The Craft Armoire

Introducing…….. my new craft armoire!

This thing was a beast to finish, but it is finally complete and functional and I absolutely love it!

I wanted a piece of furniture that could sit by my kitchen table and house all the kids crafting supplies. After a couple months of searching I found the perfect thing. Here is the before picture.

I snatched this baby up for $40 at the thrift store. It was pretty gaudy, but the size was right and the inside was lined with the most perfect shelves.

Doors removed and primed.

So how did I remove all that gaudiness you ask?

Well, sometimes these old ornate pieces are made with plastic! The armoire was wood, but the details were all plastic. So I took a screwdriver and a lot of muscle and pried off all those ornate pieces. I had done this before quite easily with a smaller piece, but this one really took some muscle and sweat.

Here is what it looked like after I removed all the plastic and filled the holes with wood filler.

I then primed it with “Zinsser Cover Stain” and brushed on two coats of Sherwin Williams Antique White. After I was finished, the doors seemed awfully plain so I covered them with paintable wallpaper from Lowe’s and added these beautiful glass knobs I picked up in London.

I also decided to line the insides of the doors with fabric. I attached the fabric using a spray adhesive and a hot glue gun for the trim.

And to finish it up, I added this overlay to the top to give it just a little more character.

Overlays are a really cool way to personalise your furniture. These are paintable overlays that you can glue onto your finished piece. Check out “O’verlays” here

Then it was time for the fun part…. organising! I found these great bins on sale at Target (I have a passionate love for Target) and filled them up with all the kids craft supplies. I made some simple tags on the computer, laminated them, and attached them to each bin to keep things tidy.

It is amazing to me how many crafty projects my kiddos have been doing since I finished this project. Especially my little three year old, Emma.

It has been two weeks now and I think she has done painting, gluing or play-do every single day!

Here is what it looks like in our room…. right by the kitchen table…. Perfect!

And one final pic of the finished piece…

Happy Crafting!