Old Mother Hubbard has chosen her cupboard.

So as not to keep you teetering on the edge of your seat  ;o)

I'm going to reveal my cabinet choice......and I may 

have some splainin' to do.

 I confess, I already had the cabinet in place before I published my last post.

I wasn't afraid of being swayed by popular opinion, because just like most of you,

I like what I like and ain't nobody changin' my mind.  Well, it's possible

I may have been swayed a tiny bit.

It wasn't that I disliked our white armoire, the problem was that it didn't function well 

in the room.  No matter where it was positioned, it partially blocked one of the windows,

and if you've read my blog at all, you know that natural light is of utmost importance to me.

The other problem was that I want seating arranged on the shorter walls of the room

for a more expansive view (when I'm not watching TV) rather than the closed-in

feeling of facing the fireplace wall.  It's hard to capture a feeling in photos,

but there you have it.  The armoire had to go.  In fact, it just left on its way
to a friend's lake cabin where it will be happy to spend the rest of its days
storing quilts and pillows.  So long old friend!

Drum roll please..........

My choice was the least popular of the 3......

What?!!

The craftsman cabinet below was exactly what I thought I wanted.

I printed the photo and held it at arm's length in front of me so it was the right size

on the wall (you've all done that, right?) and I instantly knew it wasn't for me.

I didn't like the busyness of the whole thing, and furthermore, my TV wouldn't look any better

behind the glass than it would out in the open.  As for the smaller free cabinet,

the TV would still be staring me in the face, so that was an easy elimination.

The rather primitive pie safe has a more calm feeling to it.

 The doors don't exactly shut and the drawers don't fit quite right, but

it's nothing a dozen or so shims won't fix.  If you live in an old house,

you may as well stock up on wood shims.  You'll be needing them.

The cabinet isn't centered under the window, and shockingly, it doesn't even bother me!

There were, however, a few things that needed to be addressed right off the bat.

First, I cut 6 inches off each leg.  Height problem solved.

No need to worry about mice climbing the now short stubby legs to snack on

pies I don't bake!

I just tipped the cupboard on its side and used a hand saw to cut through

the legs which cut like buttah.  Easy!  I thought about leaving the front legs

3/8" longer to allow for the dip in our floors, but that seemed wrong,

so they're all the same length.  Shims please!

Next, I covered the 1980's fruitwood stain and poly with a few coats of paint.

Photo taken after 2 coats of paint at 10 PM.  Yawn.  Time to quit.

In case you hadn't noticed, the door panels and side panels had been replaced with plywood,
and it had been hastily refinished at some point and stained an orangey brown,

so I had no guilt about painting it.  If I can tone down the orange, I may keep the top

as is, but I can always change my mind later.  Painting alone helped easy my

buyer's remorse that kept me awake the first night after I bought it.  Is it my forever cabinet?

I don't know, but until the perfect one comes along, it'll do just fine.

In the end, my room may not be picture perfect, but it's got a cozy feeling it didn't have before.
I'll post photos later when the painting is complete.....and the cable and electrical cords
are hidden.....and the new door latches are in place......

Just one more thing before I sign off.  Did you know that Etsy will email photos of items

they think you might be interested in once you sign up for an Etsy account?  Here's

what they suggested I might like to purchase next......

he he

No doubt they assigned this little feller to me after the 

cow clock debacle.  I guess I could start a collection of one-eared what-nots.....

and buy the pink cabinet to display them in!

Thanks for playing along and sharing your thoughts.

Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:
Tweak it Tuesday Cozy Little House
Share Your Style  The Essence of Home

Winter whites.

I took my sweet time deciding whether to paint it or leave

it "as is", but in the end white paint won out.

If it were hanging in a bright white kitchen, I'd have left the pretty weathered wood,
 but this is where it lives and the wood finish just felt dark and heavy.

 I simply painted it with good old-fashioned white semi-gloss paint.
  There's plenty of texture under the new paint to show its age.
  I picked out the knobs at Hobby Lobby to go with the old wood finish,
 but I think they work fine with white, too.

I brushed a combo of rust and brown craft paint over the new chicken wire
to make it look as old as the rusty hinges on the doors.  It only took about 45 minutes,
but it was tedious work that would have taken 5 minutes if I had done it
before I stapled it to the doors.  Hindsight.

I found an old pink sewing basket to join a faded quilt on top of the cupboard.

