Well we did it again. Yep, bought another wardrobe, This one we found on Craigslist in a near by town last fall.
It is an oak knockdown. Meaning it is made to come apart easily and is held together with steel wedges. It was in good condition considering it's probably about a 100 years old. I love the grain of the quarter sawn oak. The big mirror is in better shape than the small one. Nevertheless we will keep them both.
When we went to take it apart we discovered the drawers were already numbered. I love their numbering system.
The blacksmith had to do some gluing.
I believe we had it in 14 pieces. After using denatured alcohol to clean it, we sealed all the wood, inside and out with polyurethane, 3 coats!
Look at those chunky feet! I love those.
See the knobs? Yep same ones; just a little steel wool and a buffing wheel brought the brass back to life.
Now #8 is finished. Will there be more? Not until I find more room for one. Or one I just can't live without. I blogged about the others before, but I'll review them briefly again.
#1 We got this in 1993 from a local church convent. It holds my collection of Noah's ark collectibles. We never refinished it. It is made mostly of pine. When the blacksmith was in school, the nuns sold candy from it during recess.
#3 I bought this one in Fulton, Missouri October 2009. It is dated October 1918 on the back!
#4 Craigslist, purchased September 2009 in Columbia Missouri. Nothing fancy, oak wood. However it serves it purpose well and holds many quilts.
#2 We drove a long way to Cape Girardeau, Missouri for this one. We bought it in pieces and it was black. The blacksmith made the bonnet for it. It was a real complete makeover.
#5 This one I bought locally, and brought it home just in this condition. Beautiful oak with a written history card included!
#6 This one lived just about 3 miles down the road from us. We knew the owner and bought it at her estate sale. This is the before shot.
This is the after shot.
#7 This one is beautiful oak again! Love that wood and those massive feet too! It came from nearby our house, maybe 10 miles away. It was another Craigslist buy. Since this picture, I found a mirror that looks probably identical to what was originally on it. A resell it shop find for $10. We also replaced the drawer pulls and door pull with white ceramic knobs.
Well that's all 8 of our wardrobes. Until next time . . .
10 comments:
Oh my goodness that is totally awesome...what a talent to be able to restore those so well.
Absolutely beautiful. I learned about denatured alcohol when I redid my cabinets here at the farm. I love your treasures.
Your latest cabinet is a beauty.....just like the others. Only wish I has room for a few. Great job on the repairs and restoring them. I love having a woodworker around:)
Wow! You guys are TALENTED!! Those are just gorgeous! And I love how you take something old and make it beautiful and useful!
Those are all gorgeous! What a treasure each one and the story that goes with it!
those are beautiful! I love old wardrobes!
Wow, Patti, another beauty! I am amazed (and, oh, so jealous) that you have room for so many! What a great job you did on all of them.
Patti, Nice collection of chifforobes! When I was 13, my mom let me pick out a piece of antique furniture for my room, I was to refinish it if need be. I chose a small, 4 drawered wardrobe and learned all about stripping, sanding and staining with that one piece. Who doesn't love this useful piece of furniture?! You must live in a very large space to contain all these pieces!
Oh how beautiful.... I have an old one that I wasn't sure what to to with it but I see now I'm going to make it into a quilt storage for my quilts! THanks for sharing your beautiful work.
What a beautiful hobby and collection you have. You must have a large home to have room for so many big pieces. I too have wanted to buy several through the years, but my DH is not handy with helping to refinish furniture and the prices were usually too high. Lovely work you two do.
Post a Comment