The $5 Dollar China Cabinet

Hello all!  I've been away from my blog for a while (focusing on my health and eating habits... apparently I can't do two things at once) and have realized that I was missing sharing some great projects and DIY stories with you all.  So I'm back!

The hubs has decided that he is now a major storage wars player.  He went to his first one and won it for $5.  I won't lie, it was awful.  Cleaning out other people's trash is not something I want to do at all.  But he assured me that I would not have to do any of that and I could have as much or as little of a role as I liked.  (Insert sigh of relief here:))So I asked him if there was any furniture in it and he said, "Yeah, but just an old broken down china cabinet."  Enter my new project!

This cabinet had a door ripped off (screws were stripped), the back was hanging off, it was dirty, the base had no top and the bottom of the hutch was broken.  Sounds like a challenge...I'm in!  Here is a couple of before pictures (please excuse the cell phone pictures).

Above is the hutch.  Notice there is no base to it, I ripped that off because it was broken. And not to mention the awful gold etching on the glass sides (see how I removed that here).

The cabinet had a door ripped off and no top.  It was absolutely nasty!  The shelf was drooping in the middle and the backing was stained, so I pulled that off which made it much easier to see what all needed to be done.

I knew I wanted to use chalk paint for this project.  With chalk paint you don't have to spend hours sanding or priming.  I took a field trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics and got FolkArt Chalk Paint in Persian Grey.  Here is a link to what I purchased.

I was so excited to test it out, I immediately cleaned up the broken door from the base cabinet and painted it.

BEFORE

And here it is after 1 coat of the chalk paint.

Can I just say, that I may have screamed a little bit because I loved it so much?  I ended up doing 2 coats and with chalk paint you also have to put on a clear wax which actually makes the paint bond and harden.  I spray painted the knobs and handles in a matte black and within 36 hours, the bottom of the china cabinet looked like this.

It still didn't have a top and the back was missing, but WOW!  What a difference this stuff makes!

Here is a side by side of the before and after... so far.  :)

What do you think?  Have you used chalk paint on wooden furniture before?

This post is linked up to the following sites:
The Thrifty Home
Savvy Southern Charm
Lamberts Lately
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Thrifty Decor Chick