Good Medicine….Cabinet
Our old rusty medicine cabinet had been bothering me for quite a while. Finally, I could not wait any longer. I had to do something about it, because it was ruining my mornings. I have a hard enough time waking up and getting to work on time, and I did not need this ugliness to make it any harder than it had to be.
The cabinet was rusting. The hardware had been changed, but the former holes had never been patched. There were gaps between the wall and the cabinet. You can really see how ugly it is when you get up close.
This project did not take a long time to do. It took several days, but I worked for less than an hour each day. The time in between was just to let things dry thoroughly; I do not want to be doing this again any time soon. The first task was to take everything out and sand the cabinet. I puttied the holes and caulked between the cabinet and the walls. Later that afternoon I sanded the patched holes and did another layer of caulk.
The next morning I removed the hardware and painted the first coat. We already had the Rust-Oleum paint in the house from other projects. I had to be careful around the metal frame on the door, but I was not so cautious on the seam with the wall. We are planning to repaint the bathroom soon, so it does not matter if it is less than perfect.
The third day I painted a second and final coat.
The following day after work, I put the hardware back on and restocked the cabinet. I am happy with the results.
On the fifth day, I rested. Well, that is not exactly true. On the fifth day, I wrote this blog post. Tomorrow I will rest. Let’s have one more look at the before and after.
Happy Homemaking!
I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com
WOW! It looks brand new, Jessica. So funny how we both posted about our medicine cabinets. Great minds…. I’m just sayin’.
Something like this can change my attitude every day. When you wake up and get ready, open this clean, white, perfect cabinet, you must feel so good. GREAT JOB!
You’re right about great minds! I did not even think about that when I read your post.
The cabinet does look about a thousand times better. When you see it in person, there are actually several minor flaws, but they don’t bother me any more. Old pieces are rarely going to be perfect, but the little imperfections are endearing in my opinion. It is only when things have been neglected or badly repaired that they bother me.
Quite the handyman! Chip off the old block I guess 🙂
Ahem. Handiwoman.
Hello, I realize this is a couple YEARS after you posted, I just stumbled here from a posted comment on Apartment Therapy. I was on the hunt for medicine cabinet ideas. I’ve most likely decided on a pattern/paper of some sort, but I did want to say good job on your painted one. And I see you have the old ‘razor slot’. Have you found a cache of razors in your walls?
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I love receiving feedback from readers! So far we have not found any razors, but we have never opened up that wall. It seems to be open to the unfinished basement, but the razors could have caught on something in the wall, I suppose. That was such an interesting disposal method for many years.