So I went shopping. There was a fun wine rack at Homegoods that I was considering at first; it was $75+ though and I don't have any experience with working in metal. Plus the cabinet wasn't closed at the top, so it would need to go in the playroom and out of view until we re-re-purposed it into something else.
The next day I found this at my favorite thrift store, which was marked at $35, but I had a 25% off coupon. They said someone came in earlier looking at it, but they had trouble opening it since the top closures were stuck. Bonus? It closes and helps with hiding all the wonderful mess kids bring with them. I always tell them, it's alright to make a mess as long as you clean it up! Plus I LOVED the book door pull, and it was the perfect size - about 4' X 2' X 2'. SOLD.
The staff hoisted it in my car (it JUST fit) and the husband put it in basement for me. I pried off the closures with a flathead screwdriver - they just popped right off. The doors had swollen over time, and didn't need the latch to keep shut.
The style fit with our dining room furniture but really was not attention grabbing for a kid. You can also see all the scratches it had from years of use, so I picked up three Valspar brand paint samples ($3 each at Lowes) to refinish the doors and outside. Sanding was the worst part, but fortunately I just had to rough up the finish - not remove it. The first night took me about 2 hours. I primed the whole outside (1 hour) the following evening, then sanded lightly and painted my two coats of paint the second night (2 hours).
I decided to put a clear coat of polyurethane on it to protect it from the kids scratches, banging, drawings, and whatever else they did to it. That took another hour or so on a fourth night, and was something I had never done before. I was worried because our basement was pretty cold that night, and the poly seemed to have little tiny bubbles in it -but when I checked on it two days later, it looked great! I'm sure another coat would do it some good, but with lots of other crafts left to do I wanted to finish it up.
The last thing was to hang a clothes bar ($15), contact paper the inside ($2.50) and re-attach the front hinge. Since they would much more likely scratch up the inside where they can reach I didn't bother painting it; and contact paper can be redone cheaply and quickly if they ruin it somehow. I was also lucky the walls were really thick so the screws holding the clothes bar didn't go through the other side. The only thing I would change is I wish the middle shelf was movable to give more height to the long dresses. And maybe it is for someone a little more keen on cutting and drilling and all that - but I worked within the confines of the existing structure.
For Christmas morning, we loaded it with some of their existing play clothes and hats, ten cent hangers from a thrift store, an existing bin for things that didn't get hung up, and all the purses and costume jewelry they played with (which was previously all over the house). The other family members gave some new costumes, masks, and a doctor's bag as Christmas gifts since they knew what we were planning.
When they get older, maybe one of them will use it to hold their books or other stuff in their home. Or maybe they'll let me keep it :) I really didn't want to banish this awesome new piece of furniture to somewhere only they would see it. It's currently the first thing you see when you walk in our house.
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