Transformation - this old cabinet

When we bought the house a year ago - we found the previous owner had this old cabinet in the work room.  It sat next to a wall that leaked water occasionally  - and the cabinet was wet - warped and musty...but salvageable.   It first went through a cleaning with a bleach solution to kill the mildew - then we let it sit for almost a year - with dryer sheets in it to absorb the smell.

The cabinet is an old pharmacy cabinet - probably from the early 1900's or so - based upon some papers and price lists for Dr Humphries medicnes - and some writing in the drawers indicated where some medicine was kept.

Recently as I began work on the living room - we pondered the use of this cabinet for a TV stand - so I stripped one of the drawers to see what kind of wood it was - it may have been mahogany based upon the red stain...that would not come out - so we pondered painting it.

But I thought I would just sand that one drawer to see if I could get through the purple red color - and surprisingly I could - and it was revealed to be oak (at least that is what I suspect)

So I have been at work sanding - staining - varnishing - and painting this old cabinet in my spare time.  What also amazed me is that each row of drawers is from the same board - which means that all the wood grain from one drawer matches up to the one next to it..pretty cool.

The new top came from an auction that had an estimators desk made from nearly a full sheet of 3/4 oak...got it for $5. - Knocked it apart and cut a new oak top for the cabinet.

The hardware is original - painted satin black - I have had to custom order screws to put the "index" label holders back on.  They are not all on as of this picture.  I had to paint the screws as well as the old ones were black - and it is nearly impossible to find round head black wood screws as the orginal.

Today - we moved it upstairs!

Scroll down for the Result!

TA DA - New Life!

Oh yes - we began decorating for Christmas too!

The fumes are just starting to clear!

Here is the floor stained and 2 coats of varnish.  When I started this project on Friday it was 60 degrees outside - so having the windows open for ventilation was not a big deal.  Today is about 35 which makes the fresh air coming in the open windows  really fresh.

Later this week I hope to get the moulding around the baseboards and trim out the bottom of the fireplace.  

This is the way we found it a year ago

Great finds

This may not look like much to you - but it is indeed a rare find. 

 A carved ivory elephant book end that I found in the donation bin at church.

Okay - it is actually carved wood - not ivory and since Nancy needed a "white Elephant gift " for her work party - I simply painted it white.

I think it is funny!

Now I gotta go wrap it.

bye

Mr Sandman

Black Friday took many people shopping - but as for me - I went to U rent it for a floor sander - oh sure I went to Home Depot for supplies - but there were more workers there than shoppers...Which was very nice

After about 2.5 hours the floors looked like this.

You can see the dark along the edge that the big sander cannot reach.  This has to be done with a hand sander...a powered Rigid works great - and I think a bit better that a disc style

It is amazing what a digital camera will pick up - the smoky look to this picture is the saw dust that is in the air.   While the bag catches most of the dust - if it gets too heavy it will blow off the sander...not pretty.  

Nancy came home from work in time to take pictures of the sandman at work.

(This photo has been edited as I could not find my work belt that morning)

Awaiting Stain and Varnish

...to be continued

Leaf Packer - Runs on Peanut butter!

Noah came over one afternoon - it was sunny and cold - but he wanted to earn some money - so he was hired as a leaf packer.

Art first he was enjoying just raking and putting the leaves in - until I told him I had a very special job for him - one that was suited just for him - jump up and down on them and pack them in!

There was no getting him out after that  - He loved his job

Spotter ever ready  so he does not tip over - he can get a little carried away! 

(oh really?)

uh oh it is getting full

Yup he is still in there!

Oh Look he found a treasure - Noah always finds a treasure!

IN this case a left over pool whale from the summer (sigh!)

Treasure Hunt

In Honor of Reformation Day on Oct 31 - we helped the boys with a "Treasure Hunt"

Um..Broden you need shoes and socks"

We definitely found treasure here

A few months ago - the boys found a snake in this area - so the clue said the treasure was guarded by a snake...Broden was quite sure it was still there and was not going to get too close - Noah has his gun ready!

A part of the treasure - a video game "learning system"  but don't tell them it's  educational

Broden teaches Nancy how to get "Pooh's honey Jars"  on the television system.

We could barely get Nancy away from the game

Nancy with her Treasure!



Going Pink to Go Green

Here are 33 rolls of insulation which is 3 trips with a Jeep Cherokee - You can get 11 of these rolls in one load

You may have heard the phase "some settling of contents"  here is some settling of the old insulation sinking into the cupboard bulkheads.   The old 6 inch pipe was left from the former exhaust fan over the stove.  It has been removed

This shot is shows the belly crawl hole to get into the attic space over the sun room - where there were only 3 inches of insulation....Hmmm  wonder if that is why we had 3 inches of Ice on the roof there last winter...

I did indeed have to belly crawl all the way in there and Nancy would hand insulation through the next joist space - then I would put it in place with an arm extension device  (uh...a 1x3 stick)

More settled insulation over the shower "archway"  this caused about a 6 x 3 foot snow melt spot on the roof last year.   I know you are concerned about the wire nuts not being in an electrical box - but they are low voltage for the door bell.

This is what and additional 9 inches looks like and I am very pleased to report that the job is now complete.   If you ever need help insulating your house....call someone other than me.

The good news is the new pink stuff does not itch like the old stuff

This is my wonderful and beautiful assistant who, after I took this picture started laughing...what's so funny?   "I smiled - forgetting I had the dust mask on"