For the Junk Lovers

Hello, fellow lovers of the rusty, the dusty, the broken, wobbly and chipped!  I just wanted to share with you some photos that my talented photographer husband took in the back yard and shed of my grandparents.  Have you ever seen the show American Pickers?  Well, this would be their paradise.  Anyway, these images really speak to how what most people just overlook is actually quite beautiful in its own way.

1920's desk refinish

This fabulous 1920's desk was found in a back bedroom at my grandparents house a few months ago.  My grandmother's sister had originally gotten it from someone she knew on Knotts Island, NC (where their family is from) and it was originally a bedroom vanity.  She didn't have room for it so she gave it to my grandparents and then forgot about it.  It was not in the best shape, so they stuck it in a back bedroom and also forgot about it for decades.  One fateful day I was looking for something completely different back there and noticed the shiny brass hardware and the unique wood colors on the drawers.  I unearthed it from junk that had been piled on it and asked if they minded if I took it home and fixed it up.  They were happy to let it go, so Ben and I decided to make it our new desk!  First of all, here is what it looked like when we found it:

Pretty rough!  There was such discoloration on the top that we didn't think it would ever even out.  Ben sanded the top down to blond wood and then we put a mineral oil and coffee grounds mixture on it to restore moisture to the parched-looking wood.  This is a trick that can be used to revive an old finish, so we wanted to see if it would work.  Here's how it looked:

Definitely better, but not as nice as we were going for.  So we got out the stain.  It was an easy match, a reddish brown that I ended up matching almost perfectly.  We put it on the top and the drawer fronts, as everywhere else was still stained and hadn't faded as much.  Then we put on a clear polyurethane coat to protect it and add some shine.  This is how it ended up:

We were amazed at the transformation.  Aside from the worn off finish and faded stain, it had NOTHING else wrong with it, so after we refinished it it became almost like new!  Here it is, enjoying its new life as our desk.  Certainly better than sitting under a pile of junk, forgotten in a back room!

Victorian Gesso Plaster Frame Makeover

 

I found this amazing gesso plaster frame (wood frame with molded plaster designs put onto it) at a Salvation Army thrift store for $25.  It was black and had glass in it, I guess someone had used it as a picture frame.  It looked really cool black, as you can see below, but it had kind of a goth vibe to it, as  Victorian things tend to have sometimes.  This is the second frame from that time period that I have come to own, I also have one from my grandmother's childhood home which is mid 1800's.  This one could be anywhere mid-late 1800's.  It was actually in GREAT shape when I bought it.  So anyway, I decided to do a sort of shabby French country thing to it and paint it "Ocean Air" (very light aqua) with some very light gilding and distressing.  Here it goes:

The frame before, gilded black seemed a little gloomy to me:

I painted the frame Ocean Air and then a light gold on the details to antique it.  Then some light distressing, and I hung it on my wall!  I decided to leave it empty, the frame is its own artwork.  One day maybe a mirror, but I think it looks cool like this, too.  Hopefully against the white wall you can tell the color is blue, because it looks so white outside in the sun. ;)

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Here's what I did for some Christmas season whimsy. ;)

Dining Chair Make-overs complete! (Table to follow..)

I have really got to get a decent camera.  Right now I have a choice between my Blackberry, which takes hideous indoor pictures, or my photographer husband's high tech camera which I don't know how to operate properly.  Anyway, I took some photos of my finished chairs and I hope they can be seen clearly.  Finally all four chairs are done!  Now I have to get more paint and sand paper before I can do the table.  I have to admit, doing four of the same project in a row got pretty tedious, but I love them now that they are done.  I am going to get some cute chair cushions for them, probably in a red or gold French toile pattern.  We live in a student housing apartment right now while my husband Ben is in grad school for directing/cinematography, so I seriously have a living room, a "dining area" and an "office area" almost in the same one room.  I am running out of room for all of my projects, though I have a storage space in my mom's garage.  That is why I had a hard time not getting my other furnishings in the table picture.  ;) OK, back on subject here...this is one more look at the chair before:

And here they are painted "carbon copy", a faded purplish black, with distressing to define the lines and gold stenciling.

