Decoupage Cabinet

About four years ago an older member of my church passed away. Her son asked my dad (who is a pastor) to go over to her house and take home whatever he liked before they held an estate sale. We ended up with an old pump organ, a huge wooden mixing bowl and this glass-doored cabinet/bookcase thingy (I haven't quite figured out what to call it!).

 Since putting it in my room in our new house, it has been the first thing people comment on upon walking into my room.

This picture doesn't even begin to describe how beat up this old thing was. It's not really an antique, but a cheap storage piece probably from the 1950's. Complete with peeling paint and chipped wood, I instantly fell in love with its personality! And so began a plan to fix this guy up for my new bedroom...

I don't have much experience with refinishing furniture, but neither sanding nor stripping the paint seemed to work. And I had absolutely no idea how to fix the huge buckle in one of the front cabinet doors.

So I trashed all of my ideas for a nice, smooth, finished piece and convinced myself that a little roughness would give it "character." Unfortunately, I never found the time or motivation to attempt a new paint job, and it sat out in my carport and became my dad's catch-all for grilling tools. As my Christmas break was winding down, though, and with an upcoming move planned for my family in the near future, I decided something must be done about my cabinet. So I attempted one of my favorite crafting techniques, decoupaging, on my first piece of furniture...

I purchased some All Surface Enamel paint in Ash Violet (in the same color family as the color I used for my bedroom walls) from Sherwin Williams, and some black and off-white floral scrapbook paper from my beloved Hobby Lobby.

My plan was to Mod Podge ripped up pieces of scrapbook paper onto the panels of the cabinet. However, since Mod Podge is soooo expensive, and since I usually water it down to thin it anyways, I used a little trick I recently learned. Two parts Elmer's craft glue mixed with one part water. Works like a charm, and about ten times cheaper! (I did, however, end up covering the top of the decoupage with a coat of straight Mod Podge...I used a paint brush to swirl it in different directions, because I wanted a good texture on top.)

I also used corner pieces and edge pieces for the straight sides of the panels...

I made sure to have plenty of good rips in the paper to keep from looking like I was aiming for perfection! Here's the first of six panels to be completed...

I also found some awesome door pulls at (of course) Hobby Lobby, and then some cool brushed nickel retro-style drawer pulls at Lowe's.

And of course my sweet cat, Porkchop, had to get in on the action! He was loving the view from the top of the cabinet.