Well hello to you! Obviously my posting schedule is unpredictable and I’m sorta sorry about it. But the reality is I want to love DIY and blogging for a long time. I’ve seen many of my favorite bloggers share their discontent with their demanding writing schedule and I’m just not into it.

I say that to relieve some of my guilt for my silence but also just to say I’m gonna run this blog the way I live my life. All authentic and stuff.

Today, I’m finally posting about a project that has been in the planning stages (aka I’ve been thinking about doing something) for like ever. And while the idea was still percolating, I saw another blogger with the same cabinet and the same idea. Womp Womp. Oh well. I forged ahead telling myself that no one would think I was less creative just because I was slower to pull the proverbial trigger. I did end up changing my original design and thus it’s a bit different then the cabinet I saw.

Here’s the before shot.

apothecary cabinet

It’s cute right? I got this 15 drawer apothecary style cabinet off of Craigslist for $20! You can still buy this cabinet online for about $300. My cabinet remained totally empty for about a year. What a waste! I have a habit of not using something until I know that the project is complete. Somehow the lazy kicks in and I think that it would be a huge pain to load 15 drawers with stuff and empty those 15 drawers when I finally get around to painting it. My logic, is well, a tad askew.

And here’s the after!

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Apothecary after

Apothecary Cabinet After

Apothecary Cabinet After2

The process was actually pretty simple. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite for the outside of the cabinet.

Apothecary cabinet with chalk paint

apothecary cabinet with chalk paint2

I used a nice purdy brush mostly and then I used a small foam craft brush for the front trim around the drawer openings. I know they sell special chalk paint brushes but my brush worked just fine for me.

In my original design I was planning on painting the drawer fronts the same color as the rest of the piece. I painted two drawers and thought it might look better with a stained drawer front.

Apothecary Cabinet Drawers

Apothecary Cabinet Drawers2

So what you see here (from left to right) ASCP in Graphite, Early American wood stain, and the original finish. If you couldn’t tell from the before photo, the original finish was tres orange. Me not like. I love seeing the difference in those drawers! I actually ended up experimenting with a few different stain colors and wound up using my old faithful, Dark Walnut. All told I painted 2 coats of ASCP in Graphite and then slathered on a coat of clear wax and then dark wax. I have no idea what the right way is to do this so I recommend doing a little online research. I lightly sanded the edges for a very light distressed look and just rubbed that dark stain all over. I love the way the dark stain deepens the Graphite color. The hardest part was sanding 15 drawers! Actually it wasn’t hard it just took the most time. I then stained them with 2 coats of Dark Walnut and 1 coat of Gloss Poly.

Before I could load my craft supplies I needed to find affordable label bin pulls for FIFTEEN drawers. Have you priced hardware lately? Yea, pretty hard to find a deal. But I found the best deal I could for the type of pull that I wanted and I must say I have no complaints.

I ordered these label bin pulls from Woodcraft in a dark cooper finish. They are perfect! They aren’t thin cheap metal like some of the other inexpensive label pulls I found. And because I had to buy so many I got a bulk discount which came out to $2.69 per pull.

I quickly learned that putting on 15 pulls couldn’t be done by eyeballing it. So I used a piece of cardstock and cut it to the dimensions of the drawer front and then I measured out where I wanted my new pull and colored in the nail holes to show where I (and when I say “I” I mean Big Daddy) would pre drill holes for the screws.

label pull stencil

We used the existing screw from the old knobs to hold the template in place. I didn’t bother filling the original hole because the bin pull and label would cover it.

Apothecary label pulls

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Pretty great, right!?

The last thing that needed to be done was to create labels. I went into photoshop to create my labels and just cut them out. Voila! A vintage inspired apothecary cabinet for $60!

Apothecary Cabinet After2

Apothecary Cabinet3

Apothecary Before & After

I LOVE IT! And would you believe I emptied my big craft desk and put (almost) everything in these drawers? I have 2 empty drawers too! Total success!

What have you been up to?

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45 Responses

  1. Deborah Smith

    I featured Cathy’s cabinet. It turned out so pretty. Yours is equally pretty! I love the black with the stained drawer fronts and those pulls are perfect! I’ll be featuring yours tomorrow at the party. Thank you for sharing at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a great weekend!
    Blessings, Deborah

    Reply
  2. Nici

    Hi Christine! I absolutely love what you did with this cabinet. It makes a huge difference. Love those drawer pulls too. Thank so much for sharing at my Creative Ways Link Party! Hope to see you again this week.
    Blessings,
    Nici

    Reply
  3. Kammy Wielenga

    Incredible makeover. I’m pretty excited you can buy those label pulls – I had no idea! Featuring this at Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday on Kammy’s Korner. Thanks for linking up!

    Reply
  4. Jaclyn Burke Barcroft

    It looks GREAT! And seriously you bought it for only $20! Lucky find. my TV stand still sits untouched in the garage…boo!

    Reply
  5. WEST FURNITURE REVIVAL

    love how your little cabinet turned out, beautiful new look! I would love to feature it, if that would be ok please let me know

    Reply
  6. disqus_xjS6NLpomy

    That is one gorgeous makeover – sheer perfection !
    Visiting from the Shabby Nest – congrats on your well earned feature!
    Hugs,
    Suzan

    Reply
  7. Katie - SomethingtobeFound.com

    This is BEAUTIFUL!!!! You did a great job and I love the color, stain and drawer pulls that you chose. ‘Bout to pin this!!

    Reply
  8. Elisha PneumaticAddict

    Love it! I did a make-over with the exact same cabinet last year. I also scored mine on craigslist. Gotta love craigslist. I think I’ll keep my eye out for another one of these.

    Reply
  9. karah @ thespacebetweenblog

    This came out absolutely beautiful!! So perfect to hide all kinds of goodies, and no more orange … me no like that either!! (So glad we got to meet at Haven!!)

    Reply
  10. Thistle

    I love the transformation! And those pulls are just what I have been looking for! So awesome to meet you and your amazing self at Haven!

    Have an awesome day!
    karianne

    Reply
  11. Stacy Griffin Harper

    I love it … and if I find a cabinet I am totally going to copy your idea! 😉
    I get where you are coming from with having projects in the works and then seeing them on another blog before you can get them on yours. It’s a total bummer. But we must forge ahead and our readership could be totally different so we won’t reach the same people. LOL – as a matter of fact I didn’t see the “other” cabinet makeover so I am really glad you went ahead and posted!
    Stacy
    http://www.anygirlcandoit.com

    Reply
  12. Rebecca Gaguine

    You said this cabinet is available for purchase? Where? Its gorgeous even before the makeover, but after! Wow!

    Reply
  13. Sue N.

    LOVE this!!! Going to pick up your drawer pulls for a project I am working on…..great job!!!!

    Reply

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