How to Give Old Furniture New Life! Here’s a Tutorial

Any old piece of furniture can be given a brand new life with paint and stencils.

I purchased this old cabinet at the thrift store for under $10.00 and it sat in my garage for two years waiting for the perfect stencil design.

It was in great shape, but it was really ugly!

So I gave it a light sanding, a coat of primer and then painting it with Behr’s Billowy Clouds gray paint.

I used our Raised Plaster Douceur Frieze Stencil. I wanted to do a random wallpaper effect over the top and sides.

Simply tape the stencil in place.

Then using light pressure, dip your stencil brush in to darker gray paint, wipe off the excess and swirl the bristles over the stencil openings.

Turning the stencil each time you repeat it, gives that pretty random effect.

I painted the cabinet trim, the same darker gray paint to match then used the same stencil with joint compound to create a raised design on the cabinet door front. I added black paint to the joint compound to pre-color it.

Simply use a plastic scraper, or even a credit card to smooth the compound over the stencil openings.

Gently un-tape the stencil and peel it back to reveal the raised design. Now, let it dry completely.

I added a cute new handle that I got from Hobby Lobby, moving it to the upper edge of the door for more convenience. Now it’s an adorable storage unit that I will put in my work room!