Making a display cabinet

Sometimes Wednesdays are great.




Wednesday is garbage day in our neighborhood. This morning, taking my daughter to the bus stop at 5:30, I spotted this in someone's garbage heap:



In the morning darkness I thought I had found a total treasure...



however, morning light revealed this dresser was made mostly of particle board and cardboard - far less than what I thought I had found. But still, this could be something!


The drawers were useless. I couldn't even squeeze or shove them into place. Under the drawers was... cardboard!!



So, I removed the cardboard,




Removed the center braces...




and started to disassemble the drawers.






Next, I removed two of the exterior drawer braces.





Then I cut the dove tail drawer sides to lengths that would work as a shelf surface once they are lined up together. The dove tail details give the shelf edge a nice dentil molding feel.



I saved the hardware - you never know...





And, I looked over to our new air compressor in hopes to use the pneumatic nailer. But I opened the box and was overwhelmed. I'll have to read the directions before I attempt that!! It would have been perfect for this job since I didn't want to pound away at the delicate braces to attach the shelf planks.




But, that's what I ended up doing and it worked just fine.




And then it was finished. A very rough cottage looking piece - perfect!


I added a couple coats of paint from a very old can I had. I wanted a nice and thick vintage cottage coat.






I am really happy with how this turned out. It will make a perfect display shelf to use at the Mercantile Mall where I sell my vintage finds, antiques and painted furniture! I can't wait to fill it up.