Chicken Wire Cabinet

I am still wearing the scars of this project :)

I recently bought an old oak cabinet that was missing the front door panel. Something like that never scares me off and as a bonus it makes the piece more affordable as often other buyers often don't want to muck around with it. 

I thought I had a before photo but now can't find it. The oak timber grain was beautiful but it was very dark and dirty. I wanted to keep the grain visible so decided to white wash it. I made a mix of white paint and water so it is quite translucent and running and I started painting. to white wash you would normally need to strip your timber back to bare wood. This cabinet was so old and dry and the original finish had mostly disappeared so I gave it a light sand mainly to smooth out the timber grain and then I started painting. For white washing I paint in long strokes then wipe off after the paint starts to dry but well before it is fully dry. You can give it several coats depending how white you want it.  Once the cabinet was fully dry I also waxed it with white wax to further enhance the lightness.

I painted the interior in a Dulux duck egg that I had on hand.  It was a semi gloss that will hold up well to scratches and cleaning, and means I didn't have to wax the interior of the cabinet which I hate doing.

For the door I cut some chicken wire and stapled it in. Cue scratches all up and down my forearms. I looked like i had been in a cat fight. To secure it in place I used a million staples and then bent the sharp edges over using my pliers.

Lovely paneled details.

This piece would be lovely to store quilts in or in a bathroom full or white towels. It sold immediately and has already been picked up.

Have you used chicken wire in a project. Did you find a way to not get shredded?

Fiona xx