Not Too Shabby & Re-Find Living: 2010

Cabinet = Part 2

6:56 PM

It has been a long week, and here's what we finished so far:

We had to take most of the cabinet apart and removed many large nails and metal plates that had been used in previous repairs. The nails had caused cracks and I didn't want that.

We used the old back from the top (1/2 of a back) and combined it with the existing 1/2 back on the bottom to create a complete back for the bottom.

Then we took some vintage tongue & groove flooring and created the back for the top of the cabinet. This took a lot of hand work as I had to sand down all 4 sides to make it slim enough to fit within the grooves of the center support and tops.

Then we mounted the bottom of the top back on, and had to use some wood putty on the sides to fix some previous repairs by others. I've left it to dry and get solid for a few days.

Jimmy then cut wood for the shelves inside the top. They rest on the existing wood side brackets.

The next part is to fix all the trim. For some reason all of the corner trim pieces are missing. The trim is wide/deep that is difficult to recreate so Jimmy took a side piece and we cut the necessary corners out of that piece. It will be easier to mimic the trim on a long side piece rather than the 6 corner pieces we needed.

Jimmy also came up with a great idea for the center of the cabinet doors, we bought some beautiful copper backsplash pieces and cut them to fit. It was a little more than I wanted to spend as we decided we needed to double up the backsplash so you see it from the front and when the doors are open.

Next steps: glue/attach all trim pieces, add 4 feet to the bottom (so it won't damage any trim when moved), finish gluing the doors and cutting the door trim, mount all door hinges, repair drawer (I need to get help with the router cuts need for this part), cut the back splash for the cabinet doors, clean, sand, varnish the inside, paint the outside (I''m leaning towards a light blue over yellow gold, which I will then sand almost all off). I think another 2 weeks of labor then 2 - 3 weeks of drying time.

French Hutch

1:11 PM

I am always on the search for great furniture that I can 'improve' by repairing and painting. Mostly I find furniture from the 50's, 60's, 70's (yes, the 70's is considered vintage), but occasionally I come across treasure. Something that it so amazing, usually an antique (over 100 years old), that needs more work than I have the talent for - but I can't walk away. By the time I have found it, if I walk away, it is on it's way to the trash bin where it will be lost forever. So I pack it up on the van and get it home where I squeeze it into the garage, and try to ensure no further damage will be incurred until I can figure out how to fix it.

What I have learned over the course of my furniture rescue activity is that not everyone sees the treasures I do (WHAT!). Many see it as trash, garbage or (gasp!) firewood. Where I see an 18 bottle wine rack, others see an old contemporary nightstand with peeling veneer and missing drawers. A 1940's vanity missing the mirror, peeling veneer, and broken middle drawer makes a wonderful great linen cabinet with glass knobs when you cut out the middle drawer and mount the side drawers on top of each other.

One of the best treasures I have found is an amazing hutch. It is about 7 feet tall, has 2 drawers, 4 doors, great trim, carved pieces, basically an amazing piece of furniture. I bought it out of a storage unit around 3 1/2 years ago and knowing that it was beyond my wood working skills, I stored it in the garage till a later date. Occasionally I would pull it out and look at it again, and decide I still wasn't quite up to the challenge. Here's what it looks like:

This story is going to have a wonderful ending. My cousin Jimmy is visiting, from Metropolis Ill. He came out with his daughter's family (Eric, Michelle, Dylan, and Austin) as they complete the mainland leg of their relocation from Troy, Missouri to Hawaii (Whoo Hoo!!!) where Eric will be the new Music Minister (an exciting adventure). Anyway, back to my treasure. Cousin Jimmy is amazing with wood and when I pulled out the two pieces of the hutch, and all the smaller 'bits' he smiled and started rubbing the wood. He has taken on the challenge.

So far, we have borrowed a router, bits, gone to the hardware store for some trim pieces and an insert for the top doors, glues, putty, and other unfamiliar bits. We determined that the piece suffered water damage (maybe wicked up when stored in a barn), that it may be made of cypress wood and it is very old, I think over 150 years.

It's fun to have someone working in the garage with me this week and I'll keep you updated on the progress.

New Display

2:30 PM

Magazines, Magazines, Magazines

4:49 PM

Recovering a Stool

12:09 PM

Just picked up this great vanity stool. It has a nice wooden seat that makes it perfect to recover, I'm going to use burlap, some egg crate foam, and cotton batting. This is a great first upholstery project because there is a wooden seat to wrap and cover instead of strapping.

Here, I'll show you all the steps.

You'll need egg crate, cotton batting, burlap, staple gun, screwdriver, and scissors for this project.

First, I unscrewed the seat bottom from the legs, then I cut an
egg crate cushion to fit, cotton batting slightly larger (so it wraps
around the egg crate) then a much larger piece of burlap.

Then center the seat on top of everything, with the burlap as the bottom, and I pull on corner of the burlap up and over everything, then using the staple gun, I staple it into place. Next I pull up the corner of burlap opposite the side I just did, pulling tight, and staple in place. Then turn the seat a 1/4 turn and pull up that corner, staple, and then the final corner, pull tight and staple.

Now I can flip it over and make sure that I have pulled it evenly and like how it lays, now is the time to make sure the cover lays flat, shows the design you like, and isn't crooked or unevenly pulled. It's easy to start over here, just pull out the staples and reposition, then start over.

Note: I used size 8 staples, and stapled along a 1/2-inch edge of the seat.

Now that I have verified I like how the cover lays, I will go around the cushion, pulling the burlap a uniform tightness, staple, and shift to the opposite side, doing this about 15 more times, I finish the cover.

Flip it over to give it one final review, now it's time to trim the excess burlap. Using good scissors, I like to trim the burlap within a 1/4-inch of the outside staples. This gives me a smooth finish that won't show when I re-attach the legs.

After trimming the burlap and cotton to a nice even look, I then use the original screws and re-attach the covered seat to the legs.

Now, I think I'll add a little burlap ruffle along the edge. This will help cover the staples and add a little personality to the seat.

Viola! all done in under an hour, and the stool looks fantastic. I'll bring it into the store on Thursday and we'll see how long it takes for someone to fall in love with it and take it home.

Bobbi