Don’t you love when you can revive a piece of furniture you’re totally tired of, and suddenly fall in love with it again? That’s the story of me and my armoire.
We originally bought it for our first nursery in 2004, and when it wouldn’t fit up the stairs in our next house, it landed in the front living room as a big art supply cabinet for the kids.
By the time, we moved into our current house a couple of years ago, I was tired of its bulkiness and cherry finish and listed it on Craigslist. But, it never sold and ended up storing all kinds of “stuff” in our garage.
Then, one day I had a thought. (Yes, really.) The dresser in our bedroom had never quite looked right, and I hated seeing the TV sitting on top as you came into the room. So, I invited the armoire to come back and live inside the house:
I went with this rich navy blue:
It took one coat of primer (I used Zinsser) and two coats of paint in a satin finish.
Our TV fit perfectly by taking the top shelf out, and I’m happy to be able to put that ugly cable box and cords behind closed doors:
Besides buying the paint, my only other investment was hardware. I spent a total of $13 by buying two IKEA pulls for $10 (and sprayed them metallic gold), and I picked up a bag of brass knobs at my local Habitat ReStore for $3. (I always check the hardware section when I’m there!)
Pressing on with our bedroom update, I have big plans for this wall in our bedroom. I’ll show you in the next couple of weeks.
Do you have any furniture around your house that you’ve re-fallen in love with lately?
It’s gorgeous. I love this color. Getting ready to paint my powder room Hale Navy. I love how you made this piece usable and chic!
You had me at navy. Looks fantastic!
I’m working on some this week. The bedside tables in our Master bedroom are being painted a high gloss deep navy. Can’t decide if I want silver or gold hardware though.. =) Great Job on the armoire, it turned out lovely.
Looks amazing! Hard to believe its the same piece, great color choice!
looks fabulous! what a difference! i love navy- perfect choice!
WOW! That color is perfect!
Love that navy paint and it did wonders for your armoire! Any chance you can tell me how long the pulls are? I am looking for something similar for a project.
Beth–They’re 13 inches.
What a great transformation! Love the color you chose and I think armoires are fantastic in the bedroom for hiding the tv. And, now I’m kicking myself, because I have a similar armoire to redo, was at Ikea (3 hours away) last weekend with pulls like this in my hand, and ended up putting them back. Ugh! I guess they’ll be on the list for the next trip! :)
I have never really been a fan of armoire but this makes me want one. Looks amazing!
Beautiful! I am in the middle of painting an heirloom dresser in a dark blue, and am already excited by the result. One more coat of paint and it’s going to the bedroom! It took a bit of courage to paint, but I’m sure it will be worth it. Your armoire reinforces my decision, so thanks!
x
That is gorgeous! Beautiful!!!
wow! i wouldn’t even know that is the same piece! love it! i had a “country” looking chest that i wanted to get rid of…painted it wrought iron(martha stewart) and added MS brass rectangular cup pulls. now it’s one of my favorites in the entire house! isn’t paint magic? ;)
Those Ikea pulls are the biggest bang for the buck for transforming a piece, and that navy, so pretty, Emily!
Love the navy and gold combo. So Pretty!!
Emily, you are a genius! The armoire looks fantastic, very high-end. Also, I love your subtle humor – you “invited” it back inside!
I love it! I so need to do that with an old dresser. Love the pic on the top btw:)
Did you use oil or latex paint? I am wanting to paint a wall of bookshelves, but am worried how the paint will hold up as we *use* the shelves for books! Thanks for any advice…
I used latex. Besides the initial coat of primer, my paint was also a paint + primer in one.
love the color! I have been itching to paint some furniture lately so maybe I will paint my armoire too!
Brittany
http://www.classicallyb.com
What a gorgeous re-do! And you made it look so modern with the new knobs.
LOVE this! I need to stock up on some ikea hardware because you made it look amazing!
I think it looks great, and I admire your guts to do something this drastic-with wonderful results!
Does anyone have any bad experiences spray painting metal pulls/knobs? I have had some where the paint rubs off where you touch it repeatedly-like wears off. Any ideas?
That looks SO SO good Emily! I have such a similar scenario. Bought a cherry wood armoire that was a nursery piece, now it sits in our entry and holds our art supplies. I’ve been debating painting it a chalky gray or navy. This really inspires me to bite the bullet. You picked fabulous hardware too! I love reinventing furniture and the thrill of thinking how much money you just saved;)
I love how you can revive a piece of furniture into a new setting and it looks like something brand new. I especially love the gold pulls and knobs! I’m loving anything gold right now!
lovely! one question…does your husband ever give you a hard time about painting wood pieces? mine is so stubborn on that.
God blessed me with a very un-opinionated husband when it comes to decorating our house :)
I love the armoire, the color makes all the difference. I painted a curio cabinet last year that I never loved and the paint job made me love it. Gotta love paint.
Tammy @ thecoloreddoor.blogspot.com
THAT IS AMAZING. AMAZING. All-caps amazing. I love it.
But, do you like it?? :)
Really splendid!
Gorgeous, Emily!! I love the color you chose … and, the gold metallic pulls are the perfect companion!
Brilliant! Now I want my old armoire back :(
Really beautiful! Another project to inspire me. Thanks!
I love the color Emily! And where did you get the hardware (especially the handles on the doors…LOVE!!!) Great job! Hugs, Amy
Sorry, I just noticed they are from IKEA. :-)
Love it Emily! Of course the hardware made a huge impact on a tired old piece too!
