UFO No More...

At long last my UFO (UnFinished Overhead cabinet) project is completed, hallelujah, pour the champagne! John and I are both quite happy with the results. Our UFO is now officially a coffee table.

photo below - No this isn't the finished piece ! This is what it started out as. Note the UFO scrawled on the cabinet's side? Never fully understood just what it meant, perhaps Upper Fridge Overhead cabinet ?



Some of you may recall the initial project; an overhead wall cabinet that had been salvaged from a kitchen remodeling job. Of the 6 sides, only 2 were finished, the front with its 2 doors and the bottom, with a plain white melamine finish.

photo below shows unit after 4 sides were covered with a plywood skin. The original doors are attractive but very Red Oak with its heavy pronounced grain.



I've taken a number of photos along the way and am posting a few recaps of the procedure so any interested party can get up to speed on what has been accomplished.

Photo below - We chose chubby apple feet to support the cabinet off the floor.



Photo below - Gee they look pretty good on the soon-to-be coffee table.


below - Feet in place. Now measuring the top plywood skin.



below - Painting begins.


below - One of the faux finishes being applied.


below - Oops or "Oh S_ _ t!" 2nd faux finish was a disaster. Top looks like it has some type of contagious disease. Not pretty. No, not pretty at all. The funny thing is it actually looks better in the photo than in reality !

below - What to do ? How about peel-and-stick, slate look vinyl floor tiles ?


below - I'm pleased with the faux finish on the doors.




below - Just one small piece to cut and stick, then the top will be complete.


below - Yea it's down! Now to put the doors back on...where did we put those hinges ?



below - Uh, honey, do you remember how these things went on ?

below - Hinges on and doors in place.


Below - Simple black knobs, like that little black dress...a classic.


Below - Complete...completo...finished...finito...done...terminado !

below - And lots of storage room for stuff !

Now that the project is complete we've been able to put the saw horses, tools, paint cans, brushes, sand paper etc. back in the garage where they belong.

Ciao Bello Italo, one of Italy's 349 most handsome men. We have a garage that you could help us clean up...maybe a small lizard or two but no mice.

Jenn of Random Lunacy - should have taken your advice regarding the faux finish, instead I tried what Valspar's representative suggested. What a mess ! John brought out the electric sander and sanded the top for me, to be honest it looked much better once it was sanded smooth but it still was not the look I was striving for. Somehow I didn't envision a coffee table with acute eczema. Oh well that disease has now been cured.

In One Word....YUCK !

Photo above : UFO-coffee table-to-be is getting its base coat of latex paint. Unfortunately I used eggshell finish instead of satin finish. Now I know there is a difference and that difference, well it really makes a difference.

Does anybody know of a Voodoo witchdoctor that can remove a curse ? Not sure when it happened but suddenly I realized that everything I do turns out wrong. Now if this was just something that began recently I would tend to let it slide, but this has been plaguing me for awhile...oh like the past ten years or so.

At this stage I'm truly contemplating a curse removal or ritual cleansing. Have someone adept at the mumbo jumbo arts, rattle some snake fangs and dog's teeth over my head, blow smoke in my face and chase the bugaboos right out of my life.

above photo: base coat down on sides and have streaked a glaze to resemble a wood grain, of sorts, kind of, maybe, perhaps !
Photo below: more of the same but pretty blue tape has been removed.

Have been fighting with the faux finish that I wanted to put on the top of my coffee table project(aka UFO). When I first applied the crackle finish nothing happened. Twenty-four hours later it still hadn't crackled so I emailed Valspar paints to find out what to do. Seems I used the wrong paint finish, bought eggshell and should have purchased satin paint. Valspar said to go ahead and lightly sand the glaze and then apply a coat of latex satin paint and once dry go ahead with the glazing technique. Wasn't exactly what I wanted to do for the next couple of days but, okay I'd give it shot...after all it's only time.

Well, I won't go into long drawn out details, just suffice it to say I followed their recommendation but didn't get the results I had envisioned. In a nutshell...it's a mess. John, my hubby, was being very diplomatic. "Ah, yes, it's cracking this time. That's good." But once I had rubbed the darker glaze into the crackled surface I told John; "I'm not loving it !"
Photo above: the type of crackle I had anticipated and desired.

Photo below: Uneven crackling, some very tiny.


Photo below: Don't worry it's not contagious ! This is not at all the look I was striving for.
The pattern of the crackling is very sporadic, and I made every effort to apply it evenly and thickly. At this moment it looks more like it is suffering from a bad case of mange than sporting a fine faux finish.
Guess I'll go ahead and apply the clear protector coat and then go look for some nice ceramic tiles to cover the top with !

UFO...Hadn't A Leg To Stand On

When I first envisioned the conversion of the UFO cabinet (Upper 'frigerator Overhead cabinets ?) into a coffee or cocktail table, I pictured it with chunky bun feet. John and I were able to locate some bun feet but at $25 each (not including shipping and handling charges) it seemed rather pricey. Fortunately John found a website that had simple "apple" feet at $5 each (again not including S&H charges) Well that was certainly a no brainer, $25 plus S&H for just one foot or four feet for $20 plus S&H. Hard decision to make ? Not really !


above photos: deciding on the placement.
below : all four feet installed...looking good !

Yes! At last progress is being made and the strange UFO in our home is starting to look more and more like a piece of furniture...or at least more like something one would find in front of the family room sofa.

above photo shows the ample storage room, a perfect retreat for all my clutter !

The next phase will be to cover the white melamine top with a sheet of thin plywood. Hope John studies that Adhesive Technology manual. Ah well, at lest we can no longer say that our UFO hasn't a leg to stand on. ; )