Faux Apothecary Cabinet – Pottery Barn Inspired Furniture Makeover

Hi friends, today is Themed Furniture Makeover Day again!  This month’s theme is Pottery Barn Inspired and my project is a faux apothecary cabinet makeover.  (See all the previous TFMD themes HERE.)

Here’s my inspiration piece – the Andover Cabinet.  The top row has 4 drawers but the rest is actually two doors with faux panels made to look like an apothecary cabinet.  This normally sells for $799 but is on special right now for $639.  (See it on the Pottery Barn website HERE.)

And here’s the cabinet I bought a couple weeks ago.  I think it used to be used for record storage.  I almost didn’t buy it because it was kind of large and bulky, but at $10 it was hard to pass up.

This post contains some affiliate links so you can easily find the products I use and recommend. Discover all my favorite brands and tools for doing DIY makeovers Here.  Learn all my best advice for how to prep furniture to paint Here and learn how to Chalk Paint furniture Here.

The inside had been gutted… a complete blank slate.

First I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite (this is the first coat… I know it looks awful here LOL), and used one of my favorite paint brushes.

Then I had a shelf cut at the hardware store.  It ended up being about a half inch too long so I had to cut it again myself.  Boo.

The shelf rested on some braces that were already on both sides, and I hammered some nails around the sides to secure the shelf in place.

Looking better…

How to Make a Faux Apothecary Cabinet

For the faux panels I bought some basswood at Hobby Lobby (you can find similar wood at home improvement stores).  I knew I wanted my panels to be 4×4, so I bought four of these pieces and marked every 4 inches.

I cut the basswood with my miter box and saw.  It’s an inexpensive (less than $15) option and perfect for smaller projects when power tools aren’t the best choice, like when you’re working indoors or in a small space.  Not a fun job, but worth it in the end!

I also found these unfinished wood pulls at Hobby Lobby – if I had bought similar “real” pulls from a hardware store, they would’ve cost me $1 each and then I would’ve had to measure and drill 20 holes for all the pulls. Here are similar wood pulls online.

I glued the panels and knobs on with E6000 – it’s the best industrial strength super glue and always works really well.  Let the glue dry for at least 24 hours.

I added more Graphite and then protected it with both clear and dark wax by Annie Sloan (the dark wax will make the Graphite paint look more like a true black).

And here’s the final look…

I left it with kind of an unfinished, distressed look.

I’m really pleased with how it turned out… it might be hard to let it go, but I’m taking it to my booth probably next week. (Update: I decided to keep this awesome faux apothecary cabinet makeover!)

Here’s a Pinterest-friendly before and after:

Let me know what you think of this faux apothecary cabinet makeover!  I’d love for you to Pin or share this project with a friend. Then go visit my friends’ awesome Pottery Barn inspired makeovers below.  🙂

Jen

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