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Sunday, October 30, 2011

How do you like me now?


As I was working on this project I found myself humming "How Do You Like Me Now" by Toby Keith.  Does it look familiar to you?  Well, this is how it looked when I first spotted it at the antique store....


As you can see, it had some issues.  The dealer was asking $40 , but I talked her down to $30.  Even at $30, I was still on the fence about buying it, so I submitted a photo to Junker Newbie's "Would You Buy it Wednesday" linky party to get some input from fellow junkers.  I received comments from one end of the spectrum to the other, but in the end, I just couldn't pass it up and paid the $30!!!

When I got it home, I was pleasantly surprised how sturdy ( and heavy ) it is.  I cleaned it up, ripped off the rotted canvas that was thumbtacked to the top, and carefully removed pieces of trim to replace the broken or missing glass panes.  I  brought a piece of the trim I removed to Lowe's and had the paint color-matched.  The paint color matches the faded finish perfectly and is called pillow mint.  I didn't want it to look new, so I gave it one coat of paint just to even things out and lightly sanded it to bring back the patina.   Since it's going to our youngest daughter's house, I added three wood strips over the glass panels on each side to keep little hands and paws from harm's way.


I also added beadboard to the back and a new wood top to give it a more furniture-like appearance.



I looked high and low for book plates and finally found them in the scrapbooking department at JoAnn Fabrics, but they were a little too shiny for my taste.
















So, I aged them with a solution I use to blacken bright silver solder lines on leaded glass windows. 


A local carpenter made me a new wood divider.  Thanks, Dad.



The bottom corner wasn't broken as I originally thought.  All of the corners are pieced in this fashion, so I borrowed a corner from the back and attached it with "L" brackets.

I left this ....decorative painting intact.

And here's the finished piece!


Now, some Pottery Barn inspired accessorizing.


Here it is accessorized with bits and pieces from around our house.


Today we are delivering this piece to its new home.  I know Megan will have fun adding her own vintage treasures to the cubbies.  And someday when shabby, chippy style goes out of vogue, it will still be a utilitarian piece.  It could be used for storing canned goods, boots and shoes, paint cans, any number of things.  Who knows, it may even come full circle if my dream of having my own little space in an antique shop when I retire comes true.

Linked to:
French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday
Miss Mustard Seeds Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special
The Brambleberry Cottage Time Travel Thursday
Laurieanna's Farmhouse Fridays

33 comments:

  1. You've got vision. Useful, chippy and beautiful.
    - Joy

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  2. Ah! You bought it and did a great job remaking it!! This was quite a while ago wasn't it? It looks great...and will chippy shabby ever go out of style?? Will we let it go out?!!! lol

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  3. I love it! Betcha if the dealer saw it now she would definitely want it back (in it's after state of course).

    xo,
    Danielle

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  4. I love it ! It turned out great !

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  5. Vicki,
    girl, you have the vision! It turned out fabulous, you are so handy! Looks wonderful with all your things in it! I see you have one of those old sp coffee pots, love them, I have a small collection I picked up one year at the 700 mi yard sale. They were all priced under $5.00 each. Love them.
    Rebecca

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  6. PS. Vickie, just read your 7 things, very interesting! Fun getting to know more about your "blogging" friends! Thanks for the sweet comments!
    Rebecca

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  7. I'll admit I couldn't see as much hope for that piece as you did. You gave it an amazing transformation and it's perfect for a young family! I'm sure your daughter will love it! Great Job!

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  8. Wow!!! A diamond from a lump of coal! I really do love it. And you fixed it up perfectly with all the white. So Pretty!!

    ♥Linsey

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  9. Wow! You have vision! I am impressed at the result! Happy week!...hugs...Debbie

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  10. I just love it! The whole thing... from cubbies to the trip over the rainbow and blue birds flying. :-)

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  11. Vickie, that came out sooo great! I love how you put the slats on the sides, makes it look sorta mission style now. Gotta remember your tip for darkening shiney hardware too.
    It's a great makeover all the way around. Your daughter will be thrilled to own it.

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  12. love this piece its so cute. i love the cubbies and the tags you used and great way you antiqued them. i would love to feature it , let me know if this would be ok with you.
    lauren

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  13. It's quite lovely! I like the little book plates you used and I think $30 was a great deal!

    Tania

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  14. It's beautiful! Love the darkened hardware and the paint colour is perfect :)

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  15. Oh, my gosh! It's SO COOL! And so pretty! You really did a fabulous job on that! I'm more than a little jealous of your daughter, if I'm going to be honest. I love it!

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  16. Well, aren't you clever?! That turned out great!

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  17. Oh wow, anyone would be happy to have this little gem in their house, your daughter is so lucky!

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  18. That is a lovely little piece and you are so right that it is very versatile. You styled it so nicely.

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  19. Beautiful job! I think $30 was a great deal! :)

    xoxo laurie

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  20. I love it and think it's one great piece! Love how you have filled it.

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  21. That is one ahhh-mazing transformation! Popped over from MMS!

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  22. Great transformation - I love the color. Great idea to add the book plates. Your daughter is very lucky! I'm here from primp.

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  23. LOVE how this came out!! What a treasure! Thanks so much for linking up at Feathered Nest Friday !

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  24. LOVE this!!!

    I'm featuring this on my blog tomorrow! I hope you'll stop by and grab a button!

    http://vintagemellie.blogspot.com

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  25. This is beautiful! I'm visiting from Laurie Anna's. Thanks for sharing!
    Courtney

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  26. Gorgeous. Those bookplate thingies are great. I never thought to get them in the scrapbooking dept. Love the color you painted it!

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  27. this is so awesome,--i just love it! great burlap advent project, too:)

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  28. Such a great transformation. Love it. You knocked it out of the park on this one!

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  29. I found you on West Furniture Revival and I am your newest follower. I love what you did with this! Great job!

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  30. I pinned this to my pinterest board and withing 30 minutes it had been repinned 14 times! WOW!

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Your comments make it all worthwhile. Thanks for visiting today!

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