Since it's the holiday season, I glammed it up a bit with
teeny tiny 1 inch trees I found at JoAnn Fabrics.

 I glittered the trees, glued a wee jingle bell on top and set the trees
 on old spools of thread that were left inside the pink sewing basket.
  Since I don't decorate with pastels anywhere else in the house,
 I had fun playing with them here.

Now it feels so much brighter in this corner of the room!
Our house is not large by today's standards, so every room is a
multipurpose room.  This is the Master Sewing Guest Room.

On the other side of the room........

This little dresser had been stripped of its original finish and was an 

awful shade of brown when I found it.  I painted it with yellow chalk paint

and propped a Christmas ornament on top that looks like a dollhouse.

It sits on my old pie crust table that I painted white last winter.

  I have no idea what possessed me to buy this at an estate sale
other than it's so darn cute!  It's hanging on the white door that was a victim
 of my accident with a can of stain this fall.  As you can see, all the stain came out
 and it's back to a nice crisp white.

Well, that's the extent of my decorating so far because I took on the
monumental task of painting our kitchen over the past 4 days.
I.  Am.  Exhausted.

It's almost done, but I had to call it quits because it's time to
deck our halls!

Thanks for stopping by!
Vickie

*I'm joining the party at:
Mod Vintage Life  Mod Mix Monday
Shabby Story Creating Christmas
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday

I'm gonna pop some tags.......

Now I'm singing the Thrift Shop Song!

I'm gonna pop some tags,  I only got 20 dollars in my pocket.......


If you gloss over the "f bombs" in the rest of the lyrics, this song is a pretty darn humorous take on
the way we buy junk at the thrift store just because it's cheap!

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis won a total of 4 Grammy Awards this year.
For "Thrift Shop", they won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance,
but I'm not quite sure if they're musicians or comedians.
It's obvious that at least one of them knows the pitfalls of shopping at the thrift.


About a month ago, our local thrift store moved to a new location where they're no longer
competing for street parking with the Corner Bar. ( Doesn't every small town have a Corner Bar?)
  Even in the early morning hours, the bar patrons hog all the good parking spots
 whilst sipping their morning brew?  Hmmm.  Shame on them.
  All that gluten!!!    burp

 Now that there's convenient parking, I've been popping in (the thrift store, not the bar)
 during my not-so-quick-trips to Walmart and Lowe's.  I'd like to think now that I'm older and wiser,
 I'm a bit more discerning about what I buy these days, but I'll let you be the judge.
 Did I impulsively buy this stuff just because it was cheap?

Here we go.

Two old farmhouse kitchen chairs.

$2.99 each!

These chairs have already been claimed by one of our daughters
 and will not be cluttering up our garage.  Whew!!!

(If you remember, I vowed to quit buying old junk for our girls,
 but for that price I couldn't pass up the chairs!)


Inspiration photo from Pottery Barn Kids.

Sweet.

Better Homes and Gardens.

Swoon!
Not exactly the same chairs, but close enough.
Loving the green chandelier, too.  And the shades.  And the plank walls.
And the art.  And the sailboat.  And the bench.  And the wicker table.

Country Living.
Wouldn't you love all those windows in your dining room?

Two old English transferware plates.

50 cents apiece.
Score!

Inspiration photos from Romantic Homes.

 I love this color combination.

Country Living.
What could be more festive at Christmas than red & white plates in a green cupboard?

Simple and elegant at A Country Farmhouse blog.

My beginner collection.

Shop class wall shelf.

99 cents.


Inspiration photo.

Source unknown.  Pinterest.

 I've been searching for one wood element to add to
my gallery wall and this little shelf fits the bill.

Cute and slightly kittywampus.  Fits right in.

Two straw hats.

$4.99 each.
Not so cheap for the thrift store, but they give a lot of bang for the buck.

Inspiration.

Audrey, Audrey, Audrey.  Has any woman ever looked more fetching in a stylish hat than Audrey?
Do you look good in hats?  Me?  Not so much.

  Look!  Hats on the wall and an old farmhouse chair, too!
If Sara Richardson is decorating with this old junk, it must be good stuff!



Love this!

(Source unknown.)
Note to self.  Lots of straw bags available at the thrift shop.
Must check out during next outing.

