Antique Sewing Cabinet Transformation

If you follow me on instagram, you saw a before picture of an antique sewing cabinet that I decided to paint. 

When I first saw this sewing cabinet at Adam's grandma's house, I fell in love with it. I was so excited a few months later when his parents delivered it to our house. And that's about as far as the sewing cabinet went for the longest time. 

I had dreams of painting it, but was terrified that I would ruin such a beautiful piece of furniture. I went back and forth for months trying to decide what to do with it. Either way, it was going to require a lot of work. If I didn't paint it, I'd need to sand it down and re-stain it. Finally, I told myself that I hated how dark the wood was, it didn't match a darn thing in my house, and I might as well make it match my house if I planned to keep it hanging around. 

My husband and I went to this painting class not too long ago, and long story short I was introduced to Cottage Paint. Immediately, I knew it was something I wanted to try and eventually I convinced myself to try it on the antique sewing cabinet that had been sitting in my office for months. AHH!

We bought gray and white Cottage Paint to paint and distress this beautiful piece of furniture. The process was pretty simple, first painting it gray, then adding wax and letting it dry over night. The next day we were able to paint it white, and I went through all the edges and details to give it that distressed look. I simple used a sponge to rub off the white in the areas I wanted the gray to show through. We added another few coats of wax to finish it off. 

With each coat, I told myself I ruined such a beautiful piece of furniture. Even when it was finished, I looked at my husband and said "what have we done!?" It took me a few days to get used to it, probably because it was so bright compared to before. I must say, it has grown on me and I really like it now! It just fits in the room soooo much better.

My favorite areas are the drawer handles and the sides. Unfortunately, I just realized I don't have any pictures of the sides. I might need to change that.

What do you think of me painting this antique?

Was it wrong of me to cover up such a beautiful piece of wood furniture?

OR

Would you have done the same thing for the sake of home decor?