I've had this vintage gun cabinet forever. I think I got it way back in 2012. I found it at a garage sale and it was just $6.00 😮

I remember I was with my mom and she questioned my sanity at the time, haha! (Not the first time I'm sure!)

But I had a vision of making it into a small curio cabinet. I did just that and have loved it ever since. It has spent time holding my knick-knacks and tchotchkes in my bedroom, the dining room, and most recently, the laundry room.

My style back then was more farmhouse although, I don't think "farmhouse style" was really a thing yet back then. My style has evolved now into what I just call eclectic. It's a little bit farmhouse, a little bit boho, and a little bit of everything else!

Many of you know that my boyfriend and I purchased a fixer-upper house back in December and we've been in the process of cleaning out both of our previous houses and combining our things. This gun cabinet made the cut but I wanted to give it another makeover to fit our style.

Upcycled Gun Cabinet

I apologize for the bad pictures ahead, these are screenshots from the video.

I used Satin Black by Behr to paint the entire cabinet except for the drawer and door fronts.

Then I sanded the grey paint off the door and drawer. I paid special attention to the edges when I was sanding. I wanted a more worn, rounded look to the door... like it's been around for a hundred years.

I love the variations in wood tone. I could have probably kept sanding to get it all the same but I decided not to.

I opted to spray paint the old hinges black rather than trying to find something new that would work.

Once I had given the whole thing two coats of paint, I reassembled it.

Here is the gun cabinet's second makeover! I found the black iron cup pulls for the drawer at Hobby Lobby.

I did not do anything else to the raw wood. I will probably use some salve of some sort to protect it but I don't want to change the color of the wood so I haven't done anything yet.

Now comes the most fun part... decorating it!

Everything in it and on top was thrifted except for the concrete heart in the hand. You can see that DIY project here: DIY Faux Concrete Hearts.

When I shared the sneak peek on my Facebook page someone mentioned that it could be used for quilt storage. I love that idea but I only have one quilt and the shelves are very narrow so it would be hard to fold it to fit. The narrow shelves are also why I chose not to put books inside.

I think this goes to show that if you love a certain furniture piece you can always make it work in your decor. This would be cute with some fun peel and stick wallpaper in the back too!

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