Vintage Haberdashery Cabinet

After a long day at Apple Hill we drove back down the mountain.  To while away my time I thought I would just take a peak at Facebook Marketplace.  I have been looking to replace one of my china cabinets.

And wouldn't you know it I spotted the perfect piece.  I wasn't quite sure what it was meant to hold but I knew I had to have it.  It was listed as a china cabinet, but I think not.  So, I messaged the gal and made arraignments to be at her house at 7:00 p.m.  Mad dash home and up the hill we flew.  

  OK, it's six o'clock at night by now and the piece is up the mountain in a different direction plus we had to go home to get our larger vehicle.  As it turned out she lived way out of town on a narrow country road with no street lamps.  But thanks to our GPS we made it and we were only a few minutes late.

Here are her listing photos, hum, interesting to say the least.  I fell in love with the wood grain from these photos.  After doing some research I concluded this must have been a case that originally held clothing in a high end store near the beginning of the 20th century.  Thus a Haberdashery Store for men's wear seamed most plausible.

Once I got the piece home I could see the upper cabinet looked like it had had fabric or velvet lining on the inside at one time.  I choose to paint just this interior section not wanting fabric inside.

The first thing I did was to paint the shelves with an orange rust colored chalk paint and while that was still wet I blended in a dark coffee colored chalk paint to mimic a wood grain.

When the shelves were nearly dry I cut sheets of mirrored scrapbook card stock to line the rear wall.

Mirrored 12 x 12 sheets of card stock

Here are the painted shelves and mirrored back.

The glass panels in the doors are really old and have bubbles.

Next I lightly sanded the doors before I oiled the entire piece.  Wow, the oil brought out the grain.

It also has beautiful old brass pulls.

Left door oiled after light sanding

before oil

after oil

 I can't get over the beauty of the wood grain.  You don't see wood like this anymore and these doors are about 3 inches thick.   I knew when I saw those first pictures on Facebook this was beautiful wood but had no idea just how beautiful it really was.    All the trays and drawers have dovetailing, amazing piece.  And best of all I only paid a little over $250.00 for this gem.

This cabinet weighs a ton, I don't think there is any veneer on it, just solid hardwood.

Even the unvarnished inside of the doors had beautiful wood grain once polished.

before oil

after oil

And here she is all full of collectibles that I have acquired over the years. She is only 3 feet wide but holds an amazing amount of items.  I have divided my things by season.  Now each tray in the lower section has one season of items.  Summer, Spring Fall and Christmas for the winter tray.  I call her a she because of her beautiful curving lines and gorgeous grains.

This is the china cabinet I replaced, moving it to my craft area to hold supplies.

The back wall was very thin ugly backing board that didn't match the wood of the piece.

I used a sticky backed paper to give it a vintage look.

And here is this filled with supplies.  I intend to cover the cardboard boxes to coordinate with the back wall using scrapbook papers.

The only downside to moving these two cabinets is I pulled something in the back of my leg.  Now I am sitting with my leg elevated and an ice pack.  Hoping to heal quickly.  Not a person to sit around with my foot in the air without going bonkers.  Getting old is for the birds.  I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Happy Decorating!