Changing Direction in Midstream

In late October, I found a wonderful deal on a large Hoosier cupboard (a Sellers, if we want to be perfectly correct about it) on Craig's List.  Having a Hoosier is a Bucket List item for me, so I convinced The Husband to come along ... to Waynesboro, which is an hour and a half away from here. 

The cupboard was everything I hoped it would be, though it was filthy and tired.  The deal was completed, the Hoosier loaded up, and we brought it home.

We unloaded it into the driveway, and proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon with Simple Green cleaner and scrubbing pads and buckets of water, cleaning the filth off of it enough for us to be comfortable bringing it into the house.

"Much better, Mommy," says Alice.

I wanted so badly for this to look good in this one particular spot in our dining room, but it was not to be.  At only 72" tall, the Hoosier looked squatty and small against the 9 1/2 foot ceiling.  One day, I got a brainstorm and decided that this would be a wonderful cabinet for the sewing room (my cutting board fits perfectly on the enamel top) ... so up to the sewing room it went.  And it's been there ever since, waiting to be refurbished.

My initial plan was to match the original color of this cupboard, which is a dark greenish grey, and repaint it.  In its history, it's been grey, then white, then this awful aqua ... it's terrible if you see it in person, and I usually LOVE aqua and turquoise.

This side must have been up against a wall when the cupboard was painted green.

Yesterday, I was in the workshop and I decided to see if I could mix up a comparable grey using my Annie Sloan chalk paints.  I took equal parts of Olde White and Graphite, added a bit of Olive to green it up, and it looked pretty good.  Not perfect, but acceptable.

... and I proceeded to paint the side of the cupboard ... then I removed the upper doors and moved on to the front frame.

The color dried a little bit darker and it was not as green as I thought it would be, and the cupboard began to look a bit like a WWII era army desk.  I convinced myself that I could make it work, and I kept painting.

I removed the drawers and doors from the base, and I noticed that there was some loose paint that needed to be scraped off.  With my trusty carbide pull scraper in hand, I quickly realized that there must have been no surface preparation done before this piece was painted white, and I could easily scrape ALL the paint off ... down to the original, which was stuck on tight.

About half an hour of scraping later, I had the whole front of the base clean as a whistle.  I'm really liking this scraped, chippy, original look.

After I cleaned up my mess on the floor of the sewing room (tiny chips of paint EVERYWHERE), I took one of the doors outside to see if I could scrape it, too.  If I could, my plan to chalk paint this cupboard would be shelved in favor of scraping it down to the original finish and waxing it.

As I scraped the door, I found this ...

The original stencil was still perfectly intact!  That seals it ... there will be no chalk paint transformation for this beauty, and I will scrape off the little bit of chalk paint that I applied.

Now I just have to go to the paint store and get a new scraper blade, because the one I have is pretty dull.

This is a project that I can work on as I get the time and inclination  (which means, don't look for it to be finished any time soon).  That's okay ... with what little I have done, I can already see that I will love it. 

An Unexpected Thrift Store Treasure

Last week, I stopped by a thrift store that I had never seen before, the Full Circle Thrift on Stevens Street in downtown Culpeper.  I saw it while I was taking the 'scenic route' home after my weekly trip to stock and fluff my booth.  Even though I have a pretty decent supply of raw furniture items already in storage here, I can't help looking to see if I can find more things that I can add to the stash. 

Outside the shop, in the clearance area, I found this sewing machine cabinet.  It was marked down to $20, from $65, and I think I was giggling as I paid for it and loaded it into the truck.

The size is great, and the details will be lovely with a patina paint job.

The top has definitely been subjected to some abuse, but that's not too hard to fix.

I could see this repurposed with a lift-up top, made into a storage or blanket chest.

As I opened the doors on the front of the cabinet, my resolve to remake this cabinet began to fade.

Inside the right-hand door was the original manual for the sewing machine ... which had come apart and was being held together with a paper clip.  Someone cared enough about it to make sure that none of the pages got lost.

On the left, there is a small storage drawer.

Inside the drawer was practically a time capsule ... bobbins, a bobbin box, a package of embroidery needles, a wooden needle holder, a sharpener for scissors, and screwdrivers.  Look how the drawer even has a small built-in pin cushion.

The sewing machine itself is heavy and solid.  I crossed my fingers, plugged it in, and it appears to work PERFECTLY!  These old machines are fairly primitive, and they're made with all metal parts, so they last almost forever if kept out of dampness.  This machine has obviously been used and loved until quite recently.

The 1927 patent date on the motor suggests that it's from the late 1920s or early 1930s.

As I stood there in my workshop thinking about this, the bargain cabinet that I bought and originally thought I would paint and repurpose transformed into a sewing machine that was once part of someone's family.  I lost my nerve and my conscience took over ... this piece will NOT be dismantled and WILL continue its history as a functioning sewing machine ... in MY sewing room.  I have the space for it up there (but just barely), and I think it will come in really handy for some of the more heavy-duty sewing I do ... like my dog collars, which my current Kenmore machine sometimes refuses to handle.

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Here is your daily reminder to vote for our grandson, Caleb, in the Parents Magazine cutest baby contest.  You can vote once per day, per computer.  Please share this link on your blog and FB, to reach as many folks as possible and help Caleb get to the top!

Edited ... Caleb didn't win the contest, even though we all know that he is, indeed, the cutest baby in the whole world!

Helpful Kitties

While I was working in the sewing room yesterday, upholstering a fantastic daybed that I will show you when it's finished, Alice came in and made herself right at home in the middle of what I was doing. 

I love this about cats.  They come in to remind us that life is not always about work and accomplishments ... sometimes one has to stop and appreciate the cuteness in life.

There's a whole lot of cute in this little furry package!