Looking around, there's either nothing I like or if I did see something it's either built in or stupidly expensive, so I decided to see if I could transform an ugly duckling from my local charity shop. Luckily we have a large British Heart Foundation furniture & electrical shop in town. Normally it's where we donate our stuff to as it's a charity close to home (dad had a triple heart by-pass). I'd called them to see if they had anything to fit, but sadly the unit the guy on the phone measured was too big, so I decided go in on the off chance of finding a corner unit to fit instead.
No sooner did I walk in the door than I spotted this ugly duckling, but I knew it had potential. I measured it up and had 7cm to spare for where I'd planned to put it, making it a perfect fit. At £40 it was an absolute bargain and just what I wanted, despite what it currently looked like. Nothing like a bit of elbow grease & hard work to make it gorgeous again and I've got plenty of that!
After a quick nip home to swap cars so that I could collect it, and a shocked face from my hubby when he saw it and in was in the house, the tool kit was out and the doors & fittings were off and safely stashed away to be re-fitted when the project was complete.
The decorative up-stand feature at the back was removed and sanded right back down to its raw pine state removing the (offensive & dirty) orange varnish. Already that started to look better. The doors were then sanded down to create a 'key' for which the paint would adhere to. I was desperate for the weekend to arrive so I could take the unit out into the garden to sand down. Thankfully Saturday was warm, dry & perfect for me to get to work on it.
The top was sanded back to pine and then waxed in a dark oak, whilst the unit sides and back were 'keyed'. The doors & unit were then undercoated and painted in Farrow and Ball 'Pointing' Estate Eggshell. With new brass knobs and the fittings replaced it's finished and is now no longer an ugly duckling, but a beautiful new swan!
I can't wait to show you my next project for in there!
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