We seem drawn to unique boxes and unusual storage cabinets, so we couldn’t pass up this metal 4-drawer counter-top cabinet. When we got it, the cabinet had burgundy color paint, tarnished brass drawer pulls and name plates, and a decal that read BB Fancy Crystals Made in USA.
Upon researching the name, we found out that the cabinet was originally used to store and organize fancy watch crystals. That bit of history explains why we found a few watch crystals laying inside the drawers when we took them out of the cabinet.
We knew we wanted to change the color and once we removed the old paint we discovered there was actually quite a bit of rust that needed to be removed before we repainted.
- Removed old paint
- Sanded with an orbital sander to remove rust
- For outside, misted with black lacquer and then rubbed with #0000 steel wool to reveal areas of steel; the pitting in metal retained paint to give two-tone appearance
- For the inside, spray painted black satin enamel
- Clear coated to protect the surfaces
- Polished the brass knobs and nameplates then coated with a clear lacquer to reduce tarnishing
We will probably end up lining the inside of the drawers with a felt type of material and store jewelry inside, but that will be a project for another day. For now, it looks good stacked on our side table.
