Duke is a sturdy, solid-wood, primitive storage cupboard.  Duke was another one of my brother’s curbside rescues!  This old cabinet has lived a very hard life and was in desperate need of some TLC.

The first step was a thorough cleaning and then filling in some of the numerous holes with wood putty.  When the putty was dry, I gave the entire exterior a light sanding.  I painted the exterior with Waverly chalk paint in Elephant Grey and finished with Waverly Antiquing wax in dark brown.  I think the dark gray really accentuates those rustic steel straps.  The patina on the steel straps was really unique and I just rubbed some antiquing wax on them to give them some depth.  I don’t know if there ever was a corner piece on the left side but if there was, it is missing.

There were two different closures on the front, two metal wing nuts at the top and down towards the middle there was what looked like it may have been a hook and eye or padlock latch.  The hook part was missing so the doors could no longer be latched except at the top. I found a rustic hook at Hobby Lobby that was a close match.

The top was in pretty good condition so I left that unpainted and just applied Waverly dark brown antiquing wax with a brush, wiping the excess off with a rag.  After it dried, I buffed it with a soft cloth for a nice sheen.

The photos below show the before and after of the inside of the cabinet.

I covered up Duke’s glossy white interior with a single coat of flat antique-white latex, followed with a dark antiquing wax to enhance the somewhat crackly paint finish. To apply the wax I dry-brushed it on and wiped it with a damp cloth to remove the excess.  I used a sander on the shelves to smooth them out because they appeared to have had something glued to them at one time. I painted them with the Elephant Grey and distressed them lightly.

Maybe Duke would make a good storage cabinet in a horse barn?

Maybe Duke could be useful hanging out in a mancave somewhere, holding all the movies and games or next to the bar to store all the liquor and beer mugs.

Duke would make a great conversation piece on someone’s enclosed porch, storing birdseed and flowerpots.  The tall birdhouse was one that my dad made for me over 20 years ago and the little bird’s nest is one of many that I collected when I lived in the country.  The birds made the nests out of tail hairs that were left on the ground after grooming my horse!  I thought they were so cute!

If you live locally and are interested in purchasing Duke you can find Flipped Her Lid on Facebook.  You can also follow Flipped Her Lid on Instagram!

Thanks for stopping by!