Chalk Paint Armoire DIY Project Tutorial

The below armoire was from my father, a great Italian man who loved the world and loved people. It's a nice piece I inherited it when he passed. But, since it was in the basement family room, it was way too dark for the room. As I mentioned on last week's post, I purchased a new sofa for the family room area so this started my journey with chalk paint. So, instead of spending thousands of dollars to purchase a new one, I decided to transform this masculine armoire into a more feminine one using my gray chalk paint with the white wax.

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Transforming a Masculine Armoire Into a Feminine Armoire

This was my biggest chalk paint furniture project yet so I was a little nervous. What if I mess it up? What if I don't like the way I apply the colors? There were many questions coming up for me prior to starting this process. I knew the day was coming for the delivery of the new sofa so I had to take action and start the project. This project took 4 days to finish. Yes, only 4 days. This is including the inside but I am going to keep that for next week's surprise. I decided to use the instead for something I have wanted for years. I'll explain what I did with the inside next week. I hope you come back and see the results of the inside.

I added the chalk paint to the inside and outside of the cabinet. Because the cabinet doors open completely, I wanted to make sure all the dark wood wasn't showing inside. This unit was in two parts.  So, that helped.  I worked on the top part first. That took the longest amount of time.

I started with the doors.  That was the most tedious. I originally wasn't going to take off the double hinged part of the door but it turned out it wasn't easy to paint the inside of this part of the door without taking off the double hinges. I laid all 4 pieces out on wood horses and the other end over my outside furniture and started painting. Little by little, I painted, let dry, then waxed like I did with the coffee table and this is how it looked.  I decided to also put on the protective topcoat and let them dry fully before I brought them inside.  

Then I painted the inside and out of the top unit.  This part of the process was completed inside my home.  I added a drop cloth to protect my tile floor and to allow me to paint the bottom edges and added a few pieces of wood to prop up the bottom of the upper cabinet so I could paint the edge. I added the protective topcoat. So, this part of the project was finished.  Woo hoo. This was the main part of the project.

Next, I went and painted the bottom part of the armoire.  That was fun...NOT.  I thought the drawers would come out. But, they didn't so I had to paint around the drawer fronts and then around the sides and the feet.  Anywhere I could see, I painted.  I let it dry, did the wax coat, let it dry, and then did the protective topcoat.  Now I could put everything back together.

Don't forget the hardware in your DIY project.

But, wait, I realized I needed to spray paint the hinges because they would really stand out. I cleaned off all the pieces and used a white spray paint / primer.  I not only did them but also had to do the screw tips too because you would still see the screws when you opened the cabinet doors. Tip: Get a cardboard box and poke the screws into the cardboard.  Take the spray paint and lightly spray the tips of the screws.  This will keep them standing up and you won't spray the area that screws into the wood. 

After spray painting the hardware,  I added the knobs and reassembled the doors and placed the top unit on the bottom unit. And, walla, here is my finished armoire.  I am so happy with it.  What do you think?

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