DIY Library Card Cabinet | Thrift Store Upcycle Challenge

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Hi friends,

I’m so excited to be back this month with another upcycle! Especially since this piece has been sitting on my shelf untouched for the past YEAR! Yeah, it just took up space. It was time to transform this cassette tape cabinet into something new!

The Rules:

• Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
• There’s no monthly theme.
• There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts!

Angela | Simply Beautiful by Angela

Jennifer | Cookies, Coffee, & Crafts      Gail | Purple Hues and Me    Yami | The Latina Next Door

Amanda | Domestically Creative      Marie | The Inspiration Vault     Ann | Duct Tape and Denim

Michelle | Our Crafty Mom     Lynne | My Family Thyme     Debra | Shoppe No. 5    Victoria | Dazzle While Frazzled

Shirley | Intelligent Domestications     Chelc | Inside the Fox Den   Habiba | Craftity My Love

Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!

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Cassettes. Do you remember them? I’m a 90s kid so I went from cassettes to CDs to MP3s in what seemed like a blink of an eye. Nowadays, cassettes are relics and so are the cabinets that stored them.

I was working on cleaning out the basement of my Mom’s house and she came across these cassette tape drawers and almost threw them out. I snatched them up so quick because I knew this could become the DIY Library Card Cabinet of my dreams!

Supplies Used

• cassette tape cabinet
• reclaimed wood contact paper
• greige chalk paint
• paint brushes
• x-acto knife / box cutter
• cabinet hardware
• E6000 glue

Instructions

1. The first thing I did take the drawers out and give them a clean. There was some definite gross build up in the corners so I had to use a q-tip to clean those areas.

2. I knew I was going to cover the whole thing with contact paper, but I needed to figure out the best method so it seemed seamless. I measured the front of the cabinet (without the drawers) and cut a piece to size. I placed it over the front, cut out the holes in the middles, and wrapped the edges.

3. For the top and sides, I measured out how much contact paper I would need but I didn’t put it down all at once. When you’re working with contact paper, you want to work in small sections and use an old gift card or something to smooth out any air bubbles.

4. Once all my contact paper was in place, I began working on the drawers. I was originally going to keep the black edges, but I ultimately thought it looked too dark and threw the whole thing off. I picked up a greige chalk paint and put 3 coats on the edges.

5. While the chalk paint was drying, I cut out pieces that would fit in the “U” shapes on the front of the drawers. I measured out the space, created a template from cardstock, and traced the shape onto the back of the contact paper 3x.

6. Once the chalk paint was dry I attached the “U” shape contact paper pieces to the drawers. There was still a little excess on the edges so I took a razor and sliced off the extra bits.

7. The last thing to do to really make this look like a library card cabinet is add some hardware! I ordered some off of Amazon (make sure you measure so you know what size!) and applied them with E6000 glue.

8. Now to fill with random things and stuff!

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And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

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Loved it? Pin it!

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Liked this DIY Library Card Cabinet?

Check these other upcycled storage solutions!