A vintage refrigerator cabinet....
Can you believe that this old refrigerator cabinet, currently residing in our barn, is the backside of....
this cabinet? Our sort of entertainment, tchotchke holder, and bookshelf? Found at our local salvage store for just over $100.
Believe it or not, it started out as a 8 foot long, vintage refrigerator/freezer cabinet... yes look at the first picture again. Those doors are heavy duty cooler doors made of fir, that side was the "behind the counter side". The half that came into the house was the "public" side of the cabinet... all finished in quartersawn oak. Originally there were 3 compartments that the cooling was regulated by panels that slid up and down... right where the vertical pieces are below. My husband cut it in half, lengthwise with his skill saw. We were quite surprised to find that the cabinet sides and back are very thick... and filled with a cork like material. I guess that helped it stay cool.
He added a new back of tongue and groove boards, as well as shelves. Although the front glass is original old wavy glass, we did have to add new glass on the top; and from eBay, a couple of new pieces of quartersawn oak to finish the top back edge. There was a lot of sanding involved since someone had started to paint one end... I'm not a great sander but my husband is. He did it by hand... yep, no power tools were involved in the sanding.
A coat of stain, a few coats of paint on the inside....
And we have a beautiful, large piece for our living room. Big enough to make that TV not look like it's floating in the middle of the wall. Plus we now have a one of a kind piece and we spent less than $150 on the whole project.
this cabinet? Our sort of entertainment, tchotchke holder, and bookshelf? Found at our local salvage store for just over $100.
Believe it or not, it started out as a 8 foot long, vintage refrigerator/freezer cabinet... yes look at the first picture again. Those doors are heavy duty cooler doors made of fir, that side was the "behind the counter side". The half that came into the house was the "public" side of the cabinet... all finished in quartersawn oak. Originally there were 3 compartments that the cooling was regulated by panels that slid up and down... right where the vertical pieces are below. My husband cut it in half, lengthwise with his skill saw. We were quite surprised to find that the cabinet sides and back are very thick... and filled with a cork like material. I guess that helped it stay cool.
He added a new back of tongue and groove boards, as well as shelves. Although the front glass is original old wavy glass, we did have to add new glass on the top; and from eBay, a couple of new pieces of quartersawn oak to finish the top back edge. There was a lot of sanding involved since someone had started to paint one end... I'm not a great sander but my husband is. He did it by hand... yep, no power tools were involved in the sanding.
A coat of stain, a few coats of paint on the inside....
And we have a beautiful, large piece for our living room. Big enough to make that TV not look like it's floating in the middle of the wall. Plus we now have a one of a kind piece and we spent less than $150 on the whole project.
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It's fabulous! With the price of a good piece of furniture these days, and most of them made out of junk, it's a wonderful thing to re-use REAL wood. Happy for you!
ReplyDeleteDI
I love recreating something out of something old. it is so fun and your piece is so nice...
ReplyDeleteI love it and such a cool story!
ReplyDeleteIt looks great..it's wonderful to reuse old things in a new way!!!
ReplyDeleteTotally awesome!
Chris :o)
This looks great Chris...you always have such a vision of "what could be".
ReplyDeleteHeading to the farm chicks this weekend. Are you going?
Wow, that is a real transformation!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite kind of project! It looks so good, Chris! And you can't beat the price. Great work!
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