Affordable Home Tips Challenge – DIY Cabinet ♥

I was recently invited to take part in a creative blogger challenge with housing and regeneration specialists Keepmoat to create an affordable DIY home project. With a budget of £50 to come up with something inspiring and imaginative, I started thinking about what I could create right away. I began thinking of making a kitty cabin for Merlin to hide in, as he loves sleeping in boxes, but then I stumbled across a wooden cabinet in a charity shop. 

 I was having a little rummage in the store, and I fell in love with this little side cabinet as soon as I saw it. I instantly started imagining what I could do with it and where it could live, and as it was only £20 I thought I would give it a new home. The wood was stained quite a dark mahogany colour, so I also needed to buy lots of sandpaper (£1), a tin of white paint (£5), and some brushes (£1.50).

I bought it on Sunday morning and it was completed by Monday evening, so it was a very quick and easy project. On Sunday I spent the afternoon sanding it down to remove all of the dark varnish, which took quite a while (and made my arms ache!). 

I then gave it a couple of thin coats of white paint and left it to dry overnight. The handle needed a bit of mending too, but I managed to fix it so that it opens and closes securely now. Then on Monday after work, I gave it a final coat of paint and was pleased with the final look.

 However, I did think that it was maybe looking a little bit plain, and I thought I could give it a bit more imagination by adding something I had tried previously with another vintage project. You can get some gorgeous free wallpaper samples from home DIY stores, and I picked up this pretty shabby chic bird wallpaper from Wilko. 

I measured the front and top of the cabinet and then cut some of the paper to size. I then simply used some PVA glue to attach the wallpaper to the wood. I love the colours in the paper and how it gives the cabinet a whole new look.

Overall it cost me a grand total of £27.50 to create this DIY project, which I think just goes to show that you can create something pretty and stylish from old furniture, and it can be done quickly, easily, and on a tight budget. You can often find good quality vintage wooden furniture for sale in antique and thrift shops, and it’s always simple to give it a new lease of life with a quick paint make over. 

The cabinet fits in beautifully in my dressing room, and it matches the wooden table I did up over summer. I plan on using it to store my towels and bedding in, as it’s got a shelf on the inside. I love the final look, and I think the wallpaper was the perfect finishing touch to add something special to it!