I'm a Rustoleum Tester, and every so often Rustoleum sends me a new, or old product and asks me - and the rest of the testers - to create something using a particular product. Recently, I was asked to select a color from their Furniture Restoration Kits and use it to restore a piece of furniture. When I do this, I need to take photos during the restoration process and submit my photos and comments to their team. They make it a challenge, and other members of their Creator's Studio are asked to take a look at the completed projects and vote on the one they like best.
When my Furniture Restoration Kit arrived, I had no idea what to use it on. I'd selected a beautiful Caribbean blue, but I didn't need to redo anything for myself. So, I delayed starting anything while I considered what to make. Then, while walking with my sister, I passed by a house that had this big melamine cabinet (like something you'd get from Ikea - it might even have been from Ikea) sitting at their curb. I glanced at it but didn't think too much about it. Until I got home and I had an aha moment. Here was something FREE I could use the product on, and maybe it sell it afterwards.
This is what my curbside find looked like - after I'd removed the doors.
I decided that a beverage bar might be something that someone else might want. So, I went to work redesigning the cabinet. I removed the center divider and cut it down. I saved the two existing small shelves to reuse, added a "bar" top, an additional shelf across the top, and built a box for wine bottle storage. Then I built two drawers just under the bar top. I added a new base that was heavier to keep it from being too top heavy. My initial intention was to leave both doors on so that the entire cabinet could be closed.
Above is a progress picture of the rebuild.
This picture shows the two drawers. It was almost ready for painting to begin.
I still needed to add some top trim. I even bought some crown molding, cut it all, but cut one piece backwards so, cut another piece - only to discover that I'd cut it from the long, front piece of molding! So, I completely mess that up. I didn't want to spend anymore money on my thrifty project, so I created my own trim pieces that you can see in the next pictures.
This is the Rustoleum product that I used. It's a kit that contains everything you need to finish your project. Except for paint brushes. It runs about $35.00 and you can get it in several colors.
This is the color I chose - gosh, it was bright! Pretty, but I was worried that it would be way too bright for anyone to enjoy!
The first step is to degloss everything. Since this was a mix of laminate, raw wood, and old, painted wood, I sanded everything first. Then deglossed the laminate, primed the raw wood, and sanded and deglossed the old, painted wood.
After applying the color bond coat and letting that dry for at least 12 hours, I brushed on the glaze. This toned down the color to a beautiful aged aqua. I loved it. However...
This was when I discovered that there were several areas where the bond coat did not bond well! I stopped with the glaze, and let it dry longer. That didn't help though - the paint just wouldn't stick in those areas.
I continued applying glaze to the rest of the pieces. I had no problem on the material that I primed before applying the color bond coat. I did think about priming the entire piece but decided to just follow the instructions on the box. In my review of the project, I suggested that for melamine and glossy painted wood, they should recommend using a good primer before using this product.
Side view of the glazing.
Still a pretty blue, but toned down (this picture makes it look much brighter than it really is with the glaze).
In this picture you can see where I tried to touch up an area where the paint didn't stick. I finally did manage to get the fix less noticable!
Finished project. I added a hammered gold finish to the edges of the shelf and wine storage, and painted the bar top a hammered gold. The knob, which is hard to see in this photo, is also gold, as is the stemware holder.
All in all, I'm happy with how it looks. The wine storage can be removed and I do have another small shelf that could be used for basic storage. So, I think it could also be used as a coffee bar, or plain old storage cabinet.
I'm going to try to sell it, but if I still have after Easter, I'll be donating it to the church for their annual silent auction!
IT SOLD!
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