What's old is new-but-vintage-shabby again.

My daughter found this diamond in the (very-very-very) rough for me a few weeks ago.(She's a cardiac recovery nurse by day, but a junker with a keen eye on her time off) Now, for who-knows-why, someone had painstakingly covered all of the shelves in faux wood grained contact paper (Is that heinous, or what?!) and had painted the body of the piece a very bright..umm..I guess I will call it..caramel color. Pretty hideous overall. Anyway, that is what one might think at first glance.

Upon closer inspection, the piece had good lines. It was clearly originally an old armoir, but the doors were long gone, so it has these six wonderful cubbies. (look past the contact paper, people.) And the drawers...the drawers had been painted an off white at some point in time and they were chippied and rustic looking, which was the part of the piece that both my daughter and I loved most of all.(It's hard to tell in the photo, but the dark center is a cool vintage pull in a dark pewter patina metal.)

I took one of the drawers to my good ol' Home Depot and they color matched the paint. I came home and painted. And painted. And painted. I got most of the contact paper off, but it left the shelves sticky (there was a lot of mumbling under my breath at this stage of the "rejunkinating" as my friend Carol calls it.) I covered the sticky shelves with my old bookpages, natch. Here's another angle, from inside...
In the end, it was all worth the effort. A lot of sanding, and this gem is a charming example of shabby charm at it's best. (Kind of Anthropolgie-meets-Rachel-Ashwell, no?) I know the photo isn't great, 'coz it was taken from outside the window....

Anyway, I love it. I love it so much I wish it could stay and live in my workroom for-evah.

*sigh* No such luck, though. It's just too perfect for the window display at Camas Antiques. And that is where it is now.

Comments

[jenclair]

I love it, too! And your entire display had been fun to watch!

[amber]

Oh that's beautiful. What a great idea to cover the sticky shelves with old pages from a book. It turned out gorgeous.

My little sis lives in Camas and I've told her about your blog. She said she is/was meeting with a lady at Camas Antiques to see about selling some of her beautiful bookmarks. I told her to find your booth! Wish I could see it too, but I live in Utah now.

[Barb in CA]

Been meaning to let you know how much I enjoy your blog. The window display is wonderful and the new piece you "rejunkinated" is delightful!

[Christa from Chloe Rose]

It is beautiful. The music pages were a great idea. I didn't realize you were in the Camas area.....I love to walk by Camas Antiques front window.....always great eye candy!

[Peg M.]

so clever...and beautiful!

[Sandy]

Great redo! worth the work!

[gretchen]

you brought this piece back to life...in fact the face lift probably made it better than new for most of us!

[Dawn @ The Feathered Nest]

My goodness girl, it looks VERY Habersham Plantation to me....of course after your wonderful handiwork it REALLY looks like it...xxoo, Dawn

[Vicki K]

What a lot of work...but for beautiful results! I love how the pillows look so casual waiting for the next guest. And the sheet music was brilliant for looks and for dealing with the residue. Bravo!

[Amber]

It turned out perfect! I think the pages add character and it's a lovely spot for storage and display. It was worth the effort & elbow grease!

[Nancy's Daily Dish]

Your daughter does have a keen eye! It would take someone with just that type of vision to see the underlying beauty and potential of this piece. I love what you did with it. The book pages are so charming!!!

[Elaine L.]

I love it!

If I lived closer, I would be buying your furniture. I need something like this or your display cabinet with the shelves that slide out for my vintage linens, I've collected, but want to be able to have in view. I've gotten some great ideas from you!

~elaine~

[Cottage Sunshine]

Oh, I love it! What a great idea to use the music sheets on those sticky shelves...as I was reading your post, and all the work and then when you mentioned the sticky residue, I thought..."wow, what a mess" :) But I should have known you would have the perfect solution!

[Bambi]

ohhh...I likey alot!!