Resurrecting a Mid Century
Metal Kitchen Pantry, Part 1

This blog is many things. Those of you who have been keeping up with me since the old days know that the tagline once was “Food and other delicious things.” This is accurate still. Because I am always hungry for all sorts of things. And I feed myself in a million different ways.

Now it’s restoration; it is a guide to transforming a 1950’s metal kitchen pantry to its former glory. This pantry is the first purchase I made for my apartment a long year ago. Now I move forward with my own “Honey Do List.” I am the honey in this situation, though The Greek was an integral part of the restoration process. I will detail it here for prosperity. Plus I just enjoy ventures. As an avid thrifter, perhaps I will do this again. Though it is a ton of work! Here’s part one of the process.

Supplies:

• Simple Green Heavy Duty Cleaner/Degreaser
• Star Brite Rust Stain Remover
• Power Sander with medium-grit sandpaper
• Steel wool
• Finishing hammer
• Rust-Oleum Metal Primer
• Rust-Oleum Gloss White Paint
• Small paint roller
• Rust-Oleum Clear Enamel Spray Paint
• 6″ Hairpin Legs
• Optional: Magnetic shelving and organizers
• Optional: Contact paper of your choosing (I searched mid century modern at Spoonflower. This was my choice as an adhesive wallpaper.)
• Optional: Lighting

Step 1: Prepare.
Move cabinet to a well ventilated area with access to a hose. Take photos of your cabinet including all sides, all interior and exterior hardware in place, all hinges. Take doors off the cabinet, careful to store and secure all hardware. If you have paint build-up or peeling that will impact surface texture on your piece, remove paint too following the instruction on the can. I didn’t, so I didn’t.

Step 2: Clean all parts of the cabinet.
Vacuum both the exterior and interior of the cabinet, as well as all doors, to remove surface debris. Use a heavy duty cleaner/degreaser to thoroughly clean all sides of cabinet, cabinet doors and hardware. Blast with water and allow to fully dry.

Step 2: Remove rust if need be.
Use a rust remover to remove all rust from cabinet, cabinet doors and hardware. Use steel wool to manually remove tough areas. Allow to dry.

Step 3: Sand and prepare for priming.
If there are dents, gently pound out with a finishing hammer, starting your light tapping to the outer edge of dent then continuing to its center. If they are stubborn, use a hair dryer to heat metal first. Sand down scratches that need smoothing with medium grit sandpaper followed by sanding all pieces with a disc pad. Then “scuff” entire surface of cabinets using sandpaper so that it takes the primer well. Then clean all pieces again and dry thoroughly.

Step 4: Prime.
After your cabinet and all pieces are dry from the second cleaning you want to prime all sides immediately as dust, dirt, debris and “flash rust” (a thing) can happen quickly. Follow the directions on your can of Primer. Make sure your primer is for metal surfaces. Allow to dry overnight.

Stay tuned to the project! The fun stuff is next up!

-VV Furniture Restoration