Quick Flip Kids’ Cabinet – Featuring CeCe Caldwell Paints

Of the many things Trish and I really think about when it comes to furniture, two of the biggest are:
1. Make it look good.

2. Make it work well.

There are three rambunctious and crazy boys between the two of us and, well, we live in our homes. We have toys that pile up and books and colors and games. Legos are my arch nemesis scattered all over my house (I seriously love Legos – I am that parent (bring on the Kragle!)- but why do they have to be SOOOO small!). So while we love for everything in our homes to look like it’s part of us, kids (and all that comes with them) make that a challenge.

We love a good challenge. 😉

Presenting my boys’ “gaming cabinet”:
This lil’ miss was given to me from a dear friend when they PCSed. It was the perfect height and size for our video games but needed some love.

When CeCe Caldwell sent me the Beckley Coal Natural Chalk + Clay Paint I KNEW that it was meant for this piece.

My favorite part was that the piece was small enough, and this paint is safe enough that I could easily get this piece done inside my home. I lifted it onto my kitchen table and gave it a quick cleaning. I knew that the black of this paint would look fantastic with the wood color coming through around the edges.

It took less than an hour to get two coats on. Talk about efficient!

After both coats were dry I grabbed my putty knife and sand paper and stripped off the edges. While this isn’t at all a “natural distressing” that wasn’t my intention. I wanted the wood to show through “framing” the piece. Had I wanted a naturally worn look, I would have taken a far different approach. Here is one half with edges stripped:

Yep, it’s sitting right there on my kitchen table. (You can see the first piece I ever did in the background!)

I love the depth of the Beckley Coal.

I quickly finished the other half and moved on to wax.

Here I used CeCe Caldwell’s “Clear Wax” and, again, because it doesn’t have all of the yucky stuff in it, I was able to seal it right inside my home. I used a medium size wax brush to firmly rub the wax into the piece. (Work those arms, y’all). I went back over the entire piece and continued to buff the piece with a lint-free rag.

Here you can really see the importance of sealing your piece. While the wax provides a hard and protective finish that is oh-so-important, it also brings the paint to its full glory. It deepens and enhances the paint bringing it to the shade it is meant to be.

NEVER leave your Natural Chalk + Clay painted pieces unsealed, y’all. It’s never a good idea.

I left the cabinet up on my table for two days (my kids were thoroughly confused).

Now we talked about making it “look good” but now let me tell you about function. Goodness knows milfamilies need their pieces to work in multiple homes, with a variety of square feet, and with multiple room combos. It’s why we LOVE cabinets and dressers. One word – STORAGE.

We heart drawers …

and bins!

It works well and it looks pretty darn good. We don’t totally have to sacrifice fun decor for good play.

Make your pieces work for you. Make them moveable and multi-usable. A cushion along the top easily makes this a perfect window seat in the next home. Hooks hung on the wall higher up makes it a great mudroom piece. When you are finding your pieces, consider the possibilities, and decide if it works for the home you take with you.

**This post contains sponsored content. Though we were compensated with product, all ideas and opinions are 100% our own.**