To my husband and most of my friends’ disappointment, I am not a great wine or beer drinker, but say the word “coffee” and I will drop everything (unless it’s a cup of coffee) and come running.

My kitchen has many types of coffee and coffee makers. From the regular home brewer, to a Nespresso, including a French Press and an Italian Coffee Maker. I use them all depending on the occasion, but my everyday mugs are usually filled with Nescafé and a bit of milk, mixed into kettle-boiled water. Fancy, huh?

The first time I saw a “coffee bar” made out of old furniture on Pinterest my heart skipped a bit. I HAD to have one in my life. The only problem was… my kitchen back in Connecticut had no space for it. That didn’t stop me from keeping on pinning and dreaming about having one of my own some day.

When we found our home in Virginia I immediately spotted the perfect corner for it in the new kitchen. I then started searching everywhere for a piece of furniture I could convert into my so desired Coffee Bar. After weeks of search, I finally found this adorable and VERY OLD Hoosier Cabinet on Craigslist. The lady who was selling it told me it belonged to her grandmother and it had been in her family for over 60 years.

Even though it wasn’t exactly what I had planned for my project, I fell in love with this piece and it had the perfect dimensions for my space.

Half-way through the project I started having serious feelings of regret over my choice. This guy was in such bad shape inside and out. It took me two weeks of intense labor until I finally started loving it again.

This is is how it looks now in my kitchen. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome!

I can’t stop staring at it (doing it right now). I love it.

I will tell you how I refinished it. (This post contains a few affiliate links)

Tools and Supplies:

For the cabinet

• Sand Paper (80, and 120 grit)
• Random Orbit Sander
• Minwax High Performance Wood Filler
• TSP diluted in water (for cleaning)
• General Finishes Persian Blue Milk Paint
• General Finishes Snow White Milk Paint
• HomeRight Finish Max Paint Sprayer
• Country Chic Paint Brush
• Minwax Polycrylic Satin
• Rust-Oleum Chalkboard Spray

For the bottom cabinet wooden top

• Zip-Strip Paint & Finish Remover
• General Finishes Water Based Dye Medium Brown
• Miss Mustard Seed’s Hemp Oil

For the Metal Flour Dispenser

• Modern Masters Metallic Smoke

Cabinet:

I cleaned the entire piece with TSP diluted in water. I actually scrubbed the inside of the cabinet and drawers with soapy water to help remove years of accumulated grease and dirt.

Removed all doors and hardware.

Next I fixed all (well, most) holes, scratches and imperfections with high performance wood filler. I also closed the hardware holes in the drawers since I wanted to replace them with cup pulls.

Then I sanded the entire piece in and out with my orbital sander using a 80 grit sandpaper. Then I smoothed it out manually with a 120 sandpaper, which is better for corners and areas that are hard to reach with the electrical sander.

Cleaned well all over again and when it was dry, I sprayed GF Snow White on the interior of all drawers and cabinets. I needed to do three coats. There was a little bleeding in some areas, but I didn’t mind it. It kind of added a little aged look to the white.

I used plastic to cover the metal flour dispenser for this step, and after the white was dry I painted the dispenser with Modern Masters Metallic Paint, Smoke.

For the outside, I chose to brush the blue (GF Persian Blue) instead of spraying it. Since the wood was very irregular and porous, a good paint brush was perfect to achieve a smooth look. I also had to apply three coats, but only one pint of paint was enough for the entire piece.

I sealed everything with Minwax Polycrylic satin, using my paint sprayer.

After that, I painted the panel of the top left door with some leftover Chalkboard Paint I had. I chose to write my motto on it. “But first… Coffee”.

Wooden Top:

I removed the metal trim around the wood top then stripped and sanded it down to raw wood. I then applied GF Medium Brown Dye Stain and when it was dry, I applied two coats of MMS hemp oil. I usually seal table tops with polyurethane but since this piece will not receive heavy traffic I decided to skip the hard sealer this time.

Finally I put back all doors, drawers and my husband and I hauled it up to my kitchen where we reattached the top piece to the bottom using metal brackets.

I hope the pictures below will also make you smile!

I found these super cute tins at our local HomeGoods. And the red tea pot is from Hobby Lobby.

That jar under the flour dispenser is filled with coffee beans, so every time we open the cabinet doors a wonderful smell of coffee fills the air!

P.S. To see ALL my projects, follow me on my Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Thanks for reading!

Patricia.

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