"Bill, I need to make a quick run to.....ah.... Walmart?  I'll be right back."
(The thrift shop is exactly 9 blocks from our house.)

My hats and new straw bag will be added to this coat rack.

So, there you have it.
All for under $20 and I still have change in my pocket!

Pause a moment before you buy to make sure the items
in your cart are not only cheap, but useful, and most of all
make your heart go pitter-pat!

Thanks for visiting and go out and pop some tags today!

yo,
Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:

Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Revisionary Life Thrifty Life Thursday
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

Switcheroo.

If you live in an old house that has shifted and sagged

over the years you know what a challenge it was to hang this

crooked old cupboard on a crooked old wall......and yet provide the illusion
that it's all plumb, level, and square.

Here's what it looked like when we brought it home.
A mere skeleton of a cupboard.

  Our daughter Julie asked if anybody wanted it and I couldn't say yes fast enough!
Somebody else may have shouted  NO!!, but with my hearing issues I can't really be sure.  :)

The old kitchen cupboard is about an inch too wide to sit on top of the dresser,

so I devised what I thought was a simple plan to hang it on the wall.

Ha!  It took three days of hoisting that thing up and down to get it right.

By the way, has anybody watched Renovation Realities on HGTV?
If you're feeling discouraged about your current DIY project, this show is
guaranteed to make your job seem like a simple task.
  It's sort of a "how not to renovate your home" featuring clueless idiots!!! 
 Friday nights at 7.  Don't miss it!

The first thing I did was replace the rusted out nails with wood screws to beef it up.
(I got tired of the thing falling apart in my hands every time I moved it.)

I replaced the bottom shelf that was twisted and warped with a piece of leftover redwood.
We were in the middle of a snowstorm, so I used whatever wood I could find in our stash.
I hope my daughter finds the 2 missing drawers in their garage this spring.  hint hint
If not, I'm sure I can construct 2 crooked drawers that will look original to the piece.

I added horizontal wood supports across the back of the cupboard,

and then nailed tongue-and-groove wood strips vertically to create a finished back.
A piece of trim hides the slightly uneven cuts of the pine strips.

I screwed 3 heavy duty metal brackets into the wall studs, and topped them with
 a section of pine stair tread cut to length for the base.  Then I nailed
quarter round trim around the perimeter to hide the metal brackets.
My master plan changed somewhat as I went along.

The doors are so darn lopsided, I gave up on my idea of installing glass
and made shirred curtain panels out of old curtains
to conceal the contents of the cupboard.

 

 Before stain.

After stain. Hideous!!!!!

Last of all, I mixed and matched stains to try to blend the new wood
 with the weathered old finish, but I didn't care at all for the way the new pine took on stain.

  I remembered reading about a method of aging new pine with vinegar
and steel wool, but our internet was down, so in desperation I winged it.
 I dipped steel wool into apple cider vinegar and scrubbed the already stained wood.
My technique was all wrong, but it worked anyway!  How often does that happen?
 After the vinegar treatment, I rubbed in watered down white latex paint to tone down the color.

Thank you, Julie!  I love my new wall cupboard!

The cupboard is now home to my sewing patterns and notions.
This is where I do my sewing, and I've been moving my sewing paraphernalia that was previously
 stored all over the house into cupboards and closets on the upper level of our house.
(There goes my cardio workout of running up and down 2 flights of stairs
countless times looking for this or that when I'm sewing!)

Another of my toy sewing machines.

I paid $35 for the Eastlake dresser over 30 years ago,
and it's still one of my favorite pieces of old furniture.  It will never be painted.

My dressmaker's form is wearing a vintage spring dress I
found last year.  Notice the tiny waistline of the dress.

The label says it's size 13/14, but today would be a size 6.

I found the mercury glass perfume atomizers years apart
at different estate sales, but they're a matching set.

Slightly dusty clock.  It must be the maid's day off.

The teacup is my "jewelry box".


So, what did my daughter get in exchange?

We hauled this nearly 8 foot tall door-turned-mirror on top of
our Matrix in the dead of winter.  It was a 4 hour nail-biting, teeth-grinding trip,
but the mirror made it unscathed.  Whew!!!


One daughter's trash is her mother's treasure and vice versa.
Sorry guys.

Thanks for stopping by!
Vickie

I'm joining the parties at:
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday
Revisionary Life Thrifty Life Thursday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Funky Junk Interiors Party Junk