Have you ever wondered what to do with an old sewing cabinet, Sweet Friends?  Old Furniture, like sewing cabinets, record cabinets, old chests intrigue me.  I love taking something old and repurposing it into something new.  Today on the blog I am sharing with you about my “Sewing Cabinet Turned Desk Transformation!”  I shared a video on the transformation months back, but I thought i’d give you the full tutorial here today.

Watch the video here on You Tube:

Although I really loved the look of the Sewing Cabinet, in order to turn it into a desk it need to be painted.  My sewing cabinet did not come with a machine, so when I opened up the cabinet there was a big hole.  I used a piece of wood and some Dixie Belle Mud to fill in the whole.  Unfortunately, I was not able to stain the wood to match the cabinet and that’s when I turned to paint.

If you’ve been following me for more than a minute, you know I’m kind of a paint fanatic anyways. 

Pinterest Inspiration

I created a Pinterest Board when I was deciding on the transformation of the sewing cabinet that you can check out here.  Pinterest shows many ideas for a Sewing Cabinet Transformation.  A few  ideas are: beverages bars, ice chests, plant stands, and bedside tables.  Those were all great ideas but, I needed a new desk for our home.

Sewing Cabinet Transformation

The video shows the struggles I encountered painting the sewing cabinet.  I ran into the stain bleeding through my paint which is never a fun scenario on a makeover.  In the video I also tell a silly story.  

I’m recently divorced and enjoy dating every so often.  Sometimes the date plans don’t go as you expect and that’s what happened when I was working on the Sewing Cabinet Turned Desk Transformation.  Kinda coincidental, huh!

If you like my dating stories, you should check out the “Bad Date Furniture Make-over!’ That’s another one of my silly dating stories.

Here is the tutorial on how to transform a Vintage Sewing Cabinet into a Desk.

Materials needed for the Vintage Sewing Cabinet turned Desk Transformation.

• Old Sewing Cabinet
• DIY Paint and Brushes
• Dixie Belle Mud
• Dixies Belle Boss Stain Blocker
• Plywood

Links to the products used can be found at the bottom of the post.

Instructions for the Vintage Sewing Cabinet turned Desk Transformation.

Step one: Remove the sewing machine from the cabinet, if it’s not already missing.

Step two: Put a piece of plywood where the sewing machine sat – you may need to drill or glue this into the space.

Step three: Use Dixie Belle Mud around the edges of the plywood if there are gaps.

Step four: Use a stain blocker on the wood surfaces if needed.

Step five: Paint the wood surfaces. I used DIY Paint in the colors of White Swan, Crinolin and Sandy Blonde to create a one of a kind look.

Step six: Seal the wood surfaces. I used DIY Paint Big Top and applied two coats. It is a matte sealer and provides a durable finish.

A side observation: On this transformation, I struggled with bleed through. The stains from the cabinet bleed through my paint to create a splotchy look. I used Dixie Belle Boss Stain Blocker over and over to eliminate the bleed through. Watch my video and learn more about preventing bleed through.

The Sewing Cabinet Turned Desk Transformation provides a great space for writing, computer work or as bedside table. I’m sure you’ve noticed it’s been all over my home.

Do you have any dating stories???

I hope I’ve inspired you to take an old piece of furniture and make it functional again. Now go out there and Create Something.

Cynthia

DISCLOSURE

Many of the links on this blog are affiliate links. CreateWithCynthia.com receives a small commission when certain items are purchased, but the price is the same for you. Thank you for your help in supporting my little space on the internet.

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I love flowers, Sweet Friends. In fact, if I could wear flowers in my hair every day I probably would. I love having flowers in my home, so much so, I do at times, settle for faux. Are you a flower lover?

I love real flowers and faux flowers and I love incorporating them into my home decor. In today’s post I am going to show you one way to add flowers into your home decor.

Trash to Treasure Furniture Makeover!

Trash to treasure furniture makeover’s are my favorite and this dresser was such a mess. The picture above really doesn’t give the mess justice, but if you can imagine an old wood dresser that has been alive for probably 50 years, I am sure you understand what I mean.

Incorporating painted flowers on a dresser is the perfect way to include flowers in your home. Bringing flowers in from the garden is always bliss but if you don’t have a garden you may need to find other solutions.

Now, in years past when our home had a huge garden I spent most of my time out there. I’d plant sunflowers and peonies and dahlia’s and iris’s and morning glories and flowers in every color of the rainbow. I really love planting bulbs, as watching them emerge from the ground is always a fun and surprising thing.

With this furniture makeover, I originally painted it a two toned look where I left the drawers the wood color. I loved how it looked but then.

Then I got inspired by Josie and Sally, the Iron Orchid Designs Sisters to take it a step further.

