Instead of Keeping This $30 China Cabinet Brown, They Painted It Blue and Picked Out the Details in Gold
Dark brown covered this china cabinet’s carved flowers, musical instruments, and curved moldings, leaving their shapes to stand out through shadows. The $30 find already had the details that would define its makeover, from the basket above the display doors to the shell between its feet.
Reddit user u/Ok_Noise4431 shared the project in r/FurniturePainting, explaining that they used chalk paint, imitation gold leaf, red chinoiserie wallpaper, and gilding wax. Inspiration came from photographs of Tsarist palaces and film sets such as Anna Karenina, with the cabinet intended to display antique Russian bears and toys.
Blue became the main exterior color, while red and gold marked selected edges and recesses. Inside, an illustrated backing introduced a scene that would remain visible behind the collection.
Red Wallpaper Changed the Back Before the Frame Was Painted
With the backing removed, wallpaper went onto the flat panel outside the cabinet. Figures, animals, flowers, and winding branches fill the red ground, creating an illustrated backdrop across the display area.
Working with the panel on a table kept the surface accessible without reaching through the doors or around shelves.
The fitted backing appears inside the upper section while its frame still carries the brown finish. This intermediate view shows how much the wallpaper contributes before any blue or gold reaches the exterior.
Blue Chalk Paint Covered the Frame While Red Marked the Corners
The creator chose FolkArt Home Decor chalk paints after buying colors at a craft-store closing sale. In the comments, they reported using about three coats of blue and red without primer, misting with water while working toward a smooth finish.
Blue covers the broad frame and door surfaces, while red fills the narrow vertical recesses at the outer corners. Masking tape separates those painted areas from the curved edge receiving gold leaf.
Imitation Gold Leaf Followed the Molded Edges
Gold traces the base’s top edge, door moldings, curved apron, and feet. Across the lower doors, selected parts of the carved musical instruments catch the light, while leaves and flowers receive quieter green and pink accents.
The metallic finish came from Barnabas Blattgold imitation leaf applied with gilding glue over the chalk paint. A gloss gilding sealer followed, while Antique Gold Rub ’n Buff refreshed the hinges.
Those treatments have different jobs: leaf outlines the woodwork, and wax reaches the existing metal fittings. The creator noted that the finishes were not an exact match and preferred the variation.
Painted Flowers Reappeared Across the Crown
The upper section shows the flower basket and trailing stems picked out against blue, with gold following the crown’s long curve. These motifs were present in the original cabinet; separate colors now make each part easier to distinguish.
The mesh-front doors remain, allowing the red backing to show through their hexagonal openings. Narrow gold lines follow the door frames without covering the entire grille.
Shelves Returned in Front of the Red Backing
Once the two sections were reunited, the shelves divided the illustrated backing into smaller scenes. Dark interior surfaces remain beside the red paper, giving the display more depth than carrying the exterior blue across every surface.
The cabinet also had built-in lighting. According to the creator, its cord was connected to a dimmer hidden inside, allowing the display lighting to be adjusted.
The Finished Cabinet Was Made for a Personal Collection
Collectibles fill the shelves in the final view, bringing the cabinet’s intended use into focus. The red backing remains visible between objects, while sunlight catches the gold trim and casts shadows across the lower carvings.
The project was the creator’s first furniture makeover shared online, after practice on smaller pieces. Among the responses, u/Background_Lemon_981 wrote:
“I’m not generally into painted furniture, but this is a solid exception.”
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The reported $30 covered the cabinet purchase; no total for paint, wallpaper, or gilding supplies was provided. Its existing ornament supplied much of the finished effect, with color and leaf drawing attention to details already built into the piece.
Would you keep the original brown finish, or choose the blue and gold—and would you carry that red wallpaper inside?
Project and images: u/Ok_Noise4431, shared in r/FurniturePainting.