I’m glad I didn’t stick it on the curb lol! XOXO
Vicki says
Christy, it turned out beautiful!!! What a transformation, you’re so creative. I love it!!!
Christy says
I appreciate that so much, Vicki, thank you! XOXO
Joanne says
ye-e-e-e-s-s-s-s-s, Y’all! Just love the transformation! One of your best and wish I could buy it! Glad your Mom is home and well.
Christy says
Yay!! I’m so glad you love it, Joanne, thank you so much!! We are too for sure! XOXO
Michele M. says
Christy, I can hardly even believe that is the same cabinet. It is so awesome! It will sell fast – it’s beautiful. Oooh lala, magnifique!
Christy says
Thank you, Michele! I appreciate that since it didn’t really change colors ha ha. It is always nice adding a large piece to my booth! XOXO
Marlene says
It is beautiful and like you I use material on some of my pieces. When my mom passed away I took some of the old clothes I had seen her wear and I put them in some of my furniture drawers.
Christy says
Thank you, Marlene! I love that idea so much! Now you get a sweet little reminder of her every time you open one of those drawers! XOXO
Jewels L says
So soft and beautiful! Had to laugh when you realized it was the same color! Love all of it. Color, embellishments, cheater handle parts, stripes and that fabric for the drawer~perfection! Another winner for sure!
Christy says
Thank you so much, Jewels! Yes…what a revelation the next day ha ha. I’m glad I could still give it a new look even though the color is so similar! XOXO
Marion says
The touches of white make this look really beautiful – I’m so impressed!
Best to your mom for a speedy recovery.
Christy says
Aww thank you so much, Marion! XOXO
Gail Wilson says
Christy
I’m so happy you listened to your sister! I’m happy to hear your mom is doing better.
Your sweet finishing touches really bring this painted armoire across the finishing line. Some people would stop with paint (me). But you always go above and beyond, and your hard work pays off.The armoire is amazingly beautiful.
Pinned!
gail
Christy says
Girl, me too! My sister is usually right lol and yes, my mom is doing much better! Thank you so much, my friend. Sometimes, I just want to keep going and going ha ha! XOXO
Kathy Owen says
Girl! You know this piece is right up my alley. LOVE IT. Kathy
Christy says
Thank you so much, my friend! XOXO
Geri Davis says
It looks beautiful! I was thinking maybe a green or blue green was my guess, but the grey is absolutely perfect! I’ve never attempted a big piece as I have a small house with which to work in, maybe someday! I did however try my first flatware box redo and made the inside pretty like you do!
Thanks for the inspiration as always!
Christy says
Thanks so much, Geri! Oh yay…getting the insides of those boxes out is a real chore, but lining them isn’t too hard at all! I bet it is so pretty! XOXO
Jeanne says
I’m surprised how much I like this. No cut against you–you know I’m a huge fan–but these pieces are a dime a dozen, at least here in the north. You really made it stand out better than originally and I love it.
P.S.
How are those Santa pins coming along? 😉
Christy says
I’m so glad you like it, Jeanne, and honestly, I feel the same! Remember, I wanted to put it on the curb lol! But it really did come a long way. Thank you!! Ha ha haven’t given the Santa pins a second thought, but remind me around the end of October and maybe I can make that happen!! XOXO
Rebecca says
Such a beautiful result. You certainly classed it up.
Christy says
Thanks so much, Rebecca! XOXO