It’s finally done! It took a lot longer than expected because life and work got in the way, but I’m excited to share this before and after. The cabinet was in really rough shape. It was missing pieces of laminate on the front and sides and it originally had a second glass sliding door, but it was cracked in half, so we just tossed it out. We thought about replacing it, but it just wasn’t in our budget and we figured it would look great with just one door, exposing the colour inside.
I spent a long time thinking about what to do with the glass door. I didn’t want to just leave it clear glass. I thought about back painting it, but I worried it would scratch off. I also thought about spraying it so it would look frosted, but it wasn’t really the look I wanted. Then Andrew suggested we order some metallic vinyl and attach it to the back side. So we ordered a roll of copper vinyl and after a couple of attempts to stick it onto the glass, it ended up being seriously awesome!
Here’s some in progress photos. What it all looked like after sanding it down and the first coats of primer were applied.
It was at this point I got annoyed with painting the back panel, so we removed it and painted it separately, then we put it back on after. It made for a much cleaner finish.
And here’s the final results
The interior paint colour is Benjamin Moore Mantis Green in high gloss Advance. The exterior is Benjamin Moore Snowfall White.
Andrew refinished the legs by sanding them down and applying several coats of Walnut Danish Oil.
Loving the mint green. I also would have been curious to see how the glass would have looked back painted white. It would have been a great place to write messages like a dry erase board.
so cool! love the copper, and I love that it’s removeable if you change your mind in the future…what a genius solution!
Thanks so much Emily. The copper is totally a fun addition and also a neutral look instead of using a bright colour. Vinyl is a big pain to install nicely though, it took a few tried to get it smooth!
Hi!! I love the vibrance of your pieces! Do you hand paint your furniture or use some type of spray method? The finish is so clean!
Cheers!
Hi Sara
Everything is hand painted using a foam roller. I’d love to someday have access to a sprayer, but we do everything in our apartment so hand painting is easier. The Benjamin Moore Advance paint is self levelling so it leaves a very nice clean finish.
How on earth did you get the vinyl to stick to the backside of the glass?
It’s an adhesive sticker vinyl. I have experience installing vinyl signage on glass from a previous career, so I didn’t find it too tricky. I recommend looking on youtube for tutorials. It involves using a water/soap spray solution, applying the vinyl sticker sheet and using a flat edge like a credit card to smooth out the top surface. Once the water dried the sticker will stay in place. If there are any surface bubbles you just prick them with a pin and smooth them out. Like I said, find a tutorial on youtube! Good luck!
Thank you so much for showing me what you did! I found a very similar piece on the side of the road and I plan on putting vinyl on the glass door like you. Thank you so much for this idea!!!! But how did you remove the glass? I’m having a hard time without forcing it and then shattering it.
Thanks for reading and best of luck with your project!
I also struggled with the glass. You will need someone to help you, they should gently pull upwards on the center of the piece while you gently tilt the glass outwards.
Hope this makes sense. I will also say that it was hard to get the glass back in because the piece swelled up a bit after painting, but using the same technique of pulling upwards in the center of the cabinet I was able to pop it back in. Good luck!