vintage tuesday

new life to forgotten pieces. one of my most favorite things to tackle. on separate occasions, i found 2 fabulous (and super purposeful) OLD pieces of furniture. the 1st being an old farmhouse cabinet. solid wood with little shelves inside. completely roached with layers of funk and then some more layers of funk. the 2nd being a tall cabinet with sagging shelves. super old, hand constructed, sagging...but surprisingly strong! and beyond dirty. beyond. now, some people would run screaming when they see that much funk and grime. but i see potential! major storage and major character! just think of the stories these pieces could tell. you just need a whole bunch of good ol' fashioned elbow grease and a sander and some paint...a forgotten treasure given a new life. love that so much.

here is that old cabinet.

a good cleaning started to reveal some really cool chipped up paint. but the greyish green wasn't working for me...

a couple sandings...making sure not to sand all the way down to the original wood. i wanted to keep that chippy look under the new paint...

then on to some paint...i wanted something bright... a turquoise color. i apply with a brush in light layers. after the paint is dry, i go back over with the hand sander (love you hand sander). really concentrating on corners and edges and areas where there would be normal wear. i think this keeps the character of the piece...

i love it so much and am so happy to give it a home:)

and here is the tall cabinet. i found this in a basement workshop at an old farm. it was gross. even for my standards. i thought originally that i would knock those shelves out and replace them with new wood. but they were surprisingly strong! i wound up only knocking out the very bottom shelf and keeping the rest for now.


this next picture was after a couple sandings. paint was peeling off pretty bad and the grime on it was terrible.

i really liked the blue...but decided to go with a cheery yellow paint and white interior.

painted with a brush...a few layers right over the blue paint...and then sanded to let some of that original blue peek through. i wish the photo showed that better... but here ya go.

love it so much! this would have been thrown in the garbage and now it is sparkly clean and fresh and lives in jake's room holding legos and books! how cool is that.

happy tuesday everyone! i feel like i'm always asking forgiveness for not being a better blog pal lately. i just can't find the extra time to answer all your emails right now. i'm trying to spend time with the boys...pack up the house...work...and prepare for this move. i'm overwhelmed most days for sure. i want you to know how much i appreciate your support. so much. thank you for not giving up on me. i sure do adore you all! xox...jenn