 Up close of distressed corner before I stenciled:

  

200 year old family rocking chair: a true "antique treasure!"

I want to tell a story that reminds me once again why I have such a deep love for history and antique items.  I have always felt connected to the past for some reason, often feeling as though I was born in the wrong century (though if I lived in another century it would probably not seem so special, just normal.  Haha) Really what hits me the most is how people centuries ago did many of the same things we attempt to do in contemporary times, but they put more time, energy, and love into it.  Furniture is just one example.  Nowadays we try to find the quickest and easiest way to do anything, the way that saves us the most amount of work- usually involving some kind of machinery (thanks alot, Industrial Revolution!)  People used to have to make things using...*gasp!*...their hands!  I have so much respect for people who built things like the pyramids of Egypt (no, it wasn't aliens,) or the coliseum in Rome, or pretty much any castle (or Stonehenge) in Britain, as well as the artists who painted walls and ceilings of 18th century French chateaus, and any person who nursed his or her finger blisters on a cold night after building a Louis IVX chair from scratch in a dimly lit uninsulated workshop-shack.  This is why I will not use spray paint ever again, or an electric sander.  I want to do it the old way, and I want to see the brush strokes in the paint and remember that a PERSON, not a machine, made it and that it took time and sweat and blisters and backaches to make these things that are often taken for granted.  It connects me to those people of the past in a profound way, especially when I take out the same nails that they used, and reuse them in the same way in a piece of furniture.  I feel a true connection with them.  We often forget these days, what it means to feel proud of something we have created with our own two hands.  And not to mention, most of the items we tend to buy come from factories and have no personal story to tell.  This brings me to a special story about my family, and a rocking chair.

This story is actually pretty short, mostly because between the two of them my grandparents could not even remember all of the details or people's names.  It started when my mom and I were over at their house cleaning and visiting them the other day, and letting my kids see their great-grandparents.  I was sure we had located every antique in the place, just to make sure we knew where the good things are when the time may come for us to need to know (you know what I mean, my grandparents are in their mid-80's and barely remember what is even in their house.)  However, if you find an item and bring it to my grandmother, she can usually tell you exactly where it came from and when.  Well, this day when we were there I happened to be in the guest bedroom looking for something in the closet, when I knocked a pile of jackets off of a small rocking chair that had been in the corner of that room probably for 50 years.  To my knowledge, I could not remember EVER noticing it, but then, I didn't always have an eye for old things like I do now.  Also, it looked like nothing under the coats that were on it.  But when I took a good look at it, I could easily tell that it was hand made at LEAST in the late 1800's.  I figured that it came from the old farm house which my grandmother lived in as a child (built Civil War-era) and had been torn down in the 1980's.  She retained many items from that old house, including a Civil War-era mirror which I have on my wall at home.  However, when we asked my grandfather, he just quipped, "Oh yeah, that was made by my great-great grandfather for my great grandmother.  He whittled it with his pocket knife."  This seemed like an every day occurrence to him, and he didn't even raise an eyebrow.  Also, I am assuming that since he knew a relative had made it, the amount of age associated with it didn't carry the same weight with him as it did with my mom (who was probably wondering what was the quickest way to contact Antiques Roadshow) and myself, who wanted more details about my family members!  First we tried to calculate the "greats" to figure out just when this thing was made.  My grandfather said "He'd be 200 now if he was alive." After figuring and counting and moving back in time through the generations of Wanchese, NC Tilletts and Parrons, we figured out that the chair must have been made between 1810-1830-ish.  It was the oldest family heirloom to be found yet, and I am positive the oldest one that will be found.  I am amazed that it lasted this long, with all the generations of family and children it has gone through.  This chair met relatives of mine that I have never even heard of!  I sat down and rocked in it, and aside from being made with no arms, it is as sturdy and clean as the day it was made...small and functional, just what would have been needed.  The only details my grandfather really had at the moment were that it was made by his great great grandfather for his daughter (my grandfather's great grandmother) because she needed a chair to rock her children.  Well, no one understands that need more than me, a mother whose first child required rocking to fall asleep for the first year of his life.  This chair was made lovingly and painstakingly (a pocket-knife?!?!) for the ever-present service of soothing the children.  It made me realize that I was closer to these relatives of mine than I thought.  When we eliminate the distractions of technology and "modernity" we come to see that the basic elements of life, in fact, have not changed much over the centuries.

