Our grandmother was an avid crafter. When she passed away, we inherited much of her craft supplies. I also have quite a bit of scrapbooking supplies. We were in desperate need of some inexpensive storage. I saw a post on the Scissors and Spatulas blog and the wheels began turning.
I stopped by my local Habitat for Humanity
ReStore. I have discovered the best time to find cheap cabinets is on Saturday. They often mark down inventory and cabinets can be purchased for as low as $2.
I splurged a little and found two cabinets with glass fronts for $25 each. I knew from my frequent trips to the ReStore, that these are somewhat more rare than the plain cabinets. I decided on upper cabinets instead of base cabinets because they were going to be along a wall in a narrow hallway on the unfinished side of the basement. I needed about 12 ft. of cabinetry total and the glass doors would break up the monotony a little. The cabinets had been painted white, but they needed a little work.
I removed the knobs and stripped the cabinets. I used some mineral spirits to clean them up before priming.
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With the stripping completed, I moved on to the other two cabinets. These were trash finds so total freebies, but I have seen them at ReStore many times since for as little as $5. They are solid birch cabinets and very well-made. We have these same cabinets in our kitchen painted a deep chocolate brown so I knew they were very sturdy and durable.
I removed the hardware and applied a
deglosser, wiped on with rags. This cleaned the surface and prepared it for the primer. I primed the cabinets and gave them a fresh coat of white semi-gloss paint. After searching through my mismatched hardware box, I came up with some brushed nickel handles and some matching new hinges. I had to purchase a few more, but found them for less than a dollar each, including shipping on ebay. The next problem was the countertop. After wandering around the local hardware stores, I found white melamine shelving at Home Depot for a little under $13 a sheet. These were 72" long by 12" wide. They also came in different lengths. I needed two for my 12 ft. of cabinets.
I purchased some shelf liner for the glass doors. We used thumbtacks so that I can change the pattern whenever I like. You could also use fabric, but the shelf liner was rubber-backed and the stiffness helped eliminate puckering and wrinkles. I purchased it at Big Lots. We already had peg board in place for painting and camping supplies. I painted it the basement wall color and bought some peg board hooks also at Big Lots. I believe they were $7 for a large pack of various sizes.
We "installed" the cabinets last week. We did make a base for them since our basement floor was not level. It also raised them off the floor in case we were to get any water in the basement. We have a drain nearby that doesn't flood, but you never know! I still need to add some base trim and attach the countertops, but the project is almost complete.
It was difficult to get a good shot of the cabinets installed since the hall is so narrow, but you get the idea of how they turned out.
I am thrilled with how the cabinets turned out. They have a ton of storage, they are durable, and they were inexpensive. I especially love that I was able to turn an otherwise dead space into a wall of storage.
I decided to give my son some extra storage using the kitchen cabinet concept. I purchased these beauties for $12 total. Aren't they lovely? ;)
After some primer, a new coat of gloss black paint and a couple of new handles, he now has a desk with plenty of storage. We were able to find the black melamine top at Home Depot. I also made him a nightstand/video storage cabinet out of the top cabinet. I still have to cut the top to size and put the casters on, but it turned out great. You can't beat the price!
Give it a try. There is no limit to what you can do with these old kitchen cabinets. I love
this idea for a child's play kitchen:
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