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 . . . 

What's old is new again

Back in May I bought this chifferobe from a find on craigslist. After a clean up of all the cat hair, we could have used it, the way it was. However the blacksmith just wasn't pleased with the orange color the varnish had taken on and the poorly done refinish job. 

So week before last, he stripped it to bare wood. He then stained it and sealed the wood. 

It now matches the other furniture in our bedroom, which is also made of quartersawn oak. We  have 3 wardrobes in our bedroom. His next project , is a hand made sewing table with forged legs. I can hardly wait for that! Yes, it will go in our bedroom too. Thank goodness we have a very large room.

My mom celebrated her 89th birthday on Sunday! 

Me, mom and my sister!

The look on mom's face was priceless when she saw her two great grandsons walk in. They both serve in the military. One is a Navy seal, the other a Marine. She had not seen them since last Christmas. 

Here is mom with my sister and her son on the top row. The two military boys on the bottom! It was a great birthday! (Yes, some of these photos might have been stolen from my sister's facebook page!  Thanks Lona)

I hope you all have a happy, healthy 2013!

A bit of history

I am really proud of this purchase. The quarter sawn oak is just beautiful!  The blacksmith (aka furniture re-finisher) has decided he really wants to remove the shiny varnish. It will eventually be sanded and sealed with a satin polyurethane finish.

When we got it home and unloaded, look what we found on the back of it!!


I then sent an email to a friend (Hi Esther!) who is on the historical committee in Fulton. She referred me to Barb who is  the curator at the historical society.  


So I sent Barb an email with photos of the chiffrobe. Here is her reply: "You have a beautiful piece of furniture. I find the Martin-Herndon-Taylor business listed in the 1919 Atlas. It had been the Dutton-Herndon firm in 1913. In 1926, Martin was out of the group and the name was changed with another partner Blattner. It was located at 9 West 5th. The building is still standing."


That makes this piece real close to being a hundred years old!  Amazing to find the tag on it. This week on the Antique Roadshow on PBS, the Keno twins talked about how much more valuable a piece is with the original tag. 


I sure hope the seller didn't see that show. She might just want to come back for more money!