Hoosier cabinet restore

I tried to restore my husband’s grandmother’s Hoosier cabinet. I actually need more paint! This used up a quart and I would still like to give the interior cabinets a second coat. I’m going to post photos, of before.... during the process, and today. This took me several hours a day for about a week and a half. I stripped using a heat gun, electric palm sander, scrappers and a big pocket knife. Btw, the pocket knife was a huge help! I washed and lightly sanded the porcelain top.

This hardware is original. Although, at some point his grandmother must have replaced the hinges on the bottom door. The door pulls are original and were cleaned and I applied a fresh coat of red paint. The hinges were a booger to clean. I simmered and scrubbed them with brillo pads and then oiled them. Please know, that the inside of the doors only have one coat of paint. Thus, the reason I have to order more paint. I replaced the outside screws on the hinges but not the inside screws. I had to order replacement wheels off of Amazon. They are wooden. Only one of the originals wheels was whole, one was broken in half and two wheels were completely missing!

Hopefully, these will post in order! ????

Starting with the before... during... ending with the after shots.

I painted it with 2 coats of colosseum using their sponge applicator and stippled with them. The sponges actually ripped up on me! ???? I had bought some off of Amazon when I did my bathroom cabinets that are washable and still going strong.

This was a great color for the cabinet. I will have to say when the paint arrived it looked light gray not white! But after a good stir it turned to this gorgeous white. This will be the color I use when I paint my kitchen cabinets.

****This is what I wrote on my Facebook page when I decided to restore the cabinet. This gives a little of the cabinet’s history!****

I decided to restore Mark’s paternal grandmother’s Hoosier cabinet. I have no idea how many times it’s been painted over the years.

When we were in seminary, Mark’s dad had stuck it in an old barn and was storing paint cans and other tools in it. Termites were eating it. So, Mark asked if he could have it.

Anyway, after Charlotte, Mark’s mom, had contacted his siblings to see if they wanted it (and no one did), Mark was allowed to get it out of the barn and he and his dad took the thing apart and tied a section of it to our luggage rack and we carried up to Louisville where Mark was attending seminary.

When Mark was in high school, he stayed with his grandmother at night. Every morning, she’d get up and make him biscuits on it. I’ve heard many stories over the years of those evenings and nights at the big old white house with his beloved Mama. But, back to the cabinet.

The first thing we had to do was treat it for the termites. After we were convinced they were dead and gone we cleaned and sanded on it and finally Mark painted it a dark green. Charlotte had painted the red trim on the table top black and I spent hours upon hours on it and finally scraped off the black paint.

Over the years, it has changed colors at our various homes. But, recently I’ve been eyeing the piece and decided to try and restore it back to what it looked like in the early 1900s when his grandmother set up housekeeping with it.

Hopefully when it’s done, my sweet husband will be reminded of the love he felt from his grandmother when he looks at it. And, maybe smell her biscuits