Little House on the Corner: Drab-to-Fab Goodwill Furniture Makeover

I can't believe it, but it was already over a year ago that I blogged about finding this little treasure at Goodwill for $30. I didn't expect it to be quite this long before I gave it a makeover, but time really does fly.

In any case, I finally just decided not to do anything too crazy and instead just give the cabinet the best kind of makeover possible: a free one! Since the existing color was flat and drab, I wanted to go much darker and richer. We already had some stain left over from previous projects, so it was kind of a no-brainer.

I took off all the hardware, sanded the cabinet down with fine-grit sandpaper, and used ScotchBlue painter's tape to tape off the inside edges of the door opening, since I didn't want to get stain on the shelves.

My fingers were then numb from sanding outside in the frigid weather, so I decided to do the staining in our unfinished basement (a well-ventilated area is overrated, right?). First, I wiped on some Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner, so the dark stain would soak in nice and evenly.

Next, it was time for the fun part... the color! But after one coat of Minwax Ebony Wood Finish, I knew I wanted it much darker. So it ended up taking three coats (and a lot more patience) before I was happy with it.

I probably could have stopped there, but since we also had some Minwax polyurethane, I decided to slap on a coat of that as well, just for extra shine and protection.

After everything was sufficiently dry (okay, maybe a little sooner than that), I reattached the hardware and the door, and voila! Meet my new short, dark and handsome piece of furniture!