Sunday, February 19, 2012

How to Paint a Metal Cabinet

 DIY: Furniture Redo! Painting metal

 I found this cabinet at an estate sale for $10.00.
 But it was ugly. And gross. And old.
 But I had a vision for it and figured I'd just give it a makeover so I could use it in my craft room.
 So here are the steps for painting metal... This goes for file cabinets, metal boxes, mailboxes, etc.

1. Clean (I had to scrub the you know what out of this thing) thoroughly.
2. Sand with 100 or 200 grit sandpaper. If there is any rust, sand it all off.
3. Wipe down so the surface is free of dust.
4. After putting a drop cloth down, spray entire surface with metal primer. This makes it possible for paint to adhere and prevents future rust. I bought 2 cans of it since this was a big project and I wanted to make sure rust wouldn't take over.
5. After the primer is dry, you can paint with any kind of paint. Some say to get the metal proof spray paint, but they didn't have the color choices I wanted, so I got the $5 paint samples from Sherwin Williams and love the outcome. The colors are Tantalizing Teal and Butter Up Yellow, and the two of them mixed. I put 3 coats on the outside and 2 on the inside.

That's it!!
 So you may be thinking, that looks silly... why would Sarah choose such bright colors (and different colors)? Well because I like colorful things and I knew that the only place I could get away with it is in my craft room.

 And because it looks way cooler when it's filled with wonderful craft supplies. And organized :)
 I still have to find some good handles for it, but I love how it doubles as a magnetic pinboard. What better place to display things that inspire me than on my supply cabinet?!

It will end up costing me about $35.00 after I get new handles. A small price to pay for the amount of storage and happiness I get out of it. 

If you have an old ugly file cabinet or anything metal that needs a facelift, give it a try. It's worth it, and satisfying! I enjoyed having this project to work on and enjoy it more now that I cleaned up junk that previously made my craft room look like a war zone. 

11 comments:

  1. I love this. The colors are perfect. Never would have thought a metal cabinet could look this nice. :)

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  2. WOW. What a transformation. Love the different shades on the shelves. Hard to believe where this piece started...looks fabulous. Would be delighted for you to link up with us over at Mop It Up Mondays (at i should be mopping the floor): http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com/2012/02/mop-it-up-mondays-4.html

    Have a great week!
    {HUGS},
    kristi

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  3. That looks so much better - I love the color!

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  4. It's been awhile now, so I'm wondering how the pain is wearing w/o a final coat of some sort. Did any paint scratch off?

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  5. wow!!! What an excellent job...Thanks for inspiring...

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  6. Late reply to this but I've had success at Home Depot getting them to add some tint to the Rustoleum quarts. They've taken a white base and added a bit of color to get a close enough match to something I'd picked out on the paint chip cards.

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  7. Late reply to this but I've had success at Home Depot getting them to add some tint to the Rustoleum quarts. They've taken a white base and added a bit of color to get a close enough match to something I'd picked out on the paint chip cards.

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  8. I have just the cabinet that needs this type of transformation - and it's going in my craft room! Thanks for all of the helpful information. You did an outstanding job and very understandable instructions. I hope mine turns out half as good as yours did.

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  11. Thank you for the article I'm about to do the same with the kitchen cabinets on the house I just moved into :)

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