Industrial Blueprint Cabinet
I've never ever been able to afford amazing industrial pieces that have lots of cubbies and drawers. I'm talking about pieces that look like this:
Yeah, THOSE pieces!
Usually these types of treasures start with a number that knocks me out of the ranks automatically. My business is still growing and while I have more buying power than I did a few months ago, I still don't have the sizable bankroll to play with the big girls quite yet. I'm perfectly OK with where my business is at, but every now and then, a girl gets to dreaming about pretty pieces, you know?
Now, can you imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon this industrial blueprint cabinet in a local antique shop AND found the price to be within my budget? Friends, I was doing the furniture happy dance!
Despite its rough exterior, I saw pure potential. I happily scooped the cabinet up with an added 10% discount (yay!) and brought it over to Painted Table Designs in Elverson. I dropped it off on the porch and showed Brenda my find.
I already knew what I wanted to do to it. I recalled the art cabinet that Miss Mustard Seed had painted for her studio. It had similar hardware and I really loved the look she created.
I decided I was going to replicate this with my cabinet. The process began by removing all of the beautiful original handles (complete with label windows) and sanding down the exterior.
It looked a bit bald when I was finished, but it was much cleaner and ready to accept Milk Paint.
Miss Mustard Seed used Grain Sack on her art cabinet, and I was going to use the same color on my blueprint cabinet.
As you can read in the description above, Grain Sack is a beautiful faded white/gray color. It can be a whisper of a gray or slightly blue depending on what's around it.
It took two coats to get full coverage on the cabinet and I went easy on the distressing - just a light rub away along the edges.
Using some oil rubbed bronze spray paint, I gave the handles a facelift and hit a set of 2 inch steel industrial casters with it too so they would match.
To seal the piece, I used Miss Mustard Seed's Hemp Oil.
Photo Credit: Anna Alexander Photography
Hemp Oil is made by pressing the seeds of hemp seeds and collecting the oil. This finish has a litany of fabulous features:
It's 100% natural
It does not contain any solvents, VOC's, or chemicals
It's food safe
It provides a breathable finish
It can be sanded over for a buttery soft finish
It's incredibly versatile and can be used on leather, metal, wood, and other various surfaces
For more ways to use Hemp Oil, check out my post that I wrote for the MMS Milk Paint blog here.
After putting the casters on, waxing the drawers, and giving it a final buff, the cabinet was finally all finished!
So what do you think? Did I pull off Miss Mustard Seed's look?
I picked soft and airy goodies from Brenda's shop at Painted Table Designs to stage the piece. Even though it's a blueprint cabinet, you can use it for whatever you wish! One customer thought about using it in her dining room to hold linens and silverware. With shallow drawers like these, I thought that was a great idea!
Literally everything you see in my pictures is for sale at Painted Table. The air plants are faux but you can't tell until you touch them. Aren't they so beautiful?
This photo was taken out on the porch. You can't beat that original stone wall! It was the perfect backdrop for my photo shoot.
At the time that I'm writing this post, I have a buyer already. If it falls through, I have a second lined up, so chances are that this won't be around too long. I'm going to go ahead and say it's not available but if anything changes, keep an eye out on my Facebook and Instagram feed.
