It all started when I saw this on Pinterest.

I had that exact microwave cart in college, and I was almost entirely sure my parents still had it in their garage–my mom hoping I’d either someday come get it or throw it out. My dad was probably eyeing it for some project of his own. (What can I say, I’m his child…)

As luck would have it, or rather not luck, since my dad doesn’t let my mom just throw stuff like that out, it was still there, dusty, dirty, and in need of some love, but it was there, in all its laminate glory.

I had big plans for this guy, although when I started, I wasn’t sure where it would go. I though it would be good as a night stand, but we had a BUNCH of empty rooms at that point, so I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t end up in the guest room, or even my office.

However, I was pretty sure I could make it into something magical, so I set to work, using my trusty Zinsser. (See this post for why I like it.)

 

First though, I had to take off all the hardware, hinges, and doors, which I did all by myself. And then I LIGHTLY sanded it. Don’t sand too much or you’ll wear through the laminate and it will get fuzzy. You just want it to be a little roughed up.

And yes, even though, it’s laminate, you CAN PAINT it. (Contrary to what people may tell you.

Pretty soon, it looked like this.

I propped it up on some Styrofoam and used 2 coats of primer and one coat of white paint, it’s called Ultra White, and we used a semi-gloss for all the trim in our house. I had some of that left over, and it worked just fine for this project.

Then it was time for the fun part, the design.

I wanted to go with chevron stripes since I’ve been seeing them everywhere and I think they’re awesome.

I started by measuring and doing some math to figure out how wide I wanted the stripes, much the same way I would if I was just doing regular stripes.

Then, do the same thing going the other way to mark where the stripes will bend.

Then, connect the dots using a straight edge.

And tape!

Then, using the secret tip I told you about in this post, I sealed the edges with white paint. And then used a cheap mess-up paint sample that we got from Lowes or Walmart or Home Depot? (Can you tell we bought a lot of cheap mess-up paint samples?)

And after removing the paint, making a few touch-ups, and reattaching the doors (but not the wheels), it was good to go!

And after a couple night’s work, some elbow grease, and a big dream for a cheap little piece of furniture, I ended up with this!

Pretty cool project, huh? It ended up being the perfect place to hold my printer in my office. Hubs is eventually going to make some legs for me to lift it up off the ground a little, but for now, it’s finished.

Questions? Comments? Ideas?

I’m linking up here.