Radio Cabinet Redo

 

I saw this antique radio cabinet on Craigslist and discovered it was at my local Habitat for Humanity.  Of course, I got down there as quickly as I could to snatch it up.  But, guess what?  I didn't take it right away.  Can you imagine?  It had a lot of veneer damage, so I walked away the first time.

 

Of course, it just kept eating at me so I went to take a second look and totally talked myself into it.  Whenever I have to talk myself into something I almost immediately have buyer's remorse when I get it home.  And, boy did I.  This poor thing has been sitting in my garage, collecting dust and who knows what else for the past year.  I kept walking by it saying maaaybe I'll do something with it this week.  But, just kept putting it off and putting off because I didn't want to mess with the peeling veneer on it.

 

Well, my garage is almost completely cleaned out and guess what was left?  Yep. 

So, I decided it was time.

 

 

 

 

BEFORE

 

The original metal tag was still attached to the bottom.  It was made by Majestic Electronics in the 1930's.  I love that it had the info inside!  The previous owner had already gutted it so I didn't feel guilty at all about messing with it. :)

 

 

 

 AFTER

 

I knew I wanted to keep it simple and draw attention to the inlay on the doors.  I originally painted the whole piece the gray and was going to pick out the details in white, but I just wasn't feeling it. 

 

 

 I decided to paint the whole thing white and then just do the recessed part of the door the color to let the details pop.

 

 

 

 I absolutely adore the arch, which is mimicked on the inside of the doors as well, and this beautiful wood applique that draws attention to it.

 

 

 

 More sweet details on the bottom.  Notice the crack?  I love stuff like that, just another part of her incredible story!

 

 

 

 

 I ended up custom mixing both colors to get rid of some of my paint.  I believe the white is half Antique White from Sherwin Williams and half Linen from General Finishes.  The gray is actually about half Basil from General Finishes and a light/medium gray I had from Sherwin Williams.  I was surprised it didn't turn out more green.

 

 

 

 I peeled the first layer of veneer off and the sub layer was really bad as well, so I ended up taking it off, too.  I was so happy to find solid wood with such nice grain underneath.  It looks like oak to me, but took the stain a lot better than oak normally does, so I'm not sure what it is.

 

I ended up doing two coats of Java Gel and 3 coats of Varathane in satin.

 

 The inside is just as sweet as the outside!  I had to replace the back, so lined it with this paisley fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 I still walk into my garage and can't believe it's the same piece! 

 

Merry Christmas! :)