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DIY

Upcycle your own coffee station

Before you throw out your old timber cabinet (or if you find one), consider upcycling it to turn it into a useful piece of furniture. In this case, a coffee station.

RYOBI TEAM Tue, 06/25/2024 - 17:18
IN THIS ARTICLE

Materials

  • Old timber cabinet (not laminated)

Tools used

  • Hammer
  • Chisel
  • Sandpaper
  • Paint & paint brush
  • New furniture hardware (optional)

How to do it

Using a RYOBI Sander to strip back old timber cabinet

Step 1: Start by removing all the handles/knobs, and then cleaning and sanding the entire cabinet with 80 grit sandpaper, and then stepping it down to finer grades of 120 grit, and then 240 grit. This will give it a smooth finish and allow the new paint to bond a lot stronger.
 

Step 2: In our case, we removed the old, damaged bench top with a hammer and chisel. This came off very easily. You might not have to do this if the top of your unit is in an okay condition. It might just require a good sand to remove any scratches.
 

Step 3: Then paint everything with 3 coats of a water-based paint to give it a solid, scratch-resistant finish. 

Step 4: If you are replacing the bench top – as we did - cut your replacement material to fit with an overhang on 3 sides (not the side that will fit against a wall) and sand with 80 grit to remove all the imperfections and then 120 grit and 240 grit. Use a wood varnish for the new benchtop and let it dry overnight. Choose one that has some water resistance for any coffee spills.

NOTE: If you don’t have any scrap wood suitable for a benchtop, Bunnings has a wide range of suitable materials. Some don’t even need sanding or varnishing.
 

Step 5: Finally, we replaced the handles, and fixed the new benchtop with four 14G countersunk screws. One on each corner. To do this we drilled each corner with a countersunk bit and then 7mm pilot holes. Next, we use a drill/driver to drive the screws in.

NOTE: Depending on your décor and what you are repurposing the timber cabinet for, consider some modern, contrasting colours for your paint choices and maybe some funky handles or knobs for your drawers and/cupboards.

Using a RYOBI Drill to secure benchtop
Replace hardware on DIY Coffee Station

See the full transformation

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