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Home › Decor and furniture

A serious upgrade for the cheap cabinet

June 30, 2014by Christina
So, the cabinet in our bathroom has been bothering me for quite a while.  The bathroom was the first room we started remodeling when we moved in, and we went with a sink set from IKEA.  They don’t sell it anymore, but it was everything you needed: sink base, sinks, faucets, and a big old […]

So, the cabinet in our bathroom has been bothering me for quite a while.  The bathroom was the first room we started remodeling when we moved in, and we went with a sink set from IKEA.  They don’t sell it anymore, but it was everything you needed: sink base, sinks, faucets, and a big old mirror/shelf unit, and it was REALLY inexpensive.  So that’s what we got.

I changed out the handles a while back, and while it helped, I still was dissatisfied with the look of the cabinet as a whole.  So I did this:

Painted-bathroom-cabinet (1) - Copy

This is how it was before:

Bathroom Vanity (4)

I used 1/4″ x 2″ poplar trim pieces from the home improvement store and trimmed the drawer fronts.  The pieces were measured and each end was cut at a 45 degree angle.  The cuts were made with a little crafting miter box (the kind from the craft store)–and I don’t recommend that.  The metal it’s made out of did not hold up well to the saw for that many cuts.  Next time, I’ll get a serious miter box.  Actually, next time I’ll just use the miter saw, and save 30 minutes of hand-sawing.

Anyway!  I made the cuts one at a time to ensure they all fit snugly.  To test the lengths, I held them in place with double-sided tape.  Once they were all good, I removed them one-by-one and put them back up with hot glue.  I was going to use the super-strength glue, but it seemed excessive (and expensive) for this project since the pieces would also be caulked and painted.

Cabinet (8)

After gluing the trim on, I caulked all the seams and corners, and filled the holes left from the handles.  Of course, since it’s laminate, 2 coats of primer went on.  Then paint.  Then the handles.  And now we like it much better.

Painted-bathroom-cabinet (4) - Copy

The trim pieces only cost $12, and the quart of paint cost $10, so it was a really inexpensive update too.

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Tags: bathroom, upcycling

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About Christina

I'm a full-time web developer with a dog sitting business, home renovations, and a blog on the side.

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  1. Leena

    Nice! This suits way better for your house. Amazing what you can do with bit of trim and paint.

    Reply
  2. Kerry / Burritos & Bubbly

    Wow, that looks great. What a difference!

    Reply
  3. [email protected]

    It looks so much more elegant! Well done!

    Reply
  4. Christina

    Thank you, ladies!

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Christina.

Little Victorian is your place for inspiration, education, and encouragement for how to be your own interior designer and decorator, and how to carry out your big plans yourself too.

It starts with psychology, then artistry, and ends with power tools. None of those are scary, and you really can do it.

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