DIY Apothecary Cabinet Hack

This post contains affiliate links

I have been imagining this little DIY apothecary cabinet here for months now! I am so excited to share it with you. I literally added the pulls on this afternoon, took the pictures and here we are! I have had two of these cabinets from Hobby Lobby since November. I stained and then painted them and have had them around my house in my bedroom and living room since. I decided that I would love to see how a stack of 6 of them would look. I mean, I could even go bigger, but I decided to scale it back, ha! 

These craft drawers are $19.99 each, but when you get them on sale it's half of that and makes this project more manageable. Also, it was helpful I already had two of them, and then my Hobby Lobby stocks like 1 or 2 of these at a time, I swear. So, it took months to get the other four. Darn it with Hobby Lobby's no coupon deal now! I had to go back every other week to grab what they had...and had to hope there was any even there!

Okay, so here's how I changed these basic sets of drawers into an awesome chippy apothecary cabinet.

Step 1:

I pulled off all of the drawer pulls. These things were just like brads; they came out really easily.

Step 2:

I stained all of the drawers dark walnut. 

Step 3:

I went over the edges and corners with a swipe of petroleum jelly. Wherever you put this, the paint will come off easily when sanded or sometimes even crack for a cool look :) 

Step 4:

I painted each set of drawers with a white acrylic craft paint. This took about two to three coats for full coverage over the stain.

Step 5:

Once the paint was dried, I then took a fine grit sandpaper and lightly went over each piece. The areas with the most petroleum jelly came of easily. You can see I focused more on corners and edges for this distressed look. 

Step 6: 

I added these awesome cheap drawer pulls (link). I put the bottom directly on top of the existing holes so you can't see them. This also helped me line them all up in pretty much the same place. No measuring!

Next was to just stack them! I decided not to glue them together since I'm afraid of commitment :) ha! No, but I really want to be able to change them around and move them to other places if desired. 

Is there anything in these drawers yet? Nope. Of course, I literally just finished with them like 3 hours ago :) I'm sure there will be! Probably craft supplies, pencils, glues, etc. Actually, now that I think about it, it would be a good place for seeds or screws and nails. Time will only have to tell! 

I decided to put this amazing little DIY apothecary cabinet in my dining room...can it be called that since the drawers aren't squared? I actually don't know. It's not a printer's cabinet since they aren't long enough. I'm going to stick with DIY apothecary cabinet :) Either way, it's 24 drawers of character and fun!

I love the apothecary look. I have made so many things in the past in faux apothecary style. You can check out the apothecary cabinet tutorials below:

Ikea Rast Hack: DIY Faux Apothecary Cabinet

Another Ikea Cube Shelf Hack: DIY Faux Apothecary Cabinet

I also have an awesome little tutorial on how to make a mini apothecary cabinet in the Autumn 2021 issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style Magazine! You'll have to check out the magazine to see the tutorial :) Go grab it on newsstands before they are gone!

I have so many projects happening right now....can't wait to share them all with you! To follow all that is going on behind the scenes, be sure to follow my social media :) 

 

pin for later:

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”