French Country Cabinet Makeover
We’re sharing a quick and easy French Country Cabinet Makeover today and I would love your opinion!
I feel like our home is really close to being as finished as it can be given the layout and the pieces of furniture we currently have.
I mean, I don’t know if a home is ever really finished, you know?
Our home grows and changes just like we do.
But there comes a point where you stop looking at things through a purely decorative lens and start asking yourself if your home is truly serving your needs.
And that’s where I feel like we are right now.
In the fine-tuning stage.
Creating calm and inviting spaces in our home is a huge priority for us and part of that means keeping clutter (both physical and visual) to a minimum.
It’s a little harder than you might think in an open concept home though.
Especially, for someone who loves collections of books, ironstone, transferware, and vintage trophies as much as I do.
Still, I know it’s important to our overall wellbeing, and I’ve been looking for ways to bring a sense of calm by cutting as much visual clutter as possible in the most used spaces of our home.
So, as I work to organize those places like closets, cabinets, and drawers that go unseen to everyone but us, I’ve also been working to quiet those spaces we encounter daily like the coffee bar in the breakfast nook.
Truthfully, I LOVE our current coffee bar setup!
As you can tell from these pictures it’s really easy to dress up or down throughout the year.
But I’m also open to quick changes that offer a big impact.
And it doesn’t get any easier than creating curtain-like panels to cover up open cabinet spaces.
Here’s a look at all the details…
French Country Cabinet Makeover Supplies:
- Paint (we used Valspar’s Bistro White)
- Paintbrush
- Self-Healing Cutting Mat
- Drop Cloth
- Scissors
- Tape Measure
- Fray Away or Fray Check, optional
- Upholstery Stapler and Staples OR Upholstery Tacks and Hammer (you can decide which will work best for your project, we used tacks and a hammer)
- Handheld Steamer, optional
French Country Cabinet Makeover Steps:
Lay a tarp down to protect your work surfaces.
Then, paint your cabinet, if desired.
We painted the body of our cabinet in Valspar’s Bistro White which is a warm white and left the trim around the door in the original stain.
This is after one coat, so it still has a bit of a whitewashed look. We used two full coats of paint though.
While the paint was drying, we cut, measured, and prepped the drop cloth panels. Remember to use caution and care as scissors will be sharp!
Keep in mind, you’ll want to use a good quality drop cloth.
Also, unless you sew or hem the sides of the drop cloth, you’ll need to use a product like Fray Away or Fray Check to keep the edges from fraying.
Once your fabric has been cut and the sides have been hemmed or sealed, staple or tack the fabric onto the back of the cabinet door.
After the fabric is in place, use a handheld steamer to steam away any wrinkles. Again, you’ll want to use caution and care as steam will be hot and can burn.
While this French Country cabinet makeover looks exactly like I had envisioned, truthfully, I’m on the fence about leaving it this way or not.
It definitely calms the visual clutter in the breakfast nook area, which is what I wanted.
But there’s something that feels “off” about it now, you know?
Like it no longer looks or feels like a coffee bar…and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Let us know if you like this French Country cabinet makeover with or without the drop cloth curtains! Until next time, I’ll see you on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
Many blessings,
CoCo
The cabinet looks great painted but the curtain does seem to detract from the casual look of it. I prefer it without
Thank you so much for weighing in on this, Cyndi! I think the majority agrees wholeheartedly with you and I’m starting to feel the same way 🙂 Hope your week has been a good one, CoCo
Hello, this really does appear to be an easy option to change the look of the cabinet and your directions are clear.
But……personally, I like the uncovered doors. It doesn’t look cluttered to me and I like the accessibility to the items inside.
It’s always fun to see how you change up the decor.
I vote No curtains.
Keep up the good work, Coco.
Thank you so much, Jo, I really appreciate your thoughts on this. It definitely helps to make the decision-making process a lot easier. I hope your week has been a fun one, CoCo
Ditch the fabric. I really like it when you can see what’s inside. Also, you really have to tell people to be careful with scissors?
Thank you so much for your advice, Sarah! It definitely helps to see what’s inside. Especially, when we’re running low on certain items and need to reorder. Hope your day has been a blessed one, CoCo
I know what you mean about visual clutter. I am lucky enough to be able to work from home permanently now and since I am home so much more of the time I SEE all the pretties that I love and I thought the same thing.
I loved your coffee bar look without the panel curtains – you see it more so you probably felt like it was closing in but it was neat and organized and visually appealing to me. Just my thoughts. I love reading your posts and seeing how you update your home.
