Another wardrobe finished!

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 . . . 

Gentlemen's wardrobe

Our bedroom is complete. Tonight, the son came over and helped his Dad move the gentleman's wardrobe upstairs. It was somewhere in that move up the stairs, that the son said, you could have built a ranch style timber frame!

In refinishing this wardrobe, I found the date of October 1918 stamped on the back of the mirror. Hard to believe it is 91 years old.



It looks good in the room. We now have three wardrobes in our bedroom.
See how it turns into a neat little desk?

I still would like to find something in oak to use for night stands. Otherwise I'm finished.

Now time to get busy filling the wardrobe up! I plan on using it for fabric storage.

The last Wardrobe

At least that's my word for now.

Here is what we bought yesterday. Not much work is needed on it. BT is going to give it a coat or two of polyurethane on the inside to seal the wood. He will also freshen up the outside. It is mine, all mine for my quilts. I can hardly wait!