Never underestimate the potential of a thrifty purchase. Estate sale fanatics… you know what I’m talking about! I was at a garage sale checking out this old curio when the lady selling it ran over and said “Let’s wheel and deal… if you buy this I will run it out to your car right now!” After a little negotiation on price I decided to take it home, and sure enough her and her son expedited it right out to my car! I was so excited to get this piece home because like many of you, I love renovating furniture! And seeing the beauty and potential that it could be is all part of that journey. Take a look at how I did a DIY chalky finish curio cabinet.
How to Get a DIY Chalky Finish Curio Cabinet
Step 1: The back has a mirror and there was glass on all sides of this piece, as well as glass shelves. So, my first step was to remove all the glass out.
Step 2: I sanded this piece just a little bit to make sure it was smooth and to sand out any dings. However, the paint I used, much like chalk paint, can paint over just about anything without sanding.
Step 3: I painted the frame with DecoArts Chalky Finish Paint. I wanted this piece to be a soft blue so I mixed:
4oz of Escape (blue)
10oz of Yesteryear (grey)
4oz of Everlasting (white)
You can see all the colors here
Here is the coverage after 1 coat. It stuck really great! I only had to paint this piece with 2 coats of paint!
Step 4: After I painted the frame I cut out panels of bead board to fit in where the glass and the mirrors used to be! I painted those with 2 coats of the blue paint as well. Once the blue paint had dried I used Everlasting (white) to dry brush the entire piece. I love the texture dry brushing gives to a piece! You can see my dry brushing tutorial here.
I also found this pretty appliqué to add to the front door.
Step 5: After all of the paint was dry I sealed this piece with a water-based clear coat. Once the top coat had dried I applied the glaze to all the cracks. I like to glaze after I top coat something as it allows me to have more working time with my glaze.
And here she is, all dolled up! I love taking furniture and turning it into something that is so much more user friendly. This looks completed updated as well as providing more storage that wasn’t there before with all the glass shelves.
You can see my complete video tutorial on how I converted another curio here:
There you have our DIY chalky finish curio cabinet! I couldn’t be more happy with how cute this piece is. It really shows that you can find some amazing, good quality furniture at garage sales and the like. You can see my other curio cabinet make over here.

Brooke
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Rustic Maple Elizabeth
August 4, 2015 at 11:26 pmThat is a great makeover! I have seen those cabinets on our online classifieds but your idea to use beadboard is awesome. A pretty colour too.
Joanne
August 5, 2015 at 1:53 pmThis is one of the prettiest makeovers! My beach house master bedroom is white with a touch of blue, and I'm dreaming of how pretty this would look in it. Thanks so much for sharing.
Marie @ The Interior Frugalista
August 5, 2015 at 8:50 pmWow Brooke, this looks fabulous!! Love the color, the beadboard instead of glass, and it's vintage farmhouse appeal. I wonder what the former owner would say now?
Patricia Kocsis
August 6, 2015 at 12:40 pmGreat transformation! I usually pass by the glass curios, but now they are on my "must have" list! Thanks for the inspiration.
Kammy Wielenga
August 11, 2015 at 2:12 amSince I'm in love with everything you do, it should come as no surprise that I'm featuring this on Trash 2 Treasure tonight. 🙂
http://www.kammyskorner.com
im1cher
November 2, 2015 at 4:51 pmLove this makeover! Removing the mirror without bringing on seven years bad luck, lol, (broken mirrors) would be scary! 😉
Made In a Day
January 13, 2016 at 11:09 pmThis is so clever I love it! Such a b=pretty blue too! Stopping by from Blogtalk
Kim
Randi G @frugelegance.com
January 14, 2016 at 4:09 amWhat a stunning transformation! Great job!
Rebecca
April 14, 2016 at 4:25 pmLove the transformation. How was the bead board attached? How did you remove the glass?
Sharon Tabor
July 31, 2016 at 2:30 pmLove what you did with it & adore the pretty BLUE ! I’m going to try & find one at a yard SALE & see what I can do ! Thanks for the inspiration !!!
Margo
September 12, 2016 at 2:34 pmBeautiful piece of furniture & an ingenious transformation! Love the color & the piece!
kroos
November 23, 2017 at 12:58 pmThis will be amazing Love to read this page