Index card drawer make over

What a treat to discover these at Junk & Disorderly. They were a challenge as the drawers looked like they needed a lot of work and they had obvious signs of bora.

It transpired the drawers had been taken out and put back in - in the wrong order.

So once they were re-arranged it made the drawers easier to work with.

The drawers are just waiting for new and exciting items to live in them!

What a treat to find these labels!

The first job was to take the metal labels off so I could sand the drawers.

It always helps to have the right tools on hand.

They came off easily enough, so I could get on with sanding.

The metal label holders were pretty rusty,

so I soaked them in a rust removal solution while I got on with other jobs.

The drawer unit had a pretty bad bow in it, and the drawers were drooping.

So we took the back off and added extra support.

It helped a little with the bowing, but we knew it wasn't going to fix it entirely.

A new back was put on at the same time.

It also gave me the opportunity to give the inside a pretty good clean out!

I sprayed the metal labels with black paint and used Annie Sloan chalk paint which I always buy from the amazing Madder & Rouge, to paint the unit.

I didn't want the bora holes to show through, so they were all filled (it took awhile!).

And then I went crazy! I was only going to do a bit with them.....

But I couldn't stop myself! Especially as I love my new stamp from

Nick Bantock's collection.

I also used dress pattern paper, paints and other rubber stamps to decorate the unit.

I absolutely loved just playing with the drawers.

Now I have to decide what to put in the drawers!

A massive thanks as always, to my woodworking teacher Mr G, for all his help.