So this is what I’m working with.  A sweet, out-dated built-in with glass shelves and all.  Our home is overwhelmed with wood tones.  We have natural wood everywhere. From the hardwood floors, to the trim, to the doors, the banister, the cabinets, you name it, it’s wood.  Yup, we even had blue carpeting running up the steps when we first moved in. So I took one look at this big monster and knew it needed paint. 

So I was not a fan of built-ins in general and knew that I wanted this to look more like a piece of furniture and less like an 80’s storage space.  The bottom of it is part of our baseboard so I figured that if I painted all the way down to the floor, it would appear to be more like a piece of furniture and less like a built-in. I knew in needed to choose a color that would tie in well with our home and also complement the maple floors.  I also wanted this to have a Coastal/Farmhouse vibe and decided that I would paint the outside in Fusion Mineral Paint Ash and the interior in Raw Silk.  

Raw Silk is a warm old white with barely a hint of yellow and just a touch of grey. I felt like this was the perfect choice to compliment the Ash and also work well with my decor that I would place inside. 

So to start the project off, I first removed all of the doors.  I also removed the glass inserts from the upper cabinet doors so painting would be easier.  Now the way these doors are hung, they can only go back on one way so it was easy to know which door belonged where for when it came time to re-hang them.  I highly suggest if you are working on a large project to label all of your doors so you know where they go when it’s time to put them back up.

After the doors were remove, I cleaned the entire cabinet with TSP.  I then scuff sanded with a 250 grit sanding sponge. I just wanted to scratch up the existing poly a little to give the paint some more surface “tooth” to adhere to.  After sanding, I cleaned one more time with TSP. I then allowed the surface to dry for 15 minutes. You want to let your cleaning moisture evaporate as Fusion Mineral Paint already has the perfect amount of water in it.  

Once the surface was dry, I used the Fusion Roller and tray kit to roll on the interior of the cabinet in Raw Silk.  I did all of the edging with the Staalmeester Pointed Sash brush. This brush is perfect for getting into corners and makes edging a breeze.  I ended up doing 3 thin coats of Raw Silk to get my desired coverage. I even had my husband help out in the process. Fusion is so user friendly that you don’t need to be an experienced painter to achieve a great finish.

So the exterior frame of the cabinet is not very wide in places so I used the Staalmeester Pointed Sash to paint all of that.  I found using a brush easier then trying to roll it.  I applied two thin coats of Ash for solid opaque coverage on the exterior of the built-in. 

Now for the doors of the cabinet, I decided I wanted to finally try out my new HomeRight Super Finish Max Sprayer.  I had purchased it months ago and it was still in the box. I had heard that Fusion sprays beautifully with is so I was ready to give it a try.

It created the most amazing, smooth finish!!!  I did not dilute the paint at all and just poured it in and sprayed.  I’ll write up an entire different post on spraying Fusion later.  I sprayed 3 thin coats of the Ash and achieved the coverage I was looking for.  I allowed the paint to dry 2 hours between coats.  After the doors were dry, we re-installed them.  I was originally thinking of adding hardware to the cabinet, but loved the look once the doors were placed back on.  

After placing some of our home decor inside of it, I realized that this once dreaded dated built-in is now my favorite part of our living room.  It holds items that have meaning to our family and it was the perfect way to update the space.  We even added these cute pendant lights to our already existing can lighting to make the space even more visually interesting.  

So what do you guys think?  I hope you found this info helpful and inspiring.  I don’t think I’ll look at “built-ins” the same way anymore.  Just think of all the possibilities. 

As always, Happy painting! 

-Denell