Hoosier Cabinet Restoration (Part 2: Refinish)

This antique (1920s) Hoosier cabinet was among the items salvaged from my grandmother’s home post-hurricane. I never liked it, but it meant a lot to my grandmother, and to my mother, so I worked on refinishing it to make it more modern and neutral for my home. Here’a a recap of the process in part 2 of 2: refinish. The prep work is in the previous post here.

[Read the origin story of these heirloom restorations here: Heirloom Restoration]

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With all the prep work out of the way, I was able to do the really fun stuff! So that I could park in the garage again, I restored the Hoosier cabinet from the ground up. I did the big pieces first to get them out of the way and in the house, and I saved drawers and doors for last, since those could be stacked up out of the way. I paint tested 3 blues and 3 whites to see what would look best in the house, and match the porcelain enamel top best. In the above left photo, the bottom blue and top white looked best, so I ended up using Krylon Fusion All-In-One Matte Ink Blue on the outside of the cabinet, and Rustoleum Chalked Linen White on the inside of the cabinet. YES, I spray painted a 100 year old cabinet and I have zero regrets!

Blue: Krylon K02758007 Fusion All-In-One Spray Paint for Indoor/Outdoor Use, Matte Ink Blue

White: Rust-Oleum 302591A3 Chalked Ultra Matte Spray Paint, 12 Ounce (Pack of 3), Linen White, 36 Ounce

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Taping is never fun but the painting sure is! I started with the cabinet base, which was the biggest piece. The inside of the cabinet still had it’s original wood so it really soaked up the white paint. I had to spray so many coats and make multiple trips to the store for more paint. But I liked the bright white in what was otherwise a deep dark space.

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The hardware didn’t fight me at all and took the Rustoleum Metallic Pure Gold very well. I decided against painting the wheels, as these little guys still had gold, green, and blue paint relics from their former lives. I rather like the subtle remnants that remind me of the cabinet’s character and history.

Gold: Rust-Oleum 245221A2 Universal All Surface Metallic Spray Paint, 11 Ounce (Pack of 2), Pure Gold, 2 Count

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The two bottom drawers were originally bread bins, and they were dull and rusted. So I sprayed those two with Rustoleum Metallic Nickel on the inside to get that bread bin look back. I painted the little top drawer white on the inside and blue on the outside. I painted the inside and outside of the top two drawers that are attached to the underside of the sliding countertop blue since they are the most exposed. I put the pulls back on all the drawers and brought them inside to cure overnight before sliding them in place.

Nickel: Rust-Oleum 271474 Spray-Paints, 11 Ounce (Pack of 1), Flat Antique Nickel

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Needing to replace the back board on the hutch, I decided I wanted to wallpaper it with some art deco design to honor its origin. I chose Sunburst Gold on White from Spoonflower, and ordered 2 yards of the design on cotton canvas (because actual wallpaper was WAY more expensive). It was my husband’s suggestion to Mod Podge fabric on the back board, and I think that was an excellent money saving idea. While waiting for the fabric to arrive, I painted the inside and outside of the hutch and brought it inside to cure. It long ago lost its flour sifter and had shelving put in to replace the gaps, so that got painted as part of the hutch. I also painted the underside of the counter (which was a blah brown) as well as all cabinet doors, and brought those inside as well.

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I had enough fabric for the back board and the inside of the top two drawers, which would be used the most (scissors!). And I tested the fabric plus Mod Podge on the drawers first, just to see how the fabric would behave. The new back board is a 48″x48″x.25″ craft board from Home Depot that my husband cut down to fit. I brushed on Mod Podge and rolled down the fabric in strips from top down. I had a couple annoying air bubbles that refused to go away even with a roller, so I put wax paper over the bubbles and yelled at them rolled them out. I kept the wax paper in place until the Mod Podge was dry and that seemed to do the trick! I nailed the back board to the hutch a marveled at how much of a face lift this cabinet has already gotten.

Mod Podge: Mod Podge CS11302 Waterbase Sealer, Glue and Finish, 16 oz, Matte, 16 Fl Oz

Roller: Rubber Roller, Ideal for Anti Skid Tape Construction Tools, Print, Ink and Stamping Tools (2.5-Inch, Black)

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The old Hoosier plate was paper (I think) and was ruined in the sanding (it was ugly anyway) so I ordered a new brass plate from Etsy. I nailed it exactly where the old one was. I love it! I’m okay with the brass plate, the dull gold painted hardware, and the bright gold replacement screws. It shows what was restored versus replaced and helps tell this cabinet’s restoration story. I have no plans to paint the screw heads.

Plate: Solid Brass Hoosier Name Plate from Furniture Knowledge on Etsy

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The rounded head gold screws that I bought for the door hinges worked fine, but it was difficult finding comperable side bracket screws, which need to hold a lot of weight. What I purchased had wider tread than the original holes, so I stripped a screw head right off with the tread stuck in the wood. Learned my lesson! My husband drilled the remaining holes a little wider, which seemed to do the trick. I glued the head on that one I screwed up (pun intended) and hoped the other 11 screws would be strong enough. Months later, I can happily report that they are, and everything is holding up just fine.

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At this point the Hoosier cabinet is fully restored to the condition it was at my grandmother’s house. So I got excited and loaded all my craft supplies into the hutch, drawers, and base. At the time I was also working on a project and needed access to my supplies, so the cabinet was already starting to feel like a functional piece. All that remained to restore were the tambour roll doors…

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These were really intimidating and I was prepared to toss them and buy replacement parts, but everything worked out well enough. I painted the individual slats, pulls, and replacement horizontal face frames that I beveled with a sander. Following the directions for the twill tape and glue from Kennedy Hardware, I glued the tape to the underside in three rows for each door. I trimmed the edges with pinking shears, and waited impatiently for the glue to dry. Once dry I rolled the doors in place in the cabinet and secured the face frames with little nails.

And the restoration was complete and almost perfect. The tambour roll doors stick in the open position, and rather than fight with it, I rather like the look of it like this. The Hoosier cabinet is not perfect, but it is mine. I went from not liking it but feeling oblicated to keep it to absolutely loving it. It’s ridiculously functional as a craft cabinet. I can only imaging how functional it was as a kitchen station, and hope my Mawmaw, my Nonna, and my mom would approve of what I’ve done. I think they would…

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In case you missed the prep part of this Hoosier cabinet restoration, you can find that here: Hoosier Cabinet Restoration (Part 1: Prep)

For more in the series, click here: Heirloom Restoration or follow the corresponding board on Pinterest.

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