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Cabinet Makeover for a Baby’s Room

I have said it before and I will say it again.  I love to re-purpose and re-use and this project is one of my absolute favorites so far.  This one is a fun baby cabinet makeover for a baby’s room!

You will love this transformation.

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

Cabinet Makeover for Baby’s Room

When I helped Maureen paint her Beach Inspired Sofa Table we were working in her basement.  She had a little treasure trove of “stuff” that she was wanting to get rid of and she knew I would love to re-purpose some of it.

One of the things she gave me was this small cabinet.

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!
Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

I had already taken the door handle off when I took this photo but it matched the rest of the cabinet.  It was the exact same veneer product.  This guy had a little water damage along the bottom too.

Some  of the following links are links to products I use or used for this project that I love!  If you click on the link and make a purchase I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.  I appreciate the support for my blog!  You can ready my full disclosure here.

I removed the cabinet door and the hardware and got to work.  I started with white chalk paint.  This is how it looked after one coat.

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

I was planning to use the General Finishes Champagne Pearl Effects finish like I did on my Guest Room Bedside Tables so I knew I needed to cover this completely before using that product and I was running out of the chalk paint.  So, I switched over to a white latex.  The chalk paint is perfect for covering the veneer pieces without having to prep and sand the piece first.   But the latex went on fine over the chalk paint.

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

You can still see that water damage even after some good sanding of the lower edges.  There wasn’t much I could do about that.  I think it shows up more in the photos than in person.  I was having an issue with the back piece though.  It was a cardboard piece and the color kept bleeding through the white paint.

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

So, I decided I would cover that up with some fabric.  The baby’s room colors are navy, hot pink, white and her sister told me that she was including some woodland animals so I found this some adorable fabric and covered a piece of foam core.  Then just pushed it up against the back wall of the cabinet.

I also had an issue with the screw holes on the sides of the cabinets.  They are holding the top, the shelf and the bottom shelf of the cabinet so I wanted to camouflage them a little bit.

I decided to cut out the alphabet in colors of the room along with a few, fun animals and decorate the sides of the piece.  

I used my Cricut to cut out the letters and the animals.

The placement of the letters did not cover all of the screw holes but it sure takes the focus away from them and to the alphabet letters.  Cute right?  It was just getting better and better.

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

I am not sure what happened when I placed the Q the wrong way.  (You can see it in the above picture)  Peggy noticed it, thank goodness and I fixed it with a bunny and another Q.  It looks fine now.  

A fun basket or bin to place in the cubbie area was a perfect choice so I set out to the thrift stores and found nothing.

I ended up at Hobby Lobby and found the perfect hot pink basket at 50% off.  Score.  I made a liner from the fabric I had left over.  It is so adorable!

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

I knew I had to do something with the top of the cabinet and we had some lath still in the garage from my Ornament Tree Holiday Decor project.  So Jeff built a new top to be placed right over the the existing top.  Then I used spray paint for the new top.

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

I also wanted legs because these little veneer things always look better with some fun legs.  Jeff made these guys for me and they turned out perfect.  We used epoxy for the legs and the top.  It worked like a charm.  I did paint the underside of the cabinet after the legs went on.  It looked awful half painted.  I like things to look nice and finished…even the bottom.

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!
Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

The Pearl Effects finish was the perfect touch for this cabinet makeover and I just love the way the entire thing came out.  I hope the baby (and her parents) like it too.

Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!
Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!
Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!
Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!
Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!
Cabinet Makeover for Baby's Room - www.michellejdesigns.com - See how I transformed this veneer cabinet into a baby's room treasure!

I hope you liked this baby’s room cabinet makeover project as much as I enjoyed creating it.  If you would like to subscribe to my email/newsletter you can just type your email into the box at the top of this post or in the subscribe box in the sidebar on the right.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Michelle

Carolann

Saturday 16th of April 2016

That came out adorable! I love the lettering and the back panel paper. What a beautiful gift this would make!

Michelle

Sunday 17th of April 2016

Thank you! I did turn out cute. The back panel is actually fabric. The same as the basket liner. I just loved it.

Sue

Thursday 14th of April 2016

I am in love with it. So cute and would probably cost a fortune brand new in the store.

Michelle

Thursday 14th of April 2016

I loved how it all came together. The colors were different but they work and they match the nursery which is important. Thanks so much Sue.

Darca Saxton

Wednesday 13th of April 2016

So awesome, Michelle. You did it again!

Michelle

Thursday 14th of April 2016

Thank you Darca! You are sweet. This one really did turn out so cute. I almost didn't want to give it to the mommy! LOL! But really...what would I do with it? I think she liked it too. Thanks so much for taking time to comment on my little blog! I appreciate it.

Jean Kramer

Sunday 29th of November 2015

Such a transformation! Looks so cute--I am sure they will love it.

Michelle

Monday 30th of November 2015

Thank you Jean! I hope they do. I love the way it turned out.

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