Chic Chinoiserie Chiffonier

This little piece of furniture was a free find on The Freecycle Network. The ad was posted for a couple of days and  no one seemed to be interested in it. I  thought that it would be perfect for extra storage in my home.  It seemed like a fresh coat of paint was all it needed to look like new.

You can probably tell from the pictures that this is not some kind of valuable furniture. It’s an inexpensive, light-weight cabinet and most of its parts are made of plywood, but overall, it’s a quite decent and versatile little piece. When I brought it home, I found out that it was actually a wine cabinet with a wine glass rack on the upper part, and wine bottle racks on the lower part.

Part of the back panel was falling apart.

And the top part had some water damage.

As for the front door panels, they would fall off as I opened and closed the doors.

But I got it for free and I had no right to complain. In fact, I was secretly happy that I could now experiment.

The front panels stayed in the garage for a few days, until I decided it would be a good idea to cover them with fabric. I had a fabric remnant that I had bought from Calico Corners months ago. Isn’t if beautiful? I had paid only $5 for it and I was originally planning on making a memo board but this was just enough fabric to cover the three front door panels.

So, first, I cut about 1 cm off from the width and length of each panel as the extra fabric would make the panels bigger and wouldn’t allow them to fit back in place.   Then, I simply covered the panels with fabric and a few layers of batting. The last layer of batting is smaller, a little thicker and positioned only in the center so as to make a cushioned effect.

I placed the panel on top and stapled with an upholstery staple, tucking the fabric in for a nicer finish.  I had already painted the back of the panels just because I thought they would look better, but it was not necessary.

I removed the metallic hanging glass rack that was on the upper part of the cabinet. I replaced the wine bottle racks that were on the lower part of the cabinet with two plywood shelves cut to size. I sanded the exterior and painted it with a shade almost the very same green as the fabric. And when everything was ready, I hot glued the cushioned panels back onto the door frames.

A chiffonier (chiffonnier for French) is a piece of furniture, with drawers and/or compartments mostly for clothing storage and organization. It has a height bigger than its width and it often has a piece of marble on top.

Mine now has new shelves and it gives me endless  storage possibilities. From organizing my craft supplies, or maybe dedicating it entirely for linen, seasonal decorative items, office filing and other paperwork, anything can be nicely arranged inside it.   It will most probably go in a hallway but I can just imagine how beautiful it would look in a half bath, or any other room of the house. Because of its size, it’s such a versatile piece: it can go anywhere.

One more detail from the back part of the panel.

And from the exterior side, you can see how well the cushioned panels fit onto the door frames,

I kept the same hardware; these knobs are plain and neutral, a perfect solution for this busy fabric.

The cushioned doors give a lot of texture and make it look like an expensive piece of furniture.

The fabric is a real masterpiece!

And the combination of the colors is amazing! I love the bright pink with the leafy green (even nature agrees how beautifully these colors match!). The cabinet is painted with Grape Leaves by Ultra Behr in a flat finish.

I could never had imagined that it would be so easy to turn this:

into this:

In terms of cost, I couldn’t have done better.  The cabinet was free, the fabric was about $5, I already had the batting from previous projects, the shelves were about $7, and the paint was actually just a sample can for $2. Overall, just about $15!