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Upcycled Furniture – Metal Locker/Cabinet

Upcycling furniture is one of my favorite things to do.  Other’s people’s JUNK! I love to look for cool stuff at thrift stores or garage sales. This upcycled furniture project that I am sharing with you today I bought for only a $1. Yes, only a dollar. It was at an estate sale where the woman was literally almost giving everything away.

The vintage metal cabinet barely fit in my car with all of the other goodies I bought from here but I made it work!

upcycling ideas

The metal cabinet was pretty rusty and was white. I liked that it was white but instantly knew I wanted to put it in my living room for more storage so I knew it had to be cleaned up a lot.

I needed a place to store toys and my kid’s arts and crafts supplies. It was going to be a fun upcycled furniture project for sure!

metal filing cabinet

The cabinet was very dirty and looked liked it had been stored outside or maybe in an open barn. The previous owner used it to store cans of things like oil or lubricants. It needed a deep clean for sure.

Luckily my husband has a pressure washer and helped me get it started. I was really excited to get the project going and tried to start the pressure washer. No luck. Ended up even though it had gas it wasn’t enough to start it. And of course, we were out of gas.

Poor me had to wait another day for more gas (we live too far from a gas station). So finally the next day once my hubby got off work, I got it going and cleaned it up. As you can see it wasn’t a miracle worker but got most of the crime off.

upcycled furniture

How to Upcycle Furniture

Next up I took sandpaper and sanded down all of the rust spots. Once I sanded down the rust I took the electric sander and did the whole cabinet. This is where I should probably state that I am not an expert with hand tools or repurposing stuff. Literally, just a do it your self-gal figuring it out as I go.

After sanding down the whole thing I wiped everything off my just a soapy rag. It cleaned it all up pretty good.

Up next was the primer. I used a primer to prevent rust and it went on red. I had bought a spray paint and would recommend buying a can of paint for the primer. I had no clue what I was thinking. Below is the primer (but in brown) and used and after is one that I would recommend trying instead.

 

Upcycling furniture is one of my favorite things to do.  Other's people's JUNK! I love to look for cool stuff at thrift stores or garage sales. This upcycled furniture project that I am sharing with you today I bought for only a $1. Yes, only a dollar. It was at an estate sale where the woman was literally almost giving everything away.

Rust-Oleum 7769830 Stops Rust Spray Paint, 12-Ounce, Flat Rusty Metal Primer

 

 

rust oleum paint

Rust-Oleum 7780502 Protective Enamel Paint Stops Rust, 32-Ounce, Flat White Clean Metal Primer

 

The primer was not easy to put on because it was windy. And I did not plan out my upcycled furniture project very well. I totally forgot to take a picture of the primer too. Sorry! It covered well and since it was 105 degrees outside it dried really fast. California weather is not all beaches and cool weather!

Next up was the white paint. I ended up using my favorite paint because I had it on hand. it took an entire pint and 2 solid coats but it came out great. The paint is Linen White and an ultra-flat chalk paint. If you want to see another project I used this exact paint for click here.

 

rust oleum chalked paint linen white can

Rust-Oleum 285140 Ultra Matte Interior Chalked Paint 30 oz, Linen White

 

As I stated before the idea for the upcycled furniture cabinet was for my kid’s toys and stuff and in hindsight, I probably should not have used a chalk paint because I now have to wipe off a ton of handprints on really flat paint. Not easy! I really didn’t want a shiny metal cabinet though. So I am glad I stuck with what I like.

rustic furniture
metal filing cabinet refurbished
white rustic metal cabinet

Once it was all said and done and full, I could not be happier. I had just got these new books from my sister too and know they would work great for above the cabinet.

So much storage and a great way to hide all the toys! Now I have somewhere to hide some of the junk and it was another thing I could decorate. Win, win!

I would love to know what you think below about my new upcycled furniture post. Have you done any DIY projects lately?

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DIY Metal Cabinet
TAGS:upcycled furniture
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  • Christine
    September 10, 2018

    Yikes…that cabinet looked a fright before you refurbished it. I don’t think many people would have even thought to have touched it BUT you did and it came out amazing! With a little elbow grease and the right materials, you pulled it off. I love the idea of upcycling!

    Reply
  • Zoë
    September 11, 2018

    Gosh that looks amazing and it’s soooo good to upcycle. Fantastic that you made something good out of something tired, and it’s also great for the environment! ?

    Reply
  • Amanda
    September 11, 2018

    Wow, it looks amazing!! Love the bookends on top!! ?

    Reply
  • Danie
    September 11, 2018

    Man! This looks absolutely amazing!!! Great work. i would have never thought to do it.

    Reply
  • Debbie Myers
    August 31, 2019

    I just bought almost the exact same cabinet. I’m hoping it turns out as well!

    Reply
    • Corey
      Debbie Myers
      September 2, 2019

      That’s awesome it really holds a lot of stuff! I’d love to see a pciture of yours when it’s done!

      Reply
  • Bernice
    January 23, 2021

    Thanks for helping me see the beauty of on old rust cabinet. Normally I would have walk on by with out a second glance.I
    Thank you.

    Reply
  • Virginia Rohde
    February 17, 2021

    I have the same cannot, but my daughter said bottom rusted out. When I moved from calif. To Ohio the doorsgot riped off. I wonder if I could put aboard on the inside bottom & outside bottom to fix it. I bought it 20 yrs ago to put tools in & it has moved 5 times. Got it from Staples office supply. Need a cabnot in my kitchen for plastic containers & to store odd & ends that I don’t use every day. Yours came out good.

    Reply
    • Corey
      Virginia Rohde
      February 18, 2021

      Thank you!

      Reply

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