After we renovated our bathroom, we ummed & ahhed about some sort of storage for towels & other bathroom paraphernalia. It was a smallish space so we needed something specific. We considered a built in cupboard but really wanted a piece of furniture - it took ages but eventually we bought this old meat safe off Ebay. It was the perfect size, & we knew it wold be a cinch to strip & make over. he he.
This is what it looked like after I spent a day going at it with a paint scraper, I knew it would need an actual paint stripper but wanted to get any loose material off first. I was prepared for a few coats of paint, but this lovely meat safe had a lot; plus, it had that white plaster base coat they used in the 40s. I have encountered this before & it always gives me a sinking feeling because it is an absolute bitch to get off. It fills in cracks & gives a wonderfully smooth surface to paint over, but it is impervious to paint stripper & needs some real muscle to get rid of it. Occasionally it will be the only thing holding a piece together, but this seemed fairly sturdy.
Finally, stage 2: Chemical Paint Stripper. Actually, this was supposedly all natural, & smelt like Cointreau. I was tempted, but I didn't taste test, obviously!
Pour a little bit into an old tin first, & then top up as you need, then if the tin gets knocked over you will still have some left.
Slather it on carefully, because you don't want to get any on your skin! It really burns!
Waiting, waiting.
Pull up a chair to watch the stripper do its work, & get a bit high off of the fumes.
I did feel a bit woozy from the delightful orange scented fumes,
but I don't remember Bono dropping in.
Hi, Bono! Elevation, right?
See how the paint is all bubbly?
I love this stage, because that means it is ready to scrape off!!
It is very satisfying, getting rid of that paint. I highly recommend it.
(Do you see that white plaster behind the paint? Not at all concerned with the stripper)
It falls in a satisfying heap on the ground, showing your progress.
If it falls on paper then it is easy to clean up later.
This scraped off paint is stripper infused & can still burn, so make sure it doesn't get on your skin.
OK, as enjoyable as it was it was time to bring in the real muscle.
That undercoat was killing me.
I knew Mr BC would get through this if it took him all night.
I'd like to say it was a family affair, but we already know that the paint on the stripper stage has passed, so the Gentleman is clearly hamming it up for a photo. Busted!! Teenage Daughter took all the photos, which was very nice of her & constitutes real work, unlike dressing up in safety goggles.
Mr BC breaking out the sander in the long shadows of the afternoon.
Go you good thing!
The meat safe in all its naked glory.
They used quality pine in the olden days, no 'charachter kots' here.
It is almost a shame to cover it up..
Here is the first coat of stain. You will notice the disgusting orange tint of Jarrah Stain? What I won't go into was the almost urgent need for marriage counselling when that hideous stain continued to be applied to our new heirloom furniture....needless to say, there was a bit more sanding to be done.
Making sure all the bits & pieces got sufficiently stained with Dark Chocolate.
I was a bit puzzled on what to replace the mesh inserts with. Bunnings kept trying to give me fly screen, & the Internet directed me to bronze or copper screening - beautiful but at $340 per panel a bit out of our budget. In the end I got the smallest gauge chicken wire I could find & spray painted it lightly in gold, which worked really well.
Voila! The finished meat safe bathroom cabinet in it's new home!
And from the side..
Lets take a closer look at the side panelling, not garishly over glitzed at all!
Filled with towels - it holds them all perfectly.
We loved it so much we stained this old clothes hamper to match.
(moments later a small child will sit in this hamper to hide, & all of the seams will rip)
Ta da!!