This sad little $5 record cabinet had been sitting neglected in our home for a few years now. When I found it sitting in a lonely corner of an antique mall, I had grand plans for refinishing it in some fun way, but of course- never got around to it! Mostly I was intimidated by the track that the two doors slide on, because I didn’t know how to paint it all without getting the doors stuck closed in the process. I’ve been seeing a lot of paint-dipped style furniture and home accessories floating around the internet for the past couple of years, and figured that would be the perfect way to paint the cabinet, without worrying about painting the track. I was a little hesitant to refinish the record cabinet in this graphic paint-dip style. Is it too trendy? Is the trend too “last year?” But then I figured, hey, it was just a $5 cabinet. I don’t have to hang onto it forever. And I’m pretty sure the internet public is the only part of my life that actually cares if home trends are passé. And besides. I was too lazy to figure out painting the track and doors any other way!
Of course, as soon as the paint and varnish dried and I brought this puppy back inside, Phil looked at it, tilted his head a little, and said, “Why did you only paint half of it?” Oh dear.
- Lightly sand the surface of every area to be painted or varnished, going with the direction of the grain. Then clear off all of the dust with a damp rag.
- Open the doors to the cabinet and tape off the edges of the opening. Now cut pieces of masking paper a bit larger than the opening and tape in place to block the inside of the cabinet from any paint overspray.
- Measure down from the top of the cabinet to the point you want the painted area to end. Mark each corner with a little pieces of tape, then connect the pieces of tape with longer strips of masking tape to create a line all around the cabinet. Be sure to tape each door separately from the cabinet itself. Using your thumbnail, press into the edge of the tape to make sure there are no little cracks that paint can sneak through.
- Now cut pieces of masking paper and tape them along the masking tape line you just made, making sure every part of the cabinet that won’t be painted is completely covered in paper.
- Begin with several very light coats of primer until the paint can is empty. When the primer is dry, move onto the paint itself and spray in light coats, going left to right and top to bottom for each spray.
- Before your last two light coats of paint, let the surface dry for a day and then lightly sand down the paint with the 180 grit sandpaper. This will smooth out any little bumps or drip spots that may have occurred during previous coats. Then wipe it down and spray with the last of the paint.
- Remove the masking tape and paper and finish with two coats of varnish of polyurethane over the entire cabinet. Make sure you allow the paint on the cabinet to cure for at least a couple of days before setting anything on top!
