A Roadside Find Transformed into an Outdoor Beverage Cabinet

Sometime around mid March, as I was on my way home from one of the kid's basketball games, I came across this little cabinet sitting all by itself on the side of the road. Immediately I stopped the car and jumped out for quick inspection. It seemed to be in pretty good shape despite the worn finish and ridiculous number of spider webs and spider's eggs.

The piece sat in our garage for about a month or so until I finally decided to pull it out and take a really good look at it. I took the sander to the top and sides and made the happy discovery that this poor neglected cabinet was solid wood! Now I love painted furniture just as much as the next DIYer, but for some reason I kept thinking 'leave it o'natural!'

I also needed to determine where to put my new little cabinet. My mind quickly went to the thought of using the piece on our screened-in back porch because I was so desperately in need of some storage space there. To be honest I hated the fact that I had to run in and out of the house with my plastic plates and cups every time the kid's asked to eat outside. So while this cabinet is primarily the centerpiece for serving outdoor libations, I am also using it to house my outdoor dinnerware. 

I also made the decision to do away with the top drawer after seeing a few beverage cabinets on the internet.

The drawer was replaced with a sheet of pine I picked up for around $10 at my local Lowes, and then Mr. Rosemary Lane cut the sheet to fit perfectly in the cabinet. It was easily installed by removing the back of the cabinet and sliding the wood in place. I attempted to stain the pine to match the wood of the cabinet but that didn't work, it came out way to cool, no where close to the warm color of the cabinet. Next I tried to paint the wood an almond color which ended up looking really awful, even worse than the mismatched stains. Then, while rummaging through my countless cans of spray paint in the garage, I found a can of pounded metal paint in a silver color I had bought a few years back to make a Halloween costume for Michael. This turned out to be the perfect color because it totally tied together some of the other industrial elements used in the space. Square shaped drawer pulls in a bright, brushed nickel were purchased to replace the nasty ones that came with the piece. The hinges are the originals, I just sanded off their already chipped and rusted surface to reveal the silver color underneath.

The entire piece was sanded down inside and out, and both a clear poly acrylic plus several coats of polyurethane in a satin finish were applied. I already had the two polys, so the total cost of the project was roughly $15. Ten dollars for the wood and about $5 for the drawer pulls, plus a good three days of intense work, is all that was needed to create this beautiful storage showpiece for the screened-in porch. 

Now, the natural wood finish I felt compelled to use actually works to help break up the white of my wicker furniture by giving the eye a place to land while taking in the visual of this space.

How about you...have any furniture projects you are in the throws of???
Would love to hear about them!!!

In the meantime wishing you all a great week!

XO

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Sneak Peek ~ Guest Bedroom Makeover

I am still chipping away at the guest bedroom project. I finally got the entire room painted and finished putting up the new window treatments. They are comprised of semi-private bamboo blinds which I really like, and the good old drop cloth drapes.

Last weekend we moved a bed into the room along with the nightstand and blanket chest from our bedroom upstairs. We also brought in a sweet slipper chair a friend had given me a few years back.

I then moved in a piece from the office which houses my table linens for the dining room. I felt like the room's furniture arrangement needed to be balanced out on the left side of the bed.

We had this piece refinished when Mr. RL and I first were married. It belonged to Mr. RL's mother and has been traveling with him since he left home. When I first saw the dresser I fell in love with it despite all the dings, dull finish and yes even the tic tac toe game Mr. RL and his brother carved int one of the drawers when they were just boys.

When we took it to be refinished the fellow at the shop told us that this was a "Gentleman's" Dresser and most likely dated back to the mid to late 1800's. It is made of poplar and mahogany and has what is called a serpentine front.

So do you want to see some of what the room looked like before I started to work on it?

 Well it went from this... 

...to this.

And this...

...to this.

New closet doors are slated to be installed and painted plus I'd want to replace the old broken ceiling fan. I have a nice size dresser out in the garage that needs a new finish and will eventually be placed on the wall opposite the bed. There is still one couch left in the room which at some point will be moved out to make room for the dresser. But all in all it is coming along the way I wanted. I plan to have this room all done before my parents come up from Florida the beginning of June. They will finally have their very own adult room on the main floor of our home, so they will no longer have to climb steps and share a room with one of my two kiddies.

What projects do you have going on these days? I know I am anxious to finish this room and get outside so to spend some time gardening.

Wishing you all a wonderfully productive week!

XO

Desk / Dressing Table Doubles as a Nightstand

Well I am still plugging along with my bedroom makeover and today I was lucky enough to be hit with more inspiration. Originally my plan was to use a roadside find nightstand for Mr. Rosemary Lane's side of the bed, and as I was doing a little image searching for vignette ideas I came across this stunning picture from HGTV of a desk doubling as a nightstand.

source

 I suddenly remembered that I have this desk/dressing table in our garage. I picked it up at a yard sale for only $15 two years ago and since then Mr. Rosemary Lane has been using the drawers for tool storage. According to the man I purchased it from this desk or dressing table is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 years old. My initial thought was to paint the piece, but then after seeing that gorgeous desk from HGTV I decided to use it as is.

The top was a bit mucked up with water stains and scratches but the rest of the piece was in pretty decent shape. So this morning I sanded down the top and then re-stained it with a little Minwax! I wiped the rest of the piece down with some Old English.

Then during MR. RL's lunch break this afternoon, he is now working from home two days a week, we carried the big lug of a thing from the garage up to the bedroom.

A perfect fit if I do say so myself!!! Now I just need to track down an interesting chair to compliment the piece and I will have a cozy spot to work in addition to some great extra storage!

I am really enjoying the warm weather we are having today. It felt so good to get outside and do a little furniture project after being cooped up with all of the frigid temps we had last month. I know it is going to get cold again, but at least for just one day we are reminded that spring is on its way!

XO