1970’s Armoire make over

Several months ago I found this amazing armoire on a Facebook yard sale site.

I wasn’t really sure how old it was but I was hoping it was something staight out of a medieval castle. Honestly it smelled old enough to be! But I was pretty sure they didn’t make plastic veneer during that time period so I figured it probably wasn’t. 😉 I did a little research and I think this was probably made in the 1970’s. The front was a hard plastic veneer but the rest of this was wood.

This piece needed some work. First I cleaned it top to bottom and left the doors open to air it out and get rid of the musty smell. One of the drawer slides was missing. This turned out to be a difficult fix. I couldn’t find an old one that matched (I searched everywhere but no luck) and so I ordered some. Unfortunately they didn’t work for the drawers, they sat too low. So I returned those and went with simple wood slides I found at Lowes. My helpful hubby spent some time making them the right height so the drawers would slide easily. Not sure I would have ever figured that out on my own. 😝 Then I sanded and used wood glue on parts that needed it. And it was ready for paint.

I wanted to paint it grey. I used French Linen but I wanted to change it up a little so I added a little Graphite and Pure White until I got the color I wanted. For the inside I chose Cocoa. To make the detail on the front stand out just a little I dry brushed those area’s with Old White and just a touch of Cocoa. You will laugh but I actually got the color idea for this from a Klenex box! Haha You never know where your inspiration will come from right!

I loved the hardware on this but one of the pulls on the bottom was missing so I went looking for something that would match it. I tried a few out before I found the one I liked.

Love how it turned out despite all the little problems I ran into. But it was a good learning experience. I always ask when I am buying somethings with drawers if the slides work. It may still be worth it but it’s best to know what you are getting into with each project.

I put this in my booth at Drab 2 Fab and it sold quickly. I was sad to see it go but glad someone else loved it. An old price of furniture doesn’t have to be all wood to make a beautiful up cycled piece. Fortunately chalk paint goes on everything. Let me know what you think of my 1970’s Armoire make over.

Cindy 😃