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 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.
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.
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
Wow! I had no idea wood stain would do that either! Good to know, though. The refrigerator looks great. You would never know now. 🙂
Isn’t that crazy!? I’m still so surprised by the reaction – thanks Amy!
That turned out GREAT! Awesome job. Do you two ever rest? Love reading about all of your projects.
Thank you Sandy!
Marry that man!
Right?! I totally am going to lol
Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that all of that damage was done simply from some wood stain! Yikes. I’m with you, I wouldn’t have been concerned at all and would have assumed it would wipe right off. Thanks for the heads up to the rest of us. But, now it looks brand spankin’ new again, so at least you won’t have to think about it when you look at the fridge from here on out, lol.
Right?! I’m still just shocked by it, never in a million years would I have expected that lol – Thanks Allison, its great hopping with you!
Wow, what a difference! They don’t make appliances like that anymore. You’re lucky if you get ten years out of them nowadays.
Isn’t that crazy about how crappy new appliances are now!? Thanks for checking it out Lodi did such a good job!