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When we added a bathroom a couple of years ago, I had visions of a nicely painted white wooden cabinet with frosted glass doors. I’d seen them at Crate and Barrel and IKEA, and thought they’d be perfect. But I couldn’t find the right size, I was worried the IKEA cabinet might not last (I have 2 boys!), and it didn’t end up feeling like a good match with our fairly rustic bathroom design.
So I searched Craig’s List for inexpensive options. I ended up with a cute metal cabinet salvaged from an old doctor’s office. I love that the top drawers flip down instead of pull straight out, and the old Formica top brings up fond memories. But I was worried about how metal would look in the wood-heavy bathroom.
For starters, the bright blue and stark white paint didn’t match the pale green and rich rust that we’d gone with in the bathroom. It was time for another painting project! In the end it worked well, and I decided to use one of the wall paint colors combined with some semi-gloss paint we’d used to faux finish some beams in our living room several years ago.
Since the metal was already painted, I didn’t have to use any special metal primer, and since I wanted a rustic look, I didn’t have to paint carefully (not my strong suit). After my mom and I painted the different colors on, we took sandpaper and rubbed off the paint in a few spots.
I’m really happy with the results, and it’s so much more personal than a cabinet bought at a department store. It’s a good reminder to me that devoting a couple of hours to a project is more fun, more meaningful, and more satisfying than pulling out the credit card to buy something that looked good in the glossy catalog. And now my little metal cabinet matches the room!
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