Old Box Turned First Aid Cabinet

So this happened this weekend.  First aid cabinet go boom!

Ever since we posted these little pics of the bathroom, after we first painted it a minty green, I knew that I wanted to fill that empty space above the toilet paper holder with a first aid cabinet.

So the other day, when I went down to the Brewer School House Antique Mall, I super scored on the purchase of a $6, old blue, wooden box.  This guy:

Just hours before I went down to the store, Colby and I were discussing building a first aid cabinet that afternoon.  Our conversation went a little something like this.  Colby: “I’m going over to Jeff’s to try some of his beer.”  Angie:  “Cool, you want me to drop you off for your play date on my way to the antiques store?”  Colby:  “Yeah.”  Angie:  “Hey, do you think this afternoon we could build the first aid cabinet out of some scrap wood?”  Colby:  “Sure, show me a picture.”  We have deep conversations.  And yes, my 30+ year old husband has “play dates”.  The only difference between childhood play dates and husband play dates is that the later typically involves home brew.

So when I returned home from the antiques store with this little treasure for a whopping six bucks and showed it to Colby, he immediately spitted out, “SWEET!  Is that my first aid cabinet?  You mean I don’t have to build it?!”.  Nope!  It already had all the character I was looking for in a first aid cabinet, including rusty hinges.

The only thing it was missing was a shelf inside the box turned cabinet.

But that was easily fixed with piece of scrap pine nailed into the interior.

Since blue + mint does not = Angie’s ideal bathroom color scheme, the box got a fresh coat of paint.  I went with Benjamin Moore’s Gray Owl, leftover from painting the bathroom vanity.  As for the painting process, I simply slapped on a coat of paint, carefully cutting in around the hinges.  I didn’t sand it…or prime it…and pretty much broke every rule in the painting handbook.  I only slathered on one coat since I wanted the box’s rustic charm of peeling wood and grain-ie-ness to come through the paint.

The box quickly dried since I painted it outside in the hot sun (not always a good thing if you want a smooth, perfect finish but not a big deal for our rustic cabinet…and I might as well break one more painting rule).  My next step in the box turned first aid cabinet was to first-aid-it-up with a red cross.  Since I didn’t want to screw up the box with red cross painting trial and error (sizing and spacing wise), I printed out a red cross I found via Google images and traced it onto the box first.

And then just filled in the lines with red paint leftover from painting our front door Front Door Red from Valspar.  It’s also the same paint we used to paint up our lobster art that hangs above the tv.

Then it was just a matter of installation, where Colby screwed the box directly into a pair of studs in the bathroom wall, whipping out the laser level to be certain it was level.

Note…when hanging a cabinet mind the gap the door swing.  It’s like the refrigerator door in the kitchen scenario, make sure the door opens up to the center of the room so you’re not always walking around the door to retrieve its contents.

The mint/red combo is one that I’ve always loved.  Ever since my Laguna Beach watching days when LC rocked a mint bikini top with red bikini bottoms. I can’t believe I’m admitting getting decorating ideas from Laguna Beach circa 2004.

Anyway…I’m really digging the old box turned first aid cabinet, especially all of the rustic-ness going on.  I love how the wood grain shows through and the hardware is all old and rusty.  It’s a great contrast to the smooth finish of the bathroom vanity and the glossy tiles and crisp white trim.

I took a first stab at “organizing” the cabinet, which basically included retrieving all our first aid “stuff” including Colby’s vitamin collection.  Prior to the cabinet, these items were all over the house…band aids were in my nightstand, vitamins were…well…everywhere, and the cut cleaning stuff was wedged in a basket along with Goose’s shampoo and a rubber duck.

Can we just acknowledge the fact that Colby has more vitamins than most girls have shoes?!  Not a single one of those vitamin bottles is mine.  What can I say…the man loves his vitamins.  And they’re not even the Flinstones kind!  Now that’s MY kind of vitamin.  Are you allowed to take those as an adult?!

I can’t say that the first pass at the cabinet organization project was a success.  But I’ve got ideas…lots of ideas…mind blowing ideas…and supplies from the craft store.  It’s a perfect organization storm going on in our bathroom.  Stay tuned for vitamin organization 101 coming at you tomorrow!

Pssst…What have you all been refurbing lately?  Any boxes turned cabinets?  Or other antique store finds repurposed?  Or do you also get decorating inspiration from bad reality tv?  C’mon you Real Housewives fans…fess up!