When I found this secretary cabinet on a local buy and sell site, I quickly scooped it up and pushed it to the front of my painting queue! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, and I have never refinished a piece like this before so I was excited to get started.

Here is what the cabinet looked like when I got it:

Stickers, markers, glitter glue. It was in desperate need of a good scrub! I gave it a good cleaning with TSP solution, filled obvious dings and chips and then gave it a quick sanding.

I painted the outside of the cabinet with two coats of Lazy Linen. This colour is a staple on my paint shelf. It goes with and looks good on everything!

I painted the interior of the desk portion in two coats of Elegance. The wooden cubbies and pen holders had a really great finish already and so I left them unpainted for some contrast (and painting those cubbies is a tedious job!).

When the cabinet was dry, I sanded and distressed until I was happy with the look. I gave it a light coat of Clear Wax just to deepen the colour slightly and give it an extra layer of protection. The All-In-One formula has a built in topcoat, so adding another topcoat layer is optional.

I added some gold hardware to match the desk hinges that the cabinet already had. I love how this piece turned out! It always amazes me how much a couple coats of paint can completely transform furniture!

Cait {Little City Farmhouse}

Hello! I’m Cait! I am a wife and a mom of two little ones, and a proud auntie of a growing little flock! I first started by refinishing several pieces in my own home, and fell in love with it. Slowly it turned into a business and something I could do from home. I love the thrill of finding old furniture, and I adore the process of refinishing it into something new and fresh. Refinishing furniture is the heart of my business. I believe your home should reflect who you are, and I love helping people get the look they want in their homes by refinishing their furniture for them.

Make sure to follow Cait’s blog Little City Farmhouse. You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram!