Basement Refrigerator Makeover – Before and After!

Lodi did a refrigerator makeover a couple of weeks ago and I can’t wait to show you the before and after! Our basement refrigerator is a solid 30 years old (at least) I grew up with this refrigerator and remember poignantly the awesome day when my mom got a brand new one and this one was retired to “beer refrigerator” status. When she moved she asked me if I wanted it and I immediately jumped on the opportunity. Our basement has been slowly coming along but, not long ago, this was a totally unfinished space I often used for painting and staining if it was cold outside.

(Teaming up in our DIY Blog Hop this month with Kitchen projects, check out all of the projects following my post. If you’re interested in joining us click here for more info!)

I learned a hard lesson about wood stain while building our sofa table down here.

You can see from the above pic that this space really was TOTALLY UNFINISHED so I wasn’t careful much at all when I was applying wood stain to our table.

Not a big deal on the concrete floors…

Apparently though it was a HUGE DEAL when it came to our old refrigerator.

I HAD NO IDEA WOOD STAIN WOULD DO THIS.

Honestly I saw the splatters and just planned to wipe it up at some point… I wasn’t concerned. It ate through the finish on the front of this poor refrigerator like a virus! It looked diseased lol.

I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE HOW BAD IT WAS!

I felt terrible about it!

Meanwhile with us hacking away at completing the basement (living space complete, bathroom complete and closet complete) its been bothering us a lot because we like to spend time down here now.

The kitchen and basement stairwell are still unfinished and I try real hard not to “hop” around the house with what I’m working on so I was waiting to do this when we tackled the entire kitchen.

Lodi couldn’t stand it anymore though and declared he was giving the refrigerator a makeover one weekend.

YAY!

Lodi first gave the front of the refrigerator some much needed attention with sand paper, giving himself the best surface possible for a new coat of paint.

He started then by taping off all the chrome with blue painter’s tape. (Check out the tape we buy in bulk from Amazon here.)

Then he sponge painted the entire front several times over a couple of days. He used Rustoleum in high gloss white and, because its an oil based paint, it does take awhile to dry.

When I first came down to the basement to see how it was going I declared my Lodi ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.

We do not have work lighting down here, we have mood lighting down here… Terrible for what he was doing.

So, he just replaced one of the Edison bulbs with one of the LED bulbs we have waiting to be put up in our garage this spring.

What a great idea!

I still feel real bad for what I did to this poor old refrigerator and, goodness knows, it will never look brand new no matter what we do to it however, Lodi really did a great job.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

This Month’s DIY Blop Hop: Kitchens! (Click here for our upcoming themes and more info on how to join us every month!)

Niki from Life as a LEO Wife – Kitchen Storage Shelf from Dollar Tree Crates

Amy from Health Home and Heart – Painted Tile Backsplash Update

Amy from Health Home and Heart – Allison from Darling and Dapper Life – How to Make Pantry Labels with Cricut