Before and After: A Built-in Update

I’m thrilled with how we updated this built-in located in our living room. Thank you to Liberty Hardware for supplying the cabinet hardware for our update!

I’ve been slightly occupied over the past few months. Most recently, I took a temporary teaching position at my kids’ school. The school did not have a high school English teacher to start the year, and I agreed to help until a permanent teacher could be located. The school found the perfect teacher recently, and now I can get back to filling you all in on what kept me the most occupied over the summer: house renovations!

My husband and I have not accomplished any major house renovations in several years. It has been issues of time and money, but the stars aligned for us to do a few renovations that we have wanted to do for a long time now. I’m excited to share this with you over the next few weeks, starting with this built-in update.

This built-in has been in the house since we purchased it. The original owners had built it to be a rifle case. That did not meet our needs, and we altered it to be a bookshelf/movie shelf/knick-nack shelf. Over the years, it had accumulated many unnecessary items and looked cluttered. The wood dated the piece, and it desperately needed a fresh look.

Our living room renovations included changing the paint colors to a Sherwin William’s Agreeable Grey (walls) and white (trim). I continued with the white for the built-in. This is the first piece that I have ever refinished from start to finish on my own, making it a special reno for me.

While I’m not posting a full tutorial on this renovation, I do want to share the supplies that I used on this project, as well as a few tips.

Supplies:

New drawer and cabinetry hardware from Liberty Hardware
Sandpaper (medium to fine grit)
Paintbrushes
White paint
Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish
Lint free cloths

I started by removing all doors and and the drawers. I decided not to replace the large glass doors and to leave the top half of the built-in open. I removed all hardware, a task that proved to be somewhat difficult. The original builders had stripped many of the screws.

After removing all hardware and doors, I followed these steps to complete the process. This full project took almost two weeks due to the many coats of paint and stain, as well as finishing all sides of the bottom cabinet doors and drawers.

Step 1- Sand the entire piece to remove previous stain.

Step 2- Remove all sanding particles and dust with a combination of a workshop vacuum and cloths. It is important to remove all dust particles before painting.

Step 3- Paint the entire piece in white.

Step 4- Continue painting as many coats as needed. For me, it took four coats to completely cover the piece. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly in between each coat. Sand lightly with a fine grit sandpaper in between each coat. Clean with a lint free cloth.

Step 5- Following the precise instructions on the Minwax Polycrylic to add a protection finish to the piece. White paint has a reputation of yellowing over time, something that I definitely do not want to happen. After researching several reviews, the Minwax Polycrylic looks like an excellent finish to prevent yellowing.

Step 6- Attach new hardware.

Apart from a fresh, new paint color, new hardware will add the perfect finishing touch to a built-in to make it look like an entirely different piece. Liberty Hardware has always been our choice for drawer pulls and cabinet hardware. I love how switching out hardware can make a piece look brand, spanking new!