These two cabinets were part of a massively large entertainment & storage unit we used in our old apartment.

It worked well in that space. Adding a huge amount of storage and with 14′ ceilings it didn’t look too big.

{seen here on the left side of the photo}

In this house…. it completely did not work.

The center entertainment portion was craigslisted {finally!}. But I wanted to find a way to make these two cabinets work. I have a lot of crap and the 4 piddly upper cabinets in the kitchen just don’t do the trick. The “medium brown” veneer was not working though. The imposing dimensions and dark color made them look hulking in such a narrow room.

The hardware was also a little more stark-modern than I’d like in here.

So we give it a little makeover with PAINT!

Well PRIME! Then paint.

And as an aside, I would like to mention that priming & painting 45 cubic feet of cabinet, 6 doors, and shelves in a room that’s 16′ 10″L x 11′ 9″W while you’re priming & painting all of the walls, trim & ceiling {kinda} with this humongo thing in the way is a bit of a challenge. Especially when it means all the living room furniture and everything that was stored in that 45 cubic foot hideaway get to camp out in the dining room.

Super fun. But eventually everything got primed & painted {2 coats!} same as the wall color.

New-old hardware was purchased {vintage from this seller}. The only thing was – the new pulls came with this little nub that is supposed to stick into the surface.

Quick enlarging with my trusty drill and the problem was solved.

Using a piece of wood as a backer keeps the back of the door from blowing out or splintering as the bit goes through. It chipped the front a little {lower right} but that will be covered by the pull. The back, however, where just the screw goes looks nice & clean {lower left}.

From this to this –

And finally –

TA-DA!!!

So what’s magically hidden behind those lovely doors?

2/3 is housewares & kitchen stuff. One cabinet is for boring but useful things like pens & rubberbands, as well as my current purse stash. There are more bags in the upstairs closet but this keeps my most used ones handy when I want to switch right before rushing out the door. The lower right cabinet is where some important but ugly electronic clutter gets tucked away.

The modem, wireless router, charger for the DeWalt batteries and a small shredder for the junk mail. The shredder actually has a pull-out bin so it’s really easy to unload without taking it out of the cabinet.

Keeping the outlet just next to the cabinet {instead of behind it} means I have somewhere to plug the vacuum in or something decorative on the mantle. And yes, our floors really do slope that much. Thank the sweet baby Jesus for whoever invented shims.

So there it is. My Bonde cabinet overhaul. I am really enjoying the extra storage and love how being the wall color makes them visually recede into the wall. Besides the paint & new pulls, the project was free.

What have you made over recently?