Happy Birthday to me

Several weeks before my birthday this year, Paul kept asking me what I wanted for a gift. I had a few thoughts about different things, (a serger, an iphone, a new laptop; none of which we can afford) but it wasn't until I ran across a blog post about a girl who transformed a china cabinet she found on craigslist... that I knew what I wanted. So, I searched on craigslist... and found this:

(this is not my garage)

And all last week I spent 2 hours in the garage every morning... transforming it into this:



The beautiful antique china was given to Paul and I by his mother. Her father bought it in Denmark and brought it back to Canada years and years ago. It finally found its way to her in Utah... where she gave it to us right before she moved to Oregon.

I put it inside the cabinet with a couple of modern pieces I picked up from Target's "Liberty of London" collection.

Love it!

I removed the hardware, sanded it down, and then painted the whole thing white... straight from the can. THREE TIMES (primer and then 2 coats). And then I painted the back wall a lovely lavender (Behr's "Light Mulberry")to match my favorite colored flowers on the china. I replaced the metal knobs with some clear glass ones, and I actually just put the drawer pulls back on... though I might still spray paint them white. What do you think?

ps... remind me to never paint a china cabinet again. It is A LOT of work!