How I saved a 150 Year old Farm House Cabinet

I have been lusting after this gorgeous antique cabinet that was salvaged from a 150 year old farmhouse ever since I first saw it. It belonged to some good friends of ours and it was never for sale. Every time we visited I would also visit this sweet piece that sat waiting in the garage for something.

My friends always were going to do something with it..but life happens.

Sadly, my buddies have to move and just don't have room to take this 7 foot tall and 7 foot 4 inch long goodie with them....good for me.

After trying for a bit to sell this piece via craigslist but failing I was able to pick it up. I was thrilled...although it needed alot more help than I originally thought.

But we all know the feeling...when you see something...regardless of the shape it is in...you can see it finished and beautiful...that is this kind of piece for me.

Of course all of the glass was gone. We have been hoarding old glass for awhile...you know the kind, wavy and tiny bubbles. My junk hunk cut it and we added it into the doors.

Some of the old hardware was not salvagable.

We added new hardware which we tried to make look old.

The top of the bottom piece was completely rotten. We replaced it with salvaged wood - we also added some bead board that was salvaged from the same house.
We loved the original patina. It had been painted several different colors over the years - greens, blues and whites. It was chippy and crackled - I loved it.
So we sanded it to remove the falling off pieces and sealed it to protect that gorgeous junky finish.
 So the hard part was...how are we going to make the new pieces that we added - crown molding and more look like the original finish. That is where CeCe Caldwell Green Paint came in.

We used Alaskan Tundra, Vintage White and Destin Gulf Green to replicate the finish...so we layered and crackled and sanded and layered and sanded and layered and crackled and... well you get the idea....Until I thought that we had it looking pretty original.

Can you tell which is the original and which is the new finish?

So after 30 hours give or take she is ready for her debut at the Spokane Home and Garden Show.

I may add some baskets to the shelves below but other than that I think she is perfect.

I am usually very good about not taking home my work... but if I had a place she would live with me...alas, I have no room so she is ready for adoption. Maybe in your kitchen or dining room? Or heck, she would be perfect to hold all of your crafting supplies.

I love that this piece has been saved and I love that I was able to do it with All natural, made in the US products. I wish we could have salvaged more of the house. They don't make pieces like this anymore.

What do you think?