Ugly Cupbord Makeover

I found this little old 1970's, possibly 1960's,  cupboard in a local charity shop. I think it might have been an old record storage cupboard. It wasn't the style that I was looking for but was just the right size to fit in the spot on the decking where I wanted it to stand. It looked like the sort of cupboard that no one else would love but I could see the potential. The price tag of £5 was the deciding factor and I paid my money. I named it the Ugly Cupboard.

First job was to sand it well and clean it up.

With my old faithful kitchen table acting as a work bench, work began. I  applied a coat of melamine primer and on top of that a general primer. I then applied a couple of coats of pastel green. I knew that I wanted to decorate it with a flower theme, so green was the obvious base colour. I didn't worry to much about the finish, a few brush marks and traces of the undercoat added to the Shabby Chic look.

Now for the fun part. Using stencils from a previous decorating project I stencilled tulips and daffodils on the doors using acrylic paints. The design was a little too bold for traditional Shabby Chic style but was just what I wanted. The plan was just to decorate the doors, but then the rest of the  cupboard looked a bit bare.  I decided on an ivy design for the sides and top. The finishing touch was a butterfly on one of the doors. When the painting was complete  2 coats of tough exterior varnish were applied.

So, now I have some where to store tea-lights, when not in use, a few other things that have found their way in there.