Vintage Medicine Cabinet: A Makeover

The after picture of our vintage medicine cabinet.

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We first brought this vintage medicine cabinet home in 2013. It had been sitting in an old family farmhouse and was in rough shape. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of it in this condition, since that was way before I started blogging.)

However, we replaced one of the sides because of dry rot. And of course, the whole cabinet was filthy.

We cleaned it up and painted it red, with a navy and white chevron stripe on the interior. It looked nice, albeit very 2010. (Chevron was all the rage in those days.)

At the time, we were living in base housing at Fort Johnson and I felt like we needed more color in our home. I thought red was the right way to go….just like every other Southern housewife looking for something bold, lol.

Fast forward to 2020, we’re living in a rental near Fort Liberty and it’s painted random colors.

The before picture of our vintage medicine cabinet.
(The before picture of our vintage medicine cabinet.)

The walls in our living room are yellow on top and red on bottom, separated by a white chair rail. The kitchen and bathrooms are avocado green, the bedrooms are flat white, and the den is baby-poop-brown.

And we are NOT ALLOWED to paint!

Our red cabinet blended right in, which was okay. But after more than 3 years of these funky colors, I am over it. I am especially tired of red.

Over the weekend, we updated our vintage medicine cabinet…again. And I love how it turned out!

Here’s how we did it:

The after picture of our vintage medicine cabinet.
(The after picture of our vintage medicine cabinet in our house in Texas!)

Step 1: Get the Supplies

This project cost me very little because I had most of the supplies on hand.

The primer and paint are leftovers from previous projects. (You might recognize this light blue paint from our vintage trunk makeover!)

The only thing I had to buy was the removable wallpaper and new foam paint rollers.

Step 2: Remove Doors & Hardware

The first step is always to remove the doors, drawers, and hardware.

A super simple task that only requires a screwdriver and 10 minutes.

After that, we peeled off the chevron fabric glued inside the cabinet. It was pretty easy to remove and took only a few minutes.

After removing the doors and drawer from our vintage cabinet.
(After removing the doors, drawer, hardware, and chevron fabric.)

TEHOME Farmhouse Black Metal Framed Recessed Bathroom Medicine Cabinet with Beveled Mirror Rounded Rectangle Bathroom Medicine Cabinet 16x24 inchTEHOME Farmhouse Black Metal Framed Recessed Bathroom Medicine Cabinet with Beveled Mirror Rounded Rectangle Bathroom Medicine Cabinet 16×24 inchTEHOME Farmhouse Black Metal Framed Recessed Bathroom Medicine Cabinet with Beveled Mirror Rounded Rectangle Bathroom Medicine Cabinet 16x24 inchCRAFTSMAN Ratcheting Screwdriver, SpeedDrive, 2” Double Ended Bits Included, Handle Holds Up To 6 Bits (CMHT68129)CRAFTSMAN Ratcheting Screwdriver, SpeedDrive, 2” Double Ended Bits Included, Handle Holds Up To 6 Bits (CMHT68129)CRAFTSMAN Ratcheting Screwdriver, SpeedDrive, 2” Double Ended Bits Included, Handle Holds Up To 6 Bits (CMHT68129)

 

Step 3: Start Sanding

This is my least favorite part of each project. I hate sanding furniture. It’s dusty, dirty, tedious, and just a whole lot of not fun.

But it’s such an important step!

It makes the piece smooth and makes the paint much more durable. As irritating as it is, I never skip this step.

After sanding, I wiped it down with a damp rag to get all of the dust off.

I was covered in red dust from sanding.
(I was covered in red dust from all the sanding!)
The cabinet after the sanding and cleaning!
(After I was finished sanding and wiping it off.)

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Step 4: Prime It

After a light sanding, our vintage medicine cabinet was ready for primer.

I have been using the same gallon of Zinsser Bulls Eye primer since we moved here! Seriously, it’s lasted so long. It’s not cheap, but we’ve certainly gotten our money’s worth.

I rolled on 2 coats of primer and let it dry overnight.

Two coats of primer later, the cabinet was ready to go!
(After 2 coats of primer. It looked so much brighter already!)

1 gal Zinsser 02001 White Zinsser, Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water-Based Stain Blocking Primer/Sealer Pack of 11 gal Zinsser 02001 White Zinsser, Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water-Based Stain Blocking Primer/Sealer Pack of 11 gal Zinsser 02001 White Zinsser, Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water-Based Stain Blocking Primer/Sealer Pack of 1Mister Rui-Foam Paint Roller, 4 Inch-8 Pack Paint Roller Kit, Complete 4Mister Rui-Foam Paint Roller, 4 Inch-8 Pack Paint Roller Kit, Complete 4Mister Rui-Foam Paint Roller, 4 Inch-8 Pack Paint Roller Kit, Complete 4

 

Step 5: Paint It Pretty

The next day, the vintage cabinet was ready for it’s ‘pretty paint’. The paint I used for this project was Sherwin Williams in the color Waterscape.

I rolled on 2 coats of the light blue paint and let it dry overnight.

I couldn't forget to paint the doors and drawers.
(I couldn’t forget the doors & drawer. *Also pictured: an upcoming project!*)

There was no need to paint the backs and sides of the interior of the cabinet since I planned to cover them with wallpaper. I figured I would save myself some work and some paint!

2 coats of paint!
(With 2 coats of paint, I was starting to see my vision!)

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Step 6: Add Wallpaper

The next day, I moved the cabinet back inside the house and laid it on the floor. Putting wallpaper on the interior of the cabinet was much easier with the cabinet laying down

Removable wallpaper is such a trendy thing right now and I’m here for it!

I’ve used it on 2 other projects recently and love how they turned out (check out this vintage trunk and this vintage hardware cabinet).

Measuring and cutting the wallpaper for the interior of the vintage cabinet.
(It was a lot of measuring and cutting!)

To get the wallpaper in the cabinet, I first measured each spot where I wanted it to go. Then, I cut each piece of wallpaper to the right size. And very carefully stuck it down, while smoothing out the bubbles.

It’s a little tricky, but with plenty of patience and as much precision as you can muster, it’s possible.

Putting the wallpaper inside the vintage cabinet.
(Putting the wallpaper inside the cabinet was easier than I expected!)

NuWallpaper NUS3577 Gold Get in Line Peel Stick Wallpaper, White & Off-WhiteNuWallpaper NUS3577 Gold Get in Line Peel Stick Wallpaper, White & Off-WhiteNuWallpaper NUS3577 Gold Get in Line Peel Stick Wallpaper, White & Off-WhiteNuWallpaper Black Dorset Peel & Stick WallpaperNuWallpaper Black Dorset Peel & Stick WallpaperNuWallpaper Black Dorset Peel & Stick Wallpaper

 

Step 7: Re-Attach Doors & Hardware

After the wallpaper was in place, it was time to put the vintage cabinet back together again.

For now, we put the original black knobs back on, but I’m thinking that white or glass knobs would look better. (I’ll get around to replacing them….eventually.)

After adding the doors and the knobs, we were finished.
(After adding the doors, drawer, and knobs we were finished!)

Our vintage cabinet cost around $50 and one weekend to complete. It was a simple project, but it made such a big difference in our living room!

In a couple of weeks, we will PCS to Fort Cavazos, Texas, and can be rid of red walls forever!

Until then, our blue cabinet looks a little crazy in our red and yellow living room.

The finished vintage cabinet!
(I love it! But I think it will look better against more neutral walls.)

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