You can watch how I completed this project on my You Tube Channel here.

Sallie and Josie inspired me with a project that they worked on. I thought that the dresser would look so beautiful with a vase full of flowers on the front of it.

On this project I used Iron Orchid Designs Air Dry Clay, Decor Stamps and Decor Transfers to create an image that looked like a vase full of flowers. I also used DIY Paint on the project. Here is the dresser at TreasureFest last year.

I hope this project has inspired you to go out and create something you love. Make it a Great Week!

The post Trash to Treasure Furniture Makeover and Adding Flowers into your Home Decor! appeared first on Create With Cynthia.

When It’s Time to Re-Paint that Furniture Piece.

I was reading emails this week and ran across Sharon’s post, “When It’s Time to Re-Paint that Furniture Piece,” and it made me think of exactly what happened to this “Vintage Side Table with Magazine Holder.”

Vintage Furniture!

I picked up this Vintage Side Table with Magazine Holder a couple months back at the Good Will here in California. It was a dark walnut wood stain/color and I loved the spindle features and all of it’s character. I’m always looking for places to store my favorites books and magazines, and so I was thrilled to get the piece. I think it was an awesome price of $6.99!

I originally painted it all white with DIY Paint White Swan and then did a colorful look on the top which was similar to the Feature Wall look. You can read about the Feature Wall here and watch the video here. Although I liked the colors in the table top, I just felt like it did not go with my vibe.

After reading Sharon’s post, it was such a relief to know that I’m not the only one out there that paints a piece of furniture and then paints it again. It’s exactly what happened to my Vintage Side Table with Magazine Holder. I just couldn’t get pleasure from the first makeover.

In Sharon’s case, I don’t think she was unhappy with her project, “Coffee Station Sideboard” she just decided to do a make-over again and again and again. Read the post here. I love watching Sharon, from Australia “Breath Life Into Old Furniture,” because that is exactly what I love to do. You can check out her website here.

Here is the Recipe of Products for the final project, Vintage Side Table with Magazine Holder. If you want to create a similar look, you can shop online at CreateWithCynthiaShop.com.

Recipe of Products:

• DIY Paint in White Swan
• DIY Paint in Big Top
• DIY Paint Blending Brush
• Iron Orchid Designs Decor Transfer in Catalogue of Roses

Although I originally planned to keep this cute and sweet little table for my own home, reality is my home is pretty full of furniture at the moment. The Vintage Side Table with Magazine Holder is at the Create With Cynthia Shop in Redwood City, California and for sale. If you are not in the Northern California area, you can go online and purchase it here.

Note aside: For directions on how to adhere an Iron Orchid Design decor transfer, you can watch the video, “Old Record Cabinet Furniture Makeover” here.

I hope I have inspired you to go out there and create something.

Make it a great day!

Cynthia

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Rocking Chair Furniture Makeover!

I love ice cream and this project reminded me of ice cream because DIY Paint “Dark and Decrepit” looks just like Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce.

For this project I used the following Debi’s Design Diary, DIY Paint products:

To finish the Rocking Chair, I sealed it with two coats of Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch 2X Ultra Cover in Matte Clear.

Here is the Before and After on the Rocking Chair Furniture Makeover.

Dark and Decrepit takes Wood to a whole new level.  I hope I have inspired you to try it out.

Make it a great day!

Cynthia

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I hope you’ll stop by and do some shopping!

Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel as I upload new videos on Monday and Wednesday of each week.

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Dining Room Makeover!

My old Dining Room was kinda dark and dreary.  It really wasn’t a welcoming spot for the boys and I to sit at the table and enjoy a meal.  On holidays, I tried to set the table nicely, but the bottom line was…it was dark and dreary.

When your Dining Room isn’t welcoming, well, you end up not using it.  That’s what happened in the old dining room.

Chair Makeover!

When I moved out of the Woods and Back to Town, the Dining Room Makeover was a priority.  My boys like sitting at the table eating meals and I knew that I needed to provide that space.

Chairs are the most important thing in a dining room and they need to be comfortable.  My old chairs, were just old and not comfortable.  Lucky for me, I get a lot of free furniture and I ended up with a bunch of free chairs and decided to swap out the old wood chairs and update a set of chairs to use at my table.

Let me know what you think of the before and after?

We are pretty happy with the after look.  For this project I used Debi’s Design Diary DIY Paint in the following colors:

• A color mix of Skeleton Key and White Swan (video on that project here),
• Crinoline
• Faded Burlap
• White Swan
• Sandy Blonde

All of these paint colors can be purchased on my website at CreateWithCynthiaShop.com or by visiting the store in Redwood City.

I hope this inspires you to Create something beautiful.

Make it a great day!

Cynthia

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