My Favorite Furniture Repurposing Hack
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Transform a cabinet of any type into a sideboard or decorative piece of furniture by adding legs or bun feet that you can buy at your local home improvement store.
So while I couldn’t paint yesterday I took on a fast and easy furniture makeover project that didn’t require any paint. Not quite a makeover, but I added store bought parts to transform an existing wall cabinet into a decorative piece of furniture.
If you have been reading my blog for a long time, you may remember my desk in my previous kitchen where I placed two random pieces of furniture together to create a desk.
The bottom sideboard was a hand-me-down from my grandmother. The top china cabinet was a hand-me-down from Ed’s grandparents. The two pieces lived happily like this for years until we moved and there wasn’t a place for them to be used in the same manner in the lake house.
I gave away quite a lot of furniture and other stuff when we moved, but knew I wanted to keep these two pieces and just had to think about other ways I could use each piece.
The sideboard sat un-used in our bedroom until I found a way to use it last spring. I did and it looks fabulous in its role as a powder room vanity now.
The china cabinet I was storing in my studioffice took me a little while longer to find a new use for. I gave that room a clean-out and makeover earlier this year and many of you gave me great suggestions on how I could use it in the room, but even though I loved the piece, it didn’t match the look and feel I was going for in my studioffice.
I did come up with a plan for it though and moved it upstairs to one of the guest rooms. To make it into a functional piece of furniture all I needed to do was add a simple 15 minute hack to it.
Remember how I used bun feet to transform these wood library files…
and also more recently the metal file drawers I bought back in the fall at Nest Fest?
Yesterday I added 4 bun feet to the china cabinet top to repurpose it into a place for my guests to place their smaller belongings (watches, jewelry, etc.) when they are staying with us.
I didn’t paint the feet white this time though. I stained them a light maple to match the color of the stripped bird’s eye maple china cabinet.
This cabinet used to be stained a dark maple and had a shiny coat of poly on it. I stripped it 4 years ago. You can read how I did that in this post: Furniture Finishing – Wood Stripping Basics
I bought the mirror at Kirkland’s. It was on sale for half price. Quite a deal I could not pass up. I have it leaning on the wall until I paint the walls in the room. Once that is done, I will hang it. I will eventually place baskets, books, magazines, maps and other stuff for my guests to use in the cabinet itself.
How to Add Bun Feet to Repurpose a Wall Cabinet into a Credenza or Sideboard
*affiliate links used
supplies needed:
- 4 Bun Feet or any screw-on style wood feet made for furniture. They cost the least at the Home Depot.
- 4 Straight Metal Top Plates – In the past I have used square plates, but could not find them and bought the triangular style. Now that I have used both, I prefer the triangular ones as they offer more support for the feet. Note: Make sure the plates are for straight applications. Some plates have angled screw holes for peg-leg style feet that when mounted will angle out from the base.
- Power Screwdriver
- Pencil and ruler
- Optional: Paint or Stain. For this cabinet I used Stain Conditioner and Colonial Maple Stain
- Stain or paint each foot and let dry.
- Figure out where to place the feet. If the furniture is going to be up against the wall, make sure the back feet are in line with the back of the cabinet. If they stick out beyond this, the cabinet will not be able to be flush with the wall.
- Use a ruler and pencil to mark the placement of each metal plate.
3. Use a power screwdriver to attach the plates to the bottom of the cabinet. Screw a foot into each plate.
All done! 
The top of the cabinet has never been seen before. The wood is not maple and is a different color. To make it look better, I applied a coat of White Wax to it and buffed it to a sheen. I may end up doing something different eventually, but for now I am happy that this cabinet has a new purpose in its long hand-me-down life. :-)
Those library files are probably my favorite thing I’ve pinned in the last 5 years. I have searched and searched for something similar. I always love your ideas, thank you for sharing.
As always and for a long time now you have inspired me again. I would like to know also where you get all of your energy. Beautiful and useful re-do.
Love this. Thank you for the inspiration. Elaine in Ireland
Thanks for the tips
Love the blog! My wife and I have been looking for some inspiration for our house, and found it!
