Filing Cabinet!



I was feeling bugged that my mom took her filing cabinet to the D.I. rather than give it to me! But it's okay, because my husband and I found this beauty on KSL. Only $10 and it works great! Even has a functioning lock and key. Remember, chalk paint can adhere to pretty much any surface. That's one of the many things I love about it!

 

Again! I forgot to do a "before" picture of this baby. But you can kind of see some of the "before in this picture:

 

 

My husband and I both chose Louise Blue (without the other one knowing) out of all of the Annie Sloan colors. It's also the color I will be using for the hope chest my mom gave me to restore (you can see a part of it on the right side of the picture). I will do a post on that piece soon! I have so many projects going on all at once!

 

I loved this color. I was afraid it was going to have a periwinkle tone to it (I DON'T like periwinkle) but it surely did not.  It's a very pretty color.

I had my husband remove the plastic labels that were wedged into the handles. They were functional but kind of ugly and they would have been hard to paint around.

 

Then I cleaned the surface of the cabinet, all over. Then mixed some of the paint with water (don't use as much water as you usually do. Since this is metal, the paint won't get absorbed AT ALL and will drip very easily).

 

Upon application of the first coat, I realized I had mixed in way too much water in with the paint; there were drips everywhere once it had dried! I had to sand all of them down, which took a LONG TIME. And then paint those areas again.

 

Also, keep an eye on the paint while it's drying and catch any drips before they dry. That will make less work for you in the long run.

 

 

After I finished all of the three coats and let them dry, it was time to seal it. I decided to try out a new kind of sealer. It's called Water-based Polyurethane. Apparently you can only purchase it in California in stores. I bought mine through Amazon: Water Based Wipe on Polyurethane

 

I like that this sealer comes in a bottle rather than a can. So that rust doesn't get in it. To apply to your piece squirt some into a bowl and add water. Keep it to a ration of about 50 percent water to 50 percent polyurethane. Wear a mask!  Use a non-terry cloth rag to apply. Preferably one with little to no lint.

 This stuff is VERY thin. And if you don't apply it in long, straight wipes, you'll be able to see the streaks of the application rag. This also dries really fast, so do what you need to do when applying each wipe of polyurethane and then move on. This is not like the polycrylic application at all.

 See the streaks on the top of the cabinet? This was the very first area I applied the polyurethane and I didn't do it right. Make sure you apply the polyurethane in the direction you applied the paint, underneath. Otherwise, you will see criss-crosses. Lightly sand each coat of polyurethane, before you put the next coat on. But of course don't sand the final coat!

The polyurethane definitely gives the paint a more bold, deep color. Without it, the color looked like more of a powder blue. Remember, You need to apply 3-6 coats of the polyurethane since it is so thin.

The end result of the sealer looks VERY similar to the polycrylic. I will make a post soon, comparing and contrasting wax, polycrylic, and polyurethane.

 

How does it look!? Time will tell as to how the paint and polyurethane hold up over. But as for now, I love it!! My husband said he was so impressed with the result that he wants me to paint all of the filing cabinets at his hospital. He claims it will "boost the morale" for everyone there. I bet it would!! All of these beautiful pieces of furniture I display in my own home definitely lift my mood.

 

"It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy." -Lucille Ball