How To Repaint Metal Cabinets – Click here to search for these 2 free guides: 10 Secrets of Experienced Furniture Painters + Tips for Preparing Furniture for Painting

Today is themed furniture makeover day and this month’s theme is storage and organization. At the bottom of this post are some sneak peeks of my friends’ awesome projects, so I’d love for you to visit them after reading my tutorial.

How To Repaint Metal Cabinets

I got this dirty metal cabinet last summer and knew it would fit the theme perfectly. While cleaning, I could see the papers through the holes in the bottom. After pulling out the last drawer, I found the “secret” stash filled with mid-70’s to mid-80’s and a few other random papers.

Hand Made Handpainted Metal File Cabinet With Palms By I Paint Cool Stuff

A few weeks ago, I finally bought Duck Egg Blue with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I’ve always wanted to try this color! To be honest, I thought my first project with this would be a super feminine piece, but this drab closet was crying out for moody blue beauty.

I applied three coats of paint (no sanding and the chalk paint worked great on the metal!) and had to be careful around the hardware as it can’t be removed. This DIY metal cabinet makeover is part of a project mess going on. Now that we’re just focusing on the projects in our garage, we’re going through it pretty quickly. We have a huge garage sale at the beginning of October, so I’ve been a crazy woman cleaning out all the stuff we don’t want or use anymore. This includes our garage. After this fall yard sale, we’re going to put two cars in the garage and not look back. Matt and I both agree that we need to find storage space for future projects. I don’t know if that means we’re renting a storage garage or what, but we’re going to change what the process is here.

I got this metal cabinet for the drawers. Anything with lots of drawers or compartments always hits the spot. Not only did this metal cabinet have tons of storage, but all of the handles on the label (we took the top off before I had a chance to take the before photo). The closet size is also large. It’s small enough to fit anywhere, but big enough to give you plenty of storage space.

Some had rust. Rust never scares me. There was nothing terrible in that closet and I knew I could work with it.

How To Paint Kitchen Cabinets

I really wanted to paint this metal cabinet with BayBerry Fusion Mineral Paint, but I didn’t want to use a brush because I knew streaks would show through the metal. So I tried something I had never tried before. I mixed some Metal Bond From Latex Agent into the paint and put it on myHomeRight Finish Max Paint Sprayer.

I fainted when I saw the green paint on the metal cabinet. It looked like a brand new part already.

Hasn’t this closet gone too far?! I think it stays in my office. With the rest I added to the larger organization, I have no excuse to leave everything in place.

It’s funny how a new piece like this can make me want to be in my office doing a lot of stuff.

Diy Metal Cabinet Makeover With Paint

Don’t have time to look for a metal cabinet? I found some similar pieces that fit the bill. The other day, rummaging through the drawers on Craigslist, an ad for this metal cabinet came up. Since I wasn’t even looking for this kind of project, it was apparently a happy coincidence. This metal closet needed me and I couldn’t resist giving it some CPR furniture.

Despite being dirty and forgotten in storage for years, I saw potential beyond the dirt, permanent marker and rust.

First the most important things. It needed a good cleaning, so I grabbed a spray bottle of 50/50 denatured alcohol/water and got to work. I used a fine sanding block to remove the layer of dirt and grease, leaving the surface smooth and ready for painting.

You may have noticed that there are a lot of drawers. Thirty three to be exact. Each of them is completely disassembled and cleaned. To make sure I put them back in the right place, I numbered each drawer with a small piece of painter’s tape. Just a little tip in case one of these babies crosses your path one day. I am very helpful 🙂

Large Blue Painted Metal Industrial Drying Cabinet Cupboard

Most projects have some setback that turns into a win or learning experience. In this case, the hardware was riveted and could not be removed to paint separately. No problem.. Once the cabinet was prepped and finished I sprayed all the hardware with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze. My favorite hardware spray paint. The overspray on the body of the box didn’t matter as I was going to hand paint it anyway.

Fail on my part because I didn’t take any pictures during those middle steps. . Sometimes when I’m engrossed in a project, I get so excited that I forget to document everything.

I wanted a soft, neutral color and General Finish Persian Blue was the perfect choice. I finished it off with Van Dyke Glaze.

For maximum protection and longevity, I sealed the metal body with Arm-R-Seal satin after painting and polishing.

How To Paint Laminate Cabinets For An Easy Kitchen Refresh

We’ve added rivals for height and maneuverability as this is a heavy duty solid steel cart.

Now look at the metal cart. With all those drawers, I would totally use it as a jewelry cart, right?!

With a little paint and an open mind, this metal cart was rescued from neglect in a darkened warehouse. Glad to know I’ve resurrected another discarded treasure. The basement renovation is going very well. It’s not done yet, so you can’t see everything yet… we should have a dramatic before and after. But here’s a little project I did to get things going.

When we moved in, there was an old metal closet. We wanted to move it to another location, but the entire bottom was rusted and would probably fall apart if we tried to move it. So we just left it and loaded it. Eventually, we expanded the concrete slab it sat next to and put our washer and dryer in there, making the old metal closet the perfect place to store my clothes.

Can Exposed Kitchen Cabinet Hinges Be Painted?

Bad, right? But I had an idea. I suddenly remembered all the paint cans we wanted to get rid of. When the hubs saw me go to the garage and bring the paint, he came to check on me. I think he gets nervous sometimes when he sees me on a mission with a paint he doesn’t know about.

Of course, then I had to say, “You won’t even recognize this place the next time you come down.” Now I had to come up with something amazing. But I’m glad I said it without thinking because it gave me the idea to get out more paint cans. And now it looks completely, completely different down there.

Enjoyed the wash area (compared to what it was) as much as it does me

Also painting the washer and dryer (like this adorable one, minus the dots). If all goes well, you’ll have a cellar grand opening next week!

Painted Metal Cabinet Makeover — Highstyle Restyle

I’m a full time web developer with a dog sitting business, home renovations and a blog on the side. After college, I worked as a television news reporter and then retired from that life to be a homemaker for my mother’s three little ones. At home, I was able to rekindle my love for decorating and crafts. I am in the process of customizing my quality home for each room. Every space has potential and my goal is to help you get the most out of your space. Inspiration is everywhere, I hope you find it here.

When looking for furniture for our newly remodeled “Family Office,” I wanted to make sure we were using the space efficiently. It is a small room on our first floor, so there is not much storage space. We decided to use my craft table as a desk to make a great work surface for the kids. But because of that, we didn’t have much space to put other furniture. So I’m looking for a piece of furniture with closed storage on the wall opposite the desk (I’m thinking of building a floor to ceiling bookcase and then putting baskets on top of it). I was worried that the baskets would just look messy because you can see all the junk inside.

I went back to the closed storage idea, but I needed something that wasn’t there