Craigslist Storage Saga

I have a tolerate/hate relationship with Craigslist. 

I've spent a lot of time searching for the perfect something or other, but every time I've actually decided to buy it's been disappointing--people not home when they said they'd be, furniture in poorer condition than advertized--basically a waste of time and gas money. 

But, hope springs eternal, 

and I continue to imagine the perfect this-or-that can be found (cheap!) on Craigslist.

With Jack starting kindergarten this year, I found myself in need of some more storage space for all of our school supplies and so my Craigslist-hunting began. I needed a cabinet with very specific dimensions to fit in the spot I had in mind and be large enough for our storage needs.  In addition to the size I decided that I wouldn't waste my time on anything that wasn't solid wood, or very close to home.

I finally found the perfect candidate:

the perfect size

located nearby

reasonable price

solid wood

and the ad said "excellent condition."

Well, "excellent" turned out to be wonky. The top was loose, the shelf was close to breaking, and the doors were all slightly askew. 

But, hope still abounding, 

and considering the perfection of the size, I decided to try to make it work.

I don't have pictures of the very boring, tedious, never-ending project of sanding, priming, painting, shelf re-enforcing and re-assembling process. Thank me.

I also don't have pictures of myself, sitting in front of the blasted thing, scratching my head, fiddling with levels and tape measures and new hinges and such, trying to figure out why for the life of me I could not get the doors to hang properly.

So we skip ahead to after I took it apart again, squared it all up with exacting precision, nailed it back together, and then had to touch up all the marks and scuffs that the whole baffling process caused. 

{By the way, I used this paint additive called Floetrol to thin out the paint a bit and lengthen the drying time in order to lessen the brush strokes and allow me to touch up with super-thin coats, so I didn't have to repaint the whole thing. Phew.}

And here's the finished product:

I lined the back of the cabinet with scrapbooking paper 

and changed out the wooden knobs for metal ones.

The paper was mounted using highly professional scotch tape.

This project took a lot longer than I would have guessed, but in the end I think it was worth it.

It provides plenty of space for our school supplies, with room to grow.

And it fits in my smallish living room perfectly.

Thanks, Craigslist. (Kind of.)