Emily, you are my kindred spirit as I have just finished painting three bookcases from my childhood. It was a huge project but I love the results. I gave them a new life by painting them white and raising them up with a 15 inch riser with moldings. Now they look like built-ins. They have such awesome lines, I couldn’t part with them and I have fond memories of storing my toys as a kid in the cabinets. More importantly, I love Hale Navy, it’s my wall color in the den. I’m about to use it on a game table I’m redoing. The Hale Navy is actually darker than it appears on the PC, so I am really appreciating your armoire transformation! You inspire me every day. Keep it coming.
looks really lovely, Emily! I’m excited you are working on your master. You certainly deserve a nice space to relax in a bit once the day has wound down!
LOVE! I am going to re-paint my bedroom suite — the WHOLE thing! Yikes! :) And, I am a complete newbie. Do I need to sand it first? Or just use a primer and go for it?
thank you!!!
It just depends on the surface but I don’t always sand. Usually just if it’s really glossy, so the primer will take better.
Melanie, I painted my pine bedroom suite about 4 years ago. It was about about 20 years old so it wasn’t very shiny and I dont use a lot of wood cleaners so it didn’t have any build up of oils on it. I didn’t sand it and it still looks great. I had a professional painter tell me to always use 100% acrylic paint when doing things like this and so far it hasn’t failed me. I have found that most outdoor paints are 100% acrylic. I am really wanting to paint it this blue now! Good luck!
What a gorgeous and useful transformation! Love that hardware.
In love!!! Girl you are doing the darn thing! Perfect color and hardware choice. Now I want one:-)
It is absolutely stunning, glad you held onto it!!
XO
Kristin
This really is amazing! I love it in navy!
Emily…did you brush the doors or roll? I’m working in a bench and am trying to figure out if I should brush/roll the top.
Thank you!
For the most part, I tried to roll. I did have to use a brush to get in the detailed parts, though. (And, I took the doors off first.)
I remember you instagramming this a few weeks ago. So happy to see the result. I think the navy is perfect, but that hardware is even better! Great idea to look for hardware at Habitat… was just there this past weekend, but didn’t even think to look!
I love the blue you chose. Its not so dark that it looks black but yet it doesn’t have the country blue look. Perfect. The armoire looks wonderful. I have a remade armoir in my bedroom as well. We had an old (really old) cabinet that i bought second hand years ago. It had a large opening bottom center where a cosole TV sat. I told it was old. The cabinet was divided with shelves all across it. My husband turned it over and made the top the bottom. He applied crown molding to the top to finish it.Closed in all the cubbyholes and put on doors. He also made a new shelf and doors for the TV opening.. I wish I could explain to you hw awesome it is. It’s about 5 ft tall and 6 ft long I painted it a moss green but I am really loving this blue!! everyone one that sees it loves it and I love having all the extra storage in my bedroom. Keep up the good work. Love your blog!!
Thanks, Brenda! Sounds like a great project.
It looks great! Those Ikea pulls look like a million bucks!!
I love it when someone makes over an old armoire! I love the hardware you chose!
We are making over a pine armoire and turning it into something that holds things for our master bathroom.
Do you think you will do a contrasting treatment on the inside sometime
in the future?
Looks fantastic! Hale Navy is such a favorite. I’m really excited to see what you do with your windows! xo
I love it, Emily! I’m now totally regretting dropping my armoire that we tried to sell in multiple garage sales off to Goodwill. It was very similar and you can never have enough closed storage, right? Oh well…I’m am sure that it now belongs to someone who is loving it! And I love Hale Navy…I used it on our bedroom dresser makeover with gold pulls…there is just something so sophisticated about that color combo! ;)
Perfect Color! I am feeling the need to find use for that color! I hate seeing TVs in bedrooms also.. but I couldnt live with out mine! Great job on repurposing the amoire!
Looks amazing Emily! Hale is one of my very favorite colors – great choice! Can’t wait to see what else you have planned.
Pretty! Love the color and the hardware really makes the piece!
Love the navy. Quite a transformation. You’ve inspired me.
Love the hardware! Great transformation, Emily.
I still have an armoire in my bedroom with a TV in it. Love being able to close it when my bedroom is clean :) Can’t wait to see this navy and black bedroom!
You really did a wonderful job. I think it is perfect in every way.
Really like these one! and i appreciate for you you have done work thanks for sharing! BestKreative
Love the transformation! It really looks like a whole new piece. I keep forgetting to check out my local Habitat ReStore so thanks for the reminder! :)
Oh boy, you may have just opened a can of worms on me. Shoot! ;) Adding to my mile long to do list! Love how this turned out. Gorgeous!
I just love this! How has it held up over the years? May I ask if you sanded it prior to priming or in between coats?
It’s holding up great. I don’t think I did any sanding. Pretty sure we just primed and painted. I usually don’t sand unless it’s an ultra-glossy finish to begin with…
Love this! We just re-did our master bath & I used a similar navy on the cabinets (BM Van Duesen which is on the same swatch as Hale Navy) with antique brass hardware and it looks AMAZING! Was thinking I may tackle our bedroom bookshelves & your post has given me inspiration! Thanks for posting!!
What brand of spray paint did you use?
I came here to ask the same thing!
I don’t remember but probably Valspar…
Hello, I am trying to find those Ikea pulls – do you know the name of them? I can’t find them on Ikea’s website. I need wide ones like the ones you used!
I’m sorry, I don’t remember. I’m not sure they even carry them anymore…
Hi Emily! Lovely piece and I am thinking on painting two pieces in my bedroom that are just boring!
Did you sanded before priming? Hi w did you prepared the piece?
Thanks
I have pieces quite similar to these, and I can’t stand them. They are black and dull! I’m glad this worked for someone. I will report back and hopefully share pictures of the makeover!
I’m going for a distressed look I think.
Looks great! Did you sand before priming? Did you paint with a bruah or a roller?
Hello!
This looks lovely :)
Other than the primer & paint, did you use anything else – like a top coat?
I assume you didn’t sand either?
Thanks so much!