One man’s trash is this excited-momma-in-a-minivan’s organizational tool treasure! Here is how we went from trash to treasure with this find..
I found this amazing tool cabinet in the TRASH. It is rusty and bulky but I saw a vision of my tools all organized and put exactly where they should be so when I need something the angels would hum, and I’d open the drawer and the exact tool would be right there in its place with a halo of light around it! So I hoisted it into the minivan, and brought her on home to turn this trash into treasure.
Its a good thing I’m not scared of a lot of elbow grease… first I cleaned it, like 3 times, then taped then sprayed primer, then sprayed the glorious white spray paint. Then for an extra touch I decided to paint the silver trim pieces with some black metallic craft paint I had.
It was now beautifully transformed looking, but I’ve learned the hard way to seal- so it stays looking that way after the wear and tear of actually being used. I had floor poly which is super thick and protective so I put 2 coats of that on and then let it cure for 2 weeks. I also had to put some essential oils onto tissues and keep them in the drawers to get rid of the spray paint smell from inside the drawers- but it worked like a dream.
My tools are all organized so beautifully and it is wonderful when I need something to just slide a drawer open and there it is ready for the job!
REAL DEAL:
First of all to pull off something like this you will need to loose your shame and proudly become a “garbage picker”! The nitty gritty and up close of how these look now- The top one is in better condition than the bottom one for 3 reasons:
- It started off in better shape, less rust, drawers slide better
- I started to loose my steam and gusto after completing all the steps on the top one..
- I remembered halfway into spray painting the bottom cart that I HATE the kind of spray paint my sweet hubby picked up for me. The kind with the gun trigger is horrible. The coverage is patchy and it always clogs leaving paint drips all over :/ (The Rust-oleum Painters Touch 2X coverage with paint and primer is my favorite spray paint. Goes on smooth, no clogs and great coverage.)
The drawers on the bottom piece also don’t glide in and out easily, maybe I can fix that with some WD-40… sounds easy enough- I’ll try it and let you know.
The bottom piece also has some rust on it, which I have noticed there is a special spray paint type stuff to spray over rust. I wonder if I used that on the rust spots if it would create a seal to spray the white paint over it then offering better coverage?
Maybe someday I’ll fix the bottom one up a little more and take care of that rust but for now it is housing my tools beautifully and the outside looks great enough in our garage! It is a major step up from having to take everything off the shelves that our tools and painting supplies all got shoved into to find the right screwdriver when we are in the middle of a project! All it cost me was maybe $40-$50 of spray paint and my elbow grease!
Happy garbage picking friends!! I’d love to see your trash to treasures!!
