New Life for an Old Corner Cupboard

Twelve DIYs of Christmas
Day 12: New Life for an Old Corner Cupboard

For the final project of the Twelve DIYs of Christmas, you need to see this picture. It's a corner cupboard that I found on Facebook Marketplace. At $40, It looked mildly promising. I zoomed into the picture to inspect it more closely and noticed some good details. One, it was real wood. Two, it had interesting hardware on the fourth shelf down. Three, it appeared tall.


That was it. Those were the three merits I could find, besides that it also seemed to come with a dry erase marker. Still, those merits are enough. If it's real wood, it could be refinished. If it has interesting hardware, that hardware could be spray painted. If it's tall, it would fill the corner in my dining room perfectly. 

I asked for the measurements, and upon confirming it would fit, I committed to the purchase. I don't buy through Facebook Marketplace often, and the times I've done so have been hyper-local. At an hour and a half away, this purchase was more of an adventure.

Friends, the whole experience — from start to finish — was wonderful. First off, it was the perfect fall day for a drive: blue skies, vibrant trees, windy country roads, old barns, and beautiful scenery. With each mile, my soul relaxed and spirits lifted. So much beauty! The drive was a gift from the Lord. 




The seller was kind and encouraging. (Hi Karen!) She reminded me to enjoy my children and my busy house, as her own were now grown and gone. A few weeks later when I sent her photos of the completed project, she first joked that she wanted the cupboard back, then closed her message by saying, "Feel free to come visit anytime and bring the family."

My heart. Like I said, the whole experience was wonderful.

Here's the process of refinishing: I removed the hardware, broke out my hand sander, and sanded for hours. Days. Eons. It felt like a significant amount of sanding. With six shelves, this cabinet had a lot of surface area.


Once the sanding removed most of the original dark stain, I used an unconventional technique to lighten the wood even more: oven cleaner. Google told me this works. Who am I to argue with the Internet?

Apparently, the degreaser in oven cleaner successfully removes wood tannins, which are responsible for orange/red undertones. Since oven cleaner also is designed to stick on a surface, you simply spray it on the wood, let is sit and permeate the wood for 30 minutes, rinse it off with water, then let the wood dry in the sun, which both lightens the wood and prevents any water damage by drying the piece quickly.


Was this process filled with doubt and fumes? Yes and yes. Ample doubt. Ample fumes. But I trusted the process, and I wore a mask.

And, people, it worked. It really worked. The wood was stripped perfectly, the undertones were lightened, and after one final fine-grit sanding, the entire piece was smooth and ready to seal with liming wax.


The corner cupboard is now stationed in my dining room. The loveliest aspect is that when I look at it, I remember the journey. I recall the beautiful drive, the warm connection with the kind seller, and the adventure of traveling somewhere unexpected on a perfect fall day.

Here's the finished cupboard decorated for Christmas. I've collected the decor on the shelves, including the garland, from thrift store or garage sales over the years.




The decorative hardware, which originally had receded into the background of the darker wood, pops more now that it's spray painted matte black.



This old corner cupboard has been given new life, and we'll enjoy it for many, many years to come. Thank you for joining me during these Twelve DIYs of Christmas! This series has been great fun for me to reflect on my projects from the past year, and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.
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