Old to New Again (post 2)

This is a bed that was at my Grandma's house. It needed LOTS of white paint and a strong dose of elbow grease due to the fact that my uncle used it for the 7 or so years before I inherited it and smoked heavily. It is such a sweet, simple bed. This is what my Grandma called her "blanket chest", although I think she kept junk in it. Regardless, his needed nothing but a good polishing with a nice wood polish.

I'm not sure how old this piece is, but this actually came from Anthony's childhood furniture. It was a shiny varnished wood color and instead of following all the steps to sand the wood... I just slapped on a yellowish cream paint I had left over. The end result was a cool crackle effect. All and all this is my cheapest project with left over paint and 2 pulls for .99 a piece at a builder supply store. By the way those pictures are of my Grandma and Grandpa.

This is my second favorite. This was my Grandma's. That means free! Not sure if you can tell but is has a blue tint to it. I started to paint it white but it needed a bit more sparkle to it. Besides paint all I added was the knobs. It was super easy to finish!

The best for last! This is my Grandmother's dining room suit. My grandparents bought it used a long time ago, so I think it is at least 80ish years old. This took a lot of time (and help- as it was my first redo- thanks mom and dad) but very little money: black paint, stain, new drawer pulls, and fabric for the chairs. My dad worked to make everything sturdier as well, not much is sturdy at 80ish . Not only is this my favorite because I think it is beautiful, but it reminds me of my grandma and family dinners at her house.

I still have a few pieces that I didn't post. I think this is plenty- I don't want to bore you. I hope I have inspired you to make something new again! It is very rewarding to see the finished result. If you are up for the challenge and aren't sure where to start, remember love to do this and since I can't decorate the basement until it is finished in about a year, I will surely get the bug to fix something up before then. Every piece has a story. Find one and make it yours!

Side bar: I was able to get a lot of this furniture because my Grandma moved to assisted living about the same time we built our home. I was very blessed to be able to use furniture that was so special to be. A couple years back my Grandma came to visit (she has Alzheimer's and struggled even then with her memory) she grinned from ear to ear when she saw that I took the time to bring it all back to life, and at lunch she even took her old spot at the dining room table. So cute!