Moving In : Part 14 - Cabinet makeover

I know. I know. We have moved into this new house last year. But, still, I have not blog about everything yet. 

This is an old cabinet in my late grandparent's house. My grandfather used to keep his book collection here. When we moved in, my dad brought home all the books and left me with the cabinet. Since it is in a good shape and I love the size and the height, I decided to keep it. (Actually I keep it because of sentimental value. I remind me of my grandparent everytime I look at it).

First and foremost, I took out the doors. Then, I painted it WHITE. I love white furniture, remember? But I only painted the external part white. I left the internal part brown because I love the faux timber laminate.

While waiting for the paint to dry, I pasted leftover gift-wrap so the interior will appear brighter. Usually people will use wallpaper for this kind of project but since the space it quite small, gift-wrap is enough. I love the fact that the pattern is similar to our plates'. Plus, I hate dark cabinet.

After finished with the paper, the paint is still wet and we decided to go to IKEA. We need to buy some stuff. (Bear in mind, this event took place 2 months after we moved in). I bought some fabrics. It took me 30 minutes to cut and sew a new runner for our newly-painted cabinet.

Voila.

I put my cooking books on the shelves. I always wanted to keep my cooking books in the kitchen. 

I did not took any photos when we first put our stuff in there. When it was super-neat. This photo is the recent one, during Raya 2012. This is how it looks like with kuih raya container and various types of tissues. 

I usually store my baking ingredients and electrical appliances (toaster, blender, mixer, rice cookers, coffee maker, juicer) in this cabinet. I like the fact that they are reachable and it is an open cabinet. It is also the best place to store my honey collection.

I decided not to put it against the wall. We use it as an island in the kitchen and as the space divider. Sometimes, it is a working counter top. Sometimes, it just a place where we put our plates and glasses. And snacks.

Did you see Nazreen behind the cabinet?

This is what I like about the cabinet. I re-purpose it the way the front part is used for storage and the rear part belongs to the kids. It is their doodling and playing area. Whenever I am in the kitchen, they will also be there to accompany me. I didnt have to worry about them while I am preparing food. I just love creating multipurpose space and incorporating kids' area into any space!

There are glasses on top of the cabinet. They never break any of those, after one year utilising the space. They have been trained to be very careful in that area. Dont worry.

More on our MOVING IN Adventures! Click here.