A Cabinet Makeover with a Royal Twist

Hello and happy Monday all!  I decided to start off the week right with a DIY project by one of my favorite people in world - Belinda.  You might remember her from here and here:)  She shared photos of this makeover a few months ago and I'm so I glad I've finally gotten my stuff in order so I can share it with you today.  I'll let her take over from here!

The lovely Belinda!

We had an old Ikea cabinet that we were using for cookbooks, ribbons and all sorts of random things. I really didn't care about the piece at all, but since we can always use storage space I decided to give it a makeover. Which, truthfully, makes me sound much more crafty than I am. As though my first thought about any tired thing is to pull out the paint (like Kendra!) ... I wish. 

Being from Australia, we definitely have a connection to the United Kingdom. We drink a lot of tea, put the letter "U" in everything and the Union Jack still features prominently on our flag. I had seen some fantastic pieces boldly featuring the Union Jack, but typically in the traditional red, white and blue. Since our house is little, I wasn't sure that kind of statement piece had a home with us just yet. I decided to use a combination of neutrals and metallics instead.

 

I used a primer that I already had and then I used a combination of three additional colours, plus the metallic at the end. I can't  recall the name now, but the metallic I really liked only came in a pint and cost more than the cabinet itself so I ended up using a small pot of Martha Stewart's metallic Golden Pearl. My initial plan was to use a metallic that was very close to the main colour, so that the flag was just a contrast in texture with a shimmer to it. The metallic I used ended up being bolder than I had planned.

 

 

I used painter's tape to create the Union Jack shape. Since our cabinet is taller than it is wide, I didn't want to take the diagonals all the way to the corners, since that would skew the shape of the Union Jack. Instead, I ran the vertical line all the way down the doors and then kept the rest of the flag in proportion.

I then painted the main colour, which was a high gloss cream. I removed the tape and painted the stripes in a lighter cream, and then once those had dried, I re-taped it to paint the metallics. There is no doubt an easier way to do this ... I just didn't think of it!

 



 

 

It now sits happily in our bedroom. I think my Dad thought I was about to hand in my citizenship after I had painted the cabinet with the Union Jack while simultaneously adding British soap to our bathroom and putting both of my children in clothes featuring the British flag. I think it was the effect of the Olympics - plus the Queen of England is the Queen of Australia ... and when I'm trying to teach my three year old manners, I regularly ask her "what would the Queen say if she came for tea!?" It's practically Downton Abbey around here :)

I decided to use pretty glass knobs from Anthropologie ($8 each) because I think fancy knobs can make anything better.

Doesn't it look amazing!! Love how soft and cozy this room is.  Oh (since I needed to know) the art over the bed is a Polly Ngale that Belinda bought in Australia several years ago.  Love it!

Thank you Belinda for sharing!!
Have a project you want to share?  Email me kdamiecki@yahoo.com.
xo!
Kendra Pin It

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