Bakers cabinet

Worked on creating the frames for the replacement upper doors. I still need to router the edges and cut out the inset for the hinges.  

Bakers cabinet reno

 I have a day off from work and am playing with my projects while I have time waiting for my appointment this afternoon.

So this is my project that I am working on today.  Paid $30 for it at a garage sale. It is a mid-century bakers cabinet. The bottom half still has its original bakelite handles,  the cutting board is also original.  However the previous owners had wanted to use it as a microwave cabinet and had thrown out the original upper doors out, so I will need to make some new doors for that section.


The enamel pull out counter is original and I found it to be in fairly good condition once I cleaned it. It is a pale honey yellow colour which I quite like.  I want to partially stain and paint the cupboard but I haven't decided whether to paint the frame and stain the panels or vice versa.  I think it will depended on what I find when I finishing striping the piece.  The doors and drawer are done already and are a nice birch wood so I am hoping the cabinet will be the same. The backing had a hole cut out for the microwave cord, so I am thinking of replacing the backing with tongue and groove pine boards.  I had been trying to decide what to do with the upper doors. I had been thinking thought of doing punched tin panels when I got some inspiration from Pintrest. A blogger had used a Radiator cover panel to make inserts for frame doors.  I had a look around to see what was available and found that Lowe's in Waterloo sells these and so I purchased one with a cool pattern so fingers crossed it looks good when I am finished with it.

Caned wing back chair

My latest project a rescued wing-back chair that had been sitting in a barn for about 8 years.  My friends found it at a garage sale and paid $8 for it.

So this is my first attempt at refinishing an item that has an upholstery component to it. 

I gave it a good scrubbing with Murphy's oil soap  to get rid of the dust and bird droppings (yuck) and let it dry before I gave it a light sanding

Then I painted the springs with Black Tremclad paint.

I filled a couple of small holes with walnut wood filler.  Once that was dried and sanded, I used Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner followed by a couple of coats of Minwax natural stain.

Added 4 coats of Minwax Wipe-on-Poly in clear gloss (which I love)

Reset the springs to their correct position and covered them with a layer of burlap. Then a layer of foam and batting covered with another layer of burlap.

I then edged the chair with a black cord and tacked the Zebra stripe upholstery fabric in place. To hide the edge of the fabric and the tacks I glued some black braided trim on the inside of the cording.

I'm pleased with my first attempt at upholstery. Hopefully my friends like the result.

Bookcase finished ready to move upstairs