Traci
Thank you for your sweet and kind words, Traci, I really appreciate it. Before we started working from home nearly every day, all the collections and vignettes around the house felt like a curation of our favorite things. They still are but I’m definitely starting to look at them differently now and trying my best to streamline it all. Maybe I should just start with my drawers first 😉 I hope your weekend is a blessed one and your week has been a happy one, CoCo
For me, it’s the cabinet itself is too busy: 3 colours of paint finishes, chicken wire, black handles. looking through to multiple items on the shelves. There’s so much going on with the cabinet, my eyes are not focussing on the lovely arrangement above it. Even if there was nothing on top, again for me it’s just way too busy.
So much to unpack here, Veronica, thank you for weighing in. I really appreciate it, CoCo
This is a lovely idea, CoCo! I like that it can be used or removed depending on your seasonal look! I had to skirt our coffee bar simply to hide storage, but yours looks good either way!
Thank you, Linda! I never thought about using them seasonally, that’s a great idea. I hope you guys are having so much fun at the lake. I know the littles are going to be so bummed when school starts back! Big hugs, CoCo
I have a cabinet with torn screens and need to do this. I love chicken wire anything so I’ll have to add that too. Great job! pinned
Thank you, Cindy! I love chicken wire too. It’s super simple but it also has sort of a timeless elegance too. Can’t wait to see how your cabinet comes together. Hugs, CoCo
I like the cabinet without the curtains….!
Thank you so much for your help on this, Debbie, I really appreciate it! Hope you’ve had a great week, CoCo
I prefer it without the drop cloth panels. If you want to curtain the doors, maybe a dark colored cloth that would still allow the chicken wire to show more? Love the textural interest…but your decor in the cabinet is so cute I still vote WITHOUT.
And love the color update! Great choice.
Thank you bunches for your help, Susan, and for giving me some extra things to think about too! Most everyone like it best without the curtains and after living with them for a bit, I’m starting to feel the same way 🙂 Hope you have a great week, CoCo
Me personally, I like it without the coverings. It makes the space look lived in and loved. I understand where you are coming from but this area I feel should be kept real. You live in your home and you use this space.
Why cover it up when you can add a mix of pretty utilitarian too.
Your home my friend your decision.
Such great points and advice, Cindy, thank you so much. It really helps! Sending you lots of hugs, CoCo
CoCo,
I usually don’t like to comment about what to do in other people’s homes but since you are asking, I prefer it without the curtain…..Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind words!!
Hugs,
Debbie
Thanks so much for letting me know, Debbie! I really appreciate it. Hope your weekend is tons of fun, CoCo
Cute cabinet! I completely get what you mean by visual clutter. My mind shuts down with too much to look at. As for the dropcloth curtain – the thought behind it is so smart. But I agree with you – something is off. Maybe it’s the color of the dropcloth? Maybe it could be bleached to lighten it a bit? Maybe adding gathers to it would help to create interest? Just thought I would throw out some additional ideas! Thanks for including your readers by asking1
These are all such great ideas, Cindy, thank you so much for sharing them. They really help! Almost everyone (including those who weighed in via social media) voted no curtains which was really nteresting. I thought it might be 50/50 but people were passionate with their responses which I always appreciate. Hope your week has been a fun one so far, CoCo
I love this cabinet, CoCo… always have. I vote “no” on the covering. I like seeing your decor inside the doors! 🙂 I so excited to be able to feature you this week at Tuesday Turn About! Pinned!
So sweet of you to feature this cabinet, Julie, and weigh in too! I was totally blown away by all the responses. Hope your week has been a fun one. Hugs and thank yous, CoCo
I really love this makeover CoCo! I especially love how you decorated it and are using it as a coffee bar. Perfection! Thanks for sharing it with us at Farmhouse Friday – we’re featuring you at tomorrow’s party!
Thank you so much, Michelle, I really appreciate the shout-out and sweet feature! It’s a super easy change and budget-friendly too which is always nice. Hope your week is a special one, CoCo
I absolutely LOVE it with the fabric under the chicken wire. It’s true that it doesn’t look like a coffee station with the doors covered, but for some it will look less cluttered. As for me, I’m all for clutter–LOL–but I really prefer the look, and it will keep the items on the shelf cleaner.
Why not use the fabric during the hot months–less clutter makes it seem cooler, IMO, and then remove it during the cold months when it can be both a coffee AND hot cocoa station?
I agree that the look seems to be “needing” something though, when the fabric is in the doors, although I’m not sure what. Maybe try painting the doors the same white as the cabinet body, or a different shade of white, and then distress both of them? Or paint them a different color, or use stain on them, or perhaps just use a white wax on them?
If you got crazy and tried ALL of these ideas, I’d sure like to see each one. Then we could vote. 😉
These are all such great ideas, Stephanie! Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it. Hope your week has been a good one. I can’t believe how fast this week has flown by, CoCo