We needed a linen cupboard in our house.  We lack storage!  So…….after removing a large 1970’s sliding door with faux wood inserts which connected to a small balcony which can be accessed from another room, (the sliding door was SO ugly), we proceeded to create a much needed storage cupboard.

Here are the results.  You will see that the inside is lit up with a colour changing string of LED’s…it’s better than watching TV…(Have you seen what rubbish screens on the teev?)…this reality is so much better and its in colour too?!

The back and sides of the cupboard are made from old packing crates. The shelves are plywood from the packing crates and are stained and varnished (so many layers!) with my go-to finish solution: Danish Oil.

The doors were thrown out in the ‘chuck out’ run twice a year by a local council area; these also date from the 1940’s but were thrown out this year! It’s a great idea to go kerbside shopping if you can; just check your local council regulations around this practice as some council jurisdictions expressly forbid (and some even fine) people for kerbside shopping. Just a sidenote: I just cannot believe anyone would throw these glamorous doors out! The quasi-opaque patterned glass is superb. The frames are cedar. How much better are these internal doors than the reconstituted particle board interior doors carried by most hardware chains?

On the doors I have installed lovely 1960’s era handles which are a nod to my love of astropunk. I picked up these handles – featuring a black cylindrical bakerlite knob on a chrome mount – from Reverse Garbage.

The inside of the cupboard is lined with 1970’s gold foil self-striped wall paper which we picked up from a monthly antiques fair at Wentworth Park (inner Sydney). The story of the foil wallpaper was lovely – the elderly gentleman stallholder was selling it for his neighbour who’d had it sitting in his garage for over 35 years! Now, full disclosure: the wallpaper was a bit mouldy so when I put it up, I had to wash it down thoroughly and leave the doors open so as to air the cupboard for a good 2 weeks. The mouldy smell has now completely disappeared and no marks are evident at all. It’s amazing what a good clean will deliver to old pieces!

The lock as you can see is hand crafted 🙂