Gather your supplies
- Timber cabinet
- Rattan cane webbing
- Chalk paint
- Hanging rod and plates
- Hinges
- Door knobs
- Screwdriver
- painter’s tape
- Hammer
- Work gloves
- Bucket or tub
- Rock weight
- Random orbital sander
- Sanding block
- Cloth
- Painting equipment
- Clamps
- Staple gun
- Nails
- Utility knife
Here's how
STEP 1 Remove cabinet doors and take off hinges and hardware. Extract shelves. Apply painter’s tape to glass door panels in an X shape. Use scrap timber and a hammer to tap out beading holding glass in place. Reserve beading. Wearing work gloves, carefully lift out glass and dispose of safely.
STEP 2 Put rattan in a bucket of water, weighted by a rock. Soak for an hour. Dry with a towel. (Soaking makes rattan flexible, but don’t over-soak or it will discolour.)
STEP 3 Sand cabinet, doors, beading and shelves. Wipe off dust. Apply 2 coats of paint to cabinet, including interior and shelves, doors and beading. Leave to dry after each coat.
STEP 4 Position and clamp rattan over doors, and use a staple gun to secure to frame. Secure beading to inside of doors over frame pieces with nails. Trim rattan using a utility knife.
STEP 5 Install hanging rod and shelves, bar the old top shelf. Add new knobs, then rehang doors.
Take your linen storage to the next level with a hanging rod. Trouser hangers are ideal for napery and cushion covers. Woven door panels are decorative, but also offer ventilation to keep your linen fresh – mustiness be gone! Use woven storage baskets for the same reason.
This cabinet is designed for good ventilation, but guarding against insects is still a good idea. Forget smelly mothballs, though. Fill quilted jars with dried lavender or a clove/bay leaf combo, and replace the lid with rattan instead. So simple!
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