Today, I am working on the first piece of furniture I want to change in the family room.  I’m giving Jim’s gun cabinet some much needed TLC.

As I fix what needs to be fix, I will give it a new look in the process.

 

The cabinet was Jim’s father, so it is special to Jim, I’m not going to convert it to anything else but what it was made to be used for.

The wood is beginning to crack due to the wood drying out, that’s one reason why I am working on the cabinet.  Due to that one of the doors cracked in half when opening it.

Since one of the doors are damaged, I am going to try to look for small cabinet doors at thrift stores to replace the two bottom doors.  However, they are an unusual size so it might be difficult for me to find them.

When the door cracked, I did repair it by gluing it back together with wood glue until I had time to correctly fix the issue of the dried-out wood.

Also, the handles are very tarnished.  I’ll try to clean them first, if I can’t, I will replace them with new or spray paint them.

Can you tell how dry the wood looks?  Plus, look at the drips of stain.  The drips has been there from the beginning.

Here are the steps I took to prep the cabinet for the transformation.

1.  Removed the doors from the cabinet.
2. Removed all the hardware.
3. Removed the glass panels from the doors.

Since the wood was dry, I sanded off the stain instead using stripper.  I used 80 grit sandpaper and then 120 to smooth the surface.

After I sanded, I applied two coats of Rust-Oleum wood conditioner.  I am hoping this will help with the dryness of the wood and close the pores for the new stain to go on smoothly.

Due to the cold weather, I brought the cabinet back inside to finish the project.

You might notice I didn’t do anything to the inside.  Since it is in good condition and different type of wood, I applied a coat of wood conditioner and called it done.

The cabinet is ready to stain, I decided to stain the outer part of the cabinet with Minwax stain in the color black.

To apply the stain, I used a sponge brush.  I applied a thin coat each coat of stain.

I gave each piece 3 coats of stain, sanding and cleaning in between each coat.

I actually like how the inside looks in the original color with the black stain.

To seal the stain, I added two coats of matt finish polyurethane.

While the poly was drying, I decided to clean the hardware.  Yes, they are very tarnished.

I used hot soapy water to clean the hardware and then Bar Keeper’s Friend to remove the tarnish.

I added the hardware to the soapy water to clean dust, dirt and grease.  Applied the cleanser to the piece, using both a brush and a green scouring pad to help remove the tarnish.

Look at the difference.  I didn’t know they were brass, I always thought they were antique brass.

I love how they turned out; the hinges did not clean up as well, I spray them with gold metallic spray paint.

I had no luck finding the size of cabinet doors I needed to the bottom of the cabinet, I decided to fix the broken door by adding wood filler to smooth out the crack and keep the doors we have.

The last task are the glass cabinet doors.  I cleaned the glass panels and placed back into the frames.

To conceal the items stored in the cabinet, I added cane webbing.  The glass helps the dust from seeping inside the cabinet, so I placed the webbing in back of the cabinet door glass.

I measured and cut the webbing 1/2 inch passed the inner part of each frame.

After cutting the webbing to size, I placed the webbing in warm water to soak for 30 minutes.  To hold the webbing down in the water I sat glasses on top of them.

When it was time to remove the webbing from the water, I let the excess water drip off by holding it up for a minute or so.  I placed the wet webbing on a towel and tapped the webbing with a cloth.

To tell the front from the back, the front has a glossy finish, and the back has an unfinished appearance to it.

I applied the cane webbing damp face down on the glass panel.

I stapled the webbing with my upholstery staple gun to the inner side of the frame, stretching as tightly as I could.

Even trying my hardest to keep it tight it still was loose, the directions indicates as it dries it will tighten up.

It took one and half days to completely dry.  And yes, it tightened up like the directions said it would.  Honestly, I was afraid it wouldn’t.

I cut off all the excess webbing with my utility knife.

Added the hardware back onto the doors.

Added the doors to the cabinet.

Using Murphy Oil Soap to clean and condition the paneling on the inside of the cabinet.

Can you tell which side I cleaned?  Unbelievable, that’s why I snapped this photo.

It is time for Jim to add things back into the cabinet and for me to decorate the very top.

Here are the before and after pictures.

               

I am so happy with how the cabinet looks.

The cabinet is the first piece I want to change in the family room.  Keep on watching for more before & afters.

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