Yes, I'm a Roadside Picker...

In my last post where I showed you guys our kids' art space in our new basement, I mentioned that I picked up the cabinet on the side of the road. I admit it, I'm a roadside picker. If I see something clean and awesome on the side of the road, it's probably going to come home with me. In this case, renters in our old neighborhood had moved and left a ton of stuff behind. The owners of the property threw it all to the curb and I mosied on down and drug it back up to my house! I definitely have rules when I'm roadside picking:

1. It can't be in a pile of actual trash-it has to be clean enough to put in the car with my kids
2. No fabric of any kind. Hard surfaces ONLY.
3. It has to be something that I'm going to use right away. We don't have the space to store roadside junk that may or may not ever get used.

With that being said, I knew immediately what I would use that cabinet for. Which was to store art supplies for the babies. 

This is what it looked like before I painted it. (I had already taken the drawers out and sprayed them before I remembered to take photos)

The main issue with it is that it was dirty. I cleaned it up and then I used a green brillo-type sponge to rough it up and prep it for painting. I don't like to sand and I use every means possible to avoid it. Luckily, with spray paint, there's really not much need for sanding. 

The top was the worst part and yes, you can see the texture through the new paint. BUT since it was just a cabinet for the kids and I knew I'd end up putting something on top of it, I moved ahead. Another option if you were too concerned would be to Modpodge fabric on top, or even spray glue decorative paper. 

This is the spray paint I used. Rust-oleum's 2x Ultra Cover in Ocean Mist.

I applied two light coats to the entire cabinet and then I went through and touched everything up before letting it dry for several hours.

After it was dry, I put it all back together and moved it on downstairs. Down the road, I may paint the sides of the drawers a fun color and maybe put some drawer liners in, but for now, it's serving it's purpose just fine. 

Please don't tell me I'm the only one who picks up perfectly good furniture off of the side of the road?! I saved it from going to a landfill, so I basically saved the planet, saved money in my pocket AND provided a beautiful and functional piece of furniture for my children. Win, win, win! 

You can click here to see the full art space tour with before and after photos.