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Old Cupboard Finally Finds New Life

December 22, 2011

This old cupboard came from the basement of a Victorian home we owned several years ago. In its former life it held canned goods in the cellar. It had no back and was an obvious ‘testing ground’ for paint as it had been painted light yellow with gold and green spray paint on part of it. At first glance it was hideous. 

But there was just something about it that spoke to me when we moved from that house, so it came with. It’s been in this house’s basement for 15 years, still in it’s yellow paint with no back on it, still storing junk.

Until now…a couple months ago I decided it was coming up, out of the basement and getting a back, (which I put on with beadboard scraps I found out in the shed) and breathed new life into it with a couple of coats of black paint.

It’s now accessorized for Christmas, but if you look closely you’ll see on each shelf four creamy-white dishes on the back. They are edged with a little gold detail and were the inspiration for this whole piece to get a new life.

My dear friend gave me a box of old dishes. From that whole box the only ones that weren’t chipped were exactly four of each size. Then I got my vision, they would be perfect on this piece if it had a back and was black.

Black was chosen because on the opposite end of the room is a tall black cabinet, and the dining room chairs are black, so I really wanted to repeat that color on this end of the room to balance the color throughout.

Now, so far two holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, I change up some of the accessories to compliment the season, fun for me, and a great place to put pretty dishes.

The very primitive style of the cupboard juxtaposed with the fine china is a beautiful contrast that keeps the room from being ‘too stuffy’ with everything seeming too ‘fine’.

What do you have hiding behind some junk on it, camouflaged under ugly paint?

As always, please feel free to share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook and Pinterest the more the merrier!

I appreciate you stopping by.

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Comments

  1. dieter21 says

    December 27, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    Love this. It is so much fun to realize the vision of what a not so great looking piece has the potential to be!

    Sarah
    http://www.budgetfriendlydecorating.com

    Reply
  2. Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says

    December 23, 2011 at 9:51 am

    Oh, it’s great! Perfectly accessorized and nice and festive for the holidays. What a fun new life for an old cupboard!

    Reply
  3. kristin says

    December 22, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    Oh it is so pretty! Love the color too!
    SO maybe when the hot flashes start I’ll get a little natural glow in my skin 🙂
    have a wonderful Holiday!
    XO
    kristin

    Reply
    • decoratewithalittlebit says

      December 22, 2011 at 10:09 pm

      Thank you! Yep, gotta look on the bright side, right? Little Bit

      Reply
  4. Andrea says

    December 22, 2011 at 5:40 pm

    Lovely work! Please come share more of your work at emosaicideas.com on our blog carnival!

    Reply
  5. mike says

    December 22, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    The rusticness of the cupboard and the fine china. A pure stroke of genius!

    Reply
  6. Nancy J. says

    December 22, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    Your cupboard really has come to life. You have done a lovely job of transforming it. So glad I came. Saw you on Wow us Wednesdays.

    Reply

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