DIY Rattan Cabinet.
I know it’s been around for a little while now but I still LOVE the rattan furniture trend. I fell in love with a cabinet from Freedom but couldn’t justify spending almost $2000. So me being me, I figured I could try and DIY my own version! After months spent searching gumtree, market place and vintage stores, I finally found this cabinet. It was the right colour, size and it was only $100 so it definitely ticked all the boxes.
I picked it up from a lovely, elderly Italian couple who were so proud of the cabinet. They told me all about it, where it was from and how they had had it made to match some of the other furniture in their house.
Safe to say, I didn’t tell them that I was about to cut the doors open! Although I think they would be pretty happy with how it’s turned out! Below is a quick run down of the process if anyone wants to try this DIY project too!
Materials:
Cabinet
Rattan webbing (we got ours from www.wickerworks.com.au)
Jigsaw
Sand paper
Timber polish or stain (we used Gilly’s Waxes & Polishes from Bunnings)
Rag
Staple gun and staples
Scissors
Drill
Instructions:
Step 1 - Detach the doors from the cabinet.
Step 2 - Drill a hole into the middle panel of the door. Then use the jigsaw to cut out the centre panel. Try and get as close to the edges as possible.
Step 3 - Use a sander or sand paper to sand back the raw edges you just cut.
Step 4 - Place a small amount of the Timber Polish onto the rag and run it over the sanded edges. Luckily for us the polish was enough to match it back to the cabinet colour but if you need to use stain you can.
Step 5 - Now it’s the fun part! Take the rattan and lay it roughly over the area of the cabinet you are wanting to cover. Cut it down to size and use the staple gun to staple in place.
Step 6 - Make sure the rattan is straight and pulled tight. Staple a few staples on each side and then continue to staple the whole way round.
Step 7 - Repeat on the other door.
Step 8 - Reattach the doors to the cabinet and enjoy your new piece of furniture!