Note: The seat is one heavy block of wood, all of the pieces were whittled, sanded, then put together.

Tiling a Table Top

A few months ago, I decided to take on this, my very first furniture make-over project.  We had an old side table from probably the 80's which we had used for various things over the past few years.  The top had become very worn due to the non-use of coasters under our wet drinks and other forms of use.  It was sitting under a table cloth not being seen by anyone when I decided I would put tiles on the top of it.  No, I had NEVER done anything like this before and I had NO idea how it would turn out.  I looked online for a tutorial and went to Home Depot to get supplies. 

The table before:

First I spray painted the whole thing chocolate brown.  I would not (and have not) ever use spray paint again.  It dripped and bubbled and I felt like it dried looking weird.  Maybe I did it wrong (probably) but I find that I have way more control using a paintbrush, and I also like to do things "the good old way."  Here it is painted:

Next I put on an adhesive/grout product which was both in one (I forget the name of it, but Home Depot had a whole wall of it.)  I smeared it all over the table top and then positioned my tiles and bits of broken glass (I purposely smashed a candle holder) where I wanted them to be. 

Next I put the grout/adhesive all over the tiles, working it into the cracks.  Mistake #2: I did not wipe the tiles off before letting it dry...because I bought grout remover and didn't think I was supposed to.  Result: grout never completely came out of the cracks in the larger corner tiles, though you have to look closely to tell.  The rest of it cleaned off nicely.  Here it is drying:

And here it is after being cleaned:

Next time (if I ever decide to do something like this again) I would use a darker colored grout because it was not easy to keep it neat on top of the darkly painted table.  But I think it came out OK.  I guarantee no one else has a side table like this. ;)

The Continuing Saga of My Dining Set

OK, in case you didn't already read ALL about this on Facebook (I am having trouble getting people to actually read my blog, haha) I am in the process of redoing my dining table and chairs.  I originally had wanted to collect four random antique chairs and a table, paint them all the same, and make them a set.  However, this is proving to take much longer than I expected.  I collected three chairs from my grandparents garage, but only one is actually strong enough to really use (with 2 kids) and that one has no seat.  Also, I have yet to find the table I really want.  So until I get all of the pieces to complete that plan, I have to live with the table and chairs that we have now.  Right now we have a fairly plain square pub-style table (taller than usual, you could pull a bar stool up to it) with four chairs, stained a reddish brown color.  Other than a few minor chips in the finish from wear and tear, it is an extremely sturdy wood set.  It really does pain me to admit this, but Ben and I got it at Wal-Mart because we lived in a small place without a real dining room, which is the way our apartment is now ("dining room" is an office AND dining area.)  We needed something quick and the right size, and cheap...and this was also before we realized we had any sense of style.  So, I decided that a paint job will make a huge difference in how much I am able to live with this furniture without cringing every time I look at it.  I decided on an antique black paint, then distressing the edges to bring out the lines, and some antique gold stencil details.  Here are the pictures of the transformation...so far I have done 2 chairs.  I think to mix it up I will do the table next.

OK, first of all, here are some pictures to show you my paint inspiration.  These are pictures of antique chairs with the paint scheme I was going for, though they are more elaborate.

Here is a picture of one of my chairs before:

Here I have just painted it "carbon copy" which is a sort of purplish black, almost like ink.  (Benjamin Moore "Ben" paint in semi-gloss.)

This is a photo after the distressing with sand paper, and a side by side before and after with the old chair.

Finally, I did some gold stencils with my trusty Martha Stewart antique gold craft paint.  I purposely made them look as though they are fading off from wear.

And, one more side by side comparison.

I think they look a lot better now.  A little more stylish and with WAY more character.  I will do another post when I finish the table. ;)