My "Collaged" Cabinets: How I did it because you might want to do it, too! ;o)

When Hubby and I first moved into our late 50s-early 60s vintage, single-wide trailer (excuuu-uuse ME -- I mean "mobile home") up here in the "wild hinterlands" of Cloverdale in Northern California, it was in pretty rough shape... No one had lived in it for about 4 years and, besides needing a good scrubbing, there were several cosmetic (and MORE than simply cosmetic) "issues" we had to work on before we could live here...

This was the deal we had with the landlord before we moved in:

EXTREMELY cheap rent for a living space in the country in exchange for him not having to do any repair work to it at all...

Fortunately Hubby and I are both "handy" types so that wasn't a disqualifying proviso by any means...

We had to do such things as take out a wall in order to get our washer and dryer in, replace the kitchen linoleum, wire it with 220 for the clothes dryer and arrange for the local propane company to bring out a tank and hook up the gas among other things...

Both the kitchen and the bathroom were extremely dingy and drab and the kitchen cabinets were painted this perfectly HORRIBLE color that was kind of a mix of yellow, green, orange and brown that reminded me very much of the same kind of colors I used to see in my daughter's diapers when she was a baby -- BLEHCK! I wanted to brighten them up and, since we'd been given "free-reign" by the landlord to do pretty much anything we wanted as far as fixing up the place went, I decided to put collages on each of the upper cabinet doors!

(Believe it or not, I've actually been PAID to do this in friends' kitchens before!)

So, the first thing I did was to clean and scrub all of the cabinets down -- especially the doors -- and remove all the hardware...

Then, I painted  all of the bottom cabinets (and all the "edges" of the top cupboards) with about 4 coats of good quality, semi-gloss paint in a kind of "parchment-y white" color  -- allowing each coat to dry very well in-between -- to bring some more "light" into the kitchen!

After that, I got out the HUGE, covered, plastic storage tub that I keep all of my collage material (pictures) in that I've saved from magazines, postcards, greeting cards, old posters, calendars and the like and went through them picking out the ones that I liked that had flowers, fruits, vegetables, cats, food and/or anything "kitchen-y" on them.

Then I set about collaging the top cabinets... 

(A couple of the doors close up...)

I was taught the art of collage waaaaay back in 1966 by a neighbor of mine at the time -- a fantastically creative artist named Kim who took a lot of time (even though I was only 13 or so at the time) to teach me -- not only what looks cool as far as the arrangement of pictures in a collage goes -- but, also, how to put a "finish" on on one that holds up over time and use.

(There's a collage I did on the garage wall of a duplex that my mother and I rented in 1969 that's STILL there!) :o)

Working with small, sharp scissors, Elmer's Glue (TM) and a small plastic roller (to flatten the pictures down after gluing them where I want them), it took me a couple of weeks to collage all of the upper cupboard doors (working just 3 or 4 hours at a stretch).

Also, some of the doors were missing their "pulls" (or knobs) so, after I finished the collages, I scrounged a few pieces of old, past-their-prime, silver-plated, eating utensils, bent them so that they bowed out slightly, drilled a small screw hole in the top and bottom of each one for handles and screwed them into each of the doors along one wall.

Here's photo of only three of the doors along one wall (and part of another) so you can see the "handles":

(I didn't have enough pieces of the same type of utensil to make all of them the same so I put two spoons in the middle and a fork and knife at each end...) ;o)

After all the collage work was done and all of the handles were attached I took a black "Sharpie" (R) marker and drew large and small (to make it look like they get "closer" and then "further away") "kitty pawprints" meandering up and down and across the faces of the collages so it would look like a kitty accidently stepped in some black ink and then walked around!

(Don't ask me WHY I wanted to do this... I have no idea! I guess I just felt like it! ;^D) 

Then I was ready to begin the long, slow process of coating each of the collaged doors with clear-gloss "Flecto (TM) Varathane (R)"!

Varathane (R) is the same brand and type of finish they use on wooden roller-skating rink floors so you KNOW it can take a lot of punishment! (That's what I used to coat the collage on that garage wall back in 1969 that I told you about...)

Done correctly and in a sufficient thickness, Varathane (R) makes whatever surface is beneath it moisture-proof, grease resistant, fade-resistant, nick-proof AND you can wash it with warm water and soap or spray-cleaner with NO damage! 

The secret is in HOW MANY COATS you apply (about TEN!) and in allowing each coat to dry thoroughly before you put on the next one!

Here's the best I could do to "piece together" a couple of photos of most of both walls of the completed cupboard doors to give you an idea of how they look all together in perspective:

See?  You can make some really COOL things that don't take a lot of money or an extensive art education... :o)

Why don't you give it a try and perk up your surroundings with your OWN "works of art"?

(OH! And if you DO, be sure to take some photos and post 'em here on Gather, won't you? Cuz we'd all love to see them!)  :^D

Happy projects, friends!

jean