Thanks for reading Christian
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Shame on you!!! How do you sleep at night let alone look at yourself in a mirror?? Does your family know what you are doing? For shame on you. What you put out in the world……..will come back to you.
Hi all!
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Can you put white wax on a darker wood? Such as walnut or mahogany?
Great idea. I definitely have to try it out sometime. It’s nice to read such posts. I will be visiting here more often. I would like to be such the home expert once day :)
Love it! If I could only have a small bit of your creative mind I would be happy!
Hi Gail – thanks…wish I could sew like you. :-)
I have a metal cabinet very similar to this. It is 30 drawer and just plain pulls. BTW, I’ve noticed moving ads lately on your blog lately. Any way to “X” out of these? It’s so distracting that I have to put my hand over the ad to read your blog. :(
Hi Deb – I was so happy to have found the metal file cabinet. It has helped me organize so many little items. Thanks for telling me about the ads. There should not be any moving ads at all on my site. Only ads in my sidebar and header. Can you tell me what kind of moving ads…like the ones that go across the page or pop-up on the screen? The more I know exactly what type of ad is showing up the better the ad company I work with can get it removed. Thanks for taking the time to tell me.
I love what you did, too! Before I read the entire piece, I thought you were going to turn it upside down so the drawers were near the top (just turning the drawers upside down in their slots would make that work.) Alas, since you already added the bun feet to the bottom it’s too late for that. Oh, well, it looks great anyway – guests will just have to bend to get to the drawers.
Hi Pat – I never thought about turning the whole cabinet upside down. I will have to keep that in mind for the next time I do something with the bun feet. :-)
Perfect timing! I have a cabinet that could use some bun feet, but couldn’t think of how to attach them – triangular plates! Thanks!
What a clever girl you are! I love this!
Hi Elaine – Thanks :-)
I love that you re-purpose things! Especially things family members have given you. It’s architectural a beautiful piece of furniture; one that you could easily hand down to your kids. Have a great week!
Ho Sophie – I really enjoy making something old new again or useful for my families needs. I like how the pieces add more character to our house, then buying everything brand new. My oldest just bought her first house and I will be handing down a few pieces to her soon.
I’d never have thunk it, to strip the finish from maple…my folks had a maple dining room set and they fussed over that maple finish, like it was wood from an exotic land. But this finish is really attractive and looks very clean and fresh.. sort of like Diane!
Hi Linda – You are so cute Linda. XO Maple was big back in the day. :-) I loved the stripped furniture look, but not the price tag, so I decided this piece was worthy of the time needed to strip the finish. It was a messy job, but once the finish was gone and the new patina underneath was exposed it was worth all the trouble.
Of course….it’s perfect! Curious to see if you add something to the top…or DIY something! Enjoy your day! ;)
Thanks Donnamae – Yesterday I was up in the room and noticed the color on the top lightened up a bit from when I took the photo. I liked it much better. I may add something to the top eventually though.
Oh I am so happy you found a way to re-use the ‘memory’ pieces, they both look wonderful, great job….x
Hi Janette – I like how you refer to the hand-me-downs as memory pieces. I like that term and am going to use it from now on. :-)
I love the cabinet and what you’ve done with it. The top needs some love and maybe something to cover it, like marble or a faux stone, but when this piece was created, who knew that a master DIYer would use it sitting on the floor??? I like the sanded look but it would also be striking in white or any other color.
Hi Pat – I am sure I will do something to the top eventually. I agree that it never crossed the furniture makers mind that someone would have it sitting on the floor. They would probably be appalled seeing it this way :-)
LOVE it, and I have an idea for the top of your cabinet. A piece of marble to fit would be nice. Or, Miz DIY Diane, you could faux marble that top and it would be amazing!
I really wish you would adopt me…..LOL
Hi Sharon – A piece of marble would look great and if I can find a piece of scrap marble big enough, it will be affordable too. Thanks for the idea.
Brilliant!!!! You always have awesome ideas!!
Thanks Kris – I enjoy the process of coming up with creative ways to use stuff. I joke that I can’t add 2 + 2, but it is true, my brain can’t handle it, but creative thinking…my brain is wired for this.
Love it, love it…thanks for sharing!
Wow! Simple and amazing diy!