As some of you might know, guns aren't really my thing. At all. They freak me out. But, before this gets weirdly political, let's get to our project! My hubs had been looking for a gun cabinet for his guns, so obviously, I took over that craigslist search for myself. (Spoliers: he never got one.) And, I found this beauty for $10. Sweet!
So, yeah, it's kind of early 90's and has no glass. Bonus, it did have a key! Always have to look for the positives. And, because guns freak me out, I had no desire to keep it as a gun safe. Instead, I knew it would work perfectly in our living room corner as a catch all. I'd been looking for glass hutch at auctions, but they were always too expensive. This is definitely better than those were anyway!
So, first things first, I had to wash it down. This beaut was in a sketchy basement in a random farm house. It was definitely one of those times where I text a few friends the address I'm at, ya know, just in case we're never heard from again.
FYI, that's how I feel when I go to buy a Craigslist item!
Zach did the wood-working for me on this project. We had planned to knock out the actual gun racks, but they were actually built into the shelf. So, instead we cut out some shelves from scrap wood and used one to completely cover the bottom "rack". We just attached it liquid nails, that stuff never comes off! Then, Zach used his nail gun to attach the top two shelves from the outside of the shelf on the sides and back. Unfortunately, you could still see the top part of the rack under the shelf. To stop this, my brilliant husband added a 2x2 to make it look like it just has a built in ledge. Again, he used liquid nails to attach it. (Update: It's held up for over a year!) 
Then, we went to Ace and picked up a quart of a really nice light yellow paint color and used some left over white paint. Note, the next time I do a project this dark, I will do some primer. The white covered pretty well actually, but the yellow took five coats. Seriously, five coats. The yellow on the can lid is closer to how it looks in real life, the other pictures look brighter for some reason. It's a nice vintage yellow.
After it dried I used some 60 grit sandpaper to give it a little distressing. And, surprisingly enough, once the cabinet was painted white, we didn't even need to repaint the pulls or hinges; we actually liked the way it looks. I also put a protective layer of wax on it to keep it nice. In retrospect, it really wasn't necessary because it doesn't get used, opened, or touched too much. It's more of a "pretty" than a functional piece. Before I reattached the door, I stapled on some chicken wire where the glass should be. Someday, we might have a piece of glass cut for it, but for it's current location we like the look of the shabby chic chicken wire.
And here it is, actually in my living room. It's a place for some extra knickknacks that don't fit in my china hutch. Don't you looove that strawberry tea set? It was a gift from my mom and I think it's adorable! Plus, it hold our wedding sand, a few bibles, and a few depression glass pieces from my grandma. It's a shorter pieces, probably only 6 feet, so we felt like it needed some items on top because our ceilings are so high. I like the way the fan and the candles give it some height while keeping the mix-matched feel. It also conveniently sits over our modem and router so you can't see all the messy cords.
Was this a worthwhile upcycle or would a gun rack have been better? Eek! We've discussed moving this to our main bathroom at some point for towels and lotions. It could be a pretty versatile $10 piece. What do you think?
