deck

Acquisitions

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

In a few posts (here and here), I have mentioned my love of antiques and this past week I obtained a few new acquisitions that I am just thrilled to share with you.  I was on my way to pick up my eldest daughter from school when I saw a yard sale sign.  I don’t know what made me follow this particular sign, as opposed to any of the other twenty I had passed throughout the day, but I am so very glad that I did!  When I pulled up, the front yard was filled, literally brimming, with antiques.  Everything from a wooden four poster bed, to an iron cook stove, to a kid’s gardening table were strewn across the grass on this beautiful afternoon.

I immediately parked my car, grabbed my two-year old shopping partner and started perusing.  I have been looking for an antique work table for almost two years now.  I wanted to put it on my deck to use for a space to prep food outside since we entertain out there so often.  I had been unable to find a match to the picture in my mind…until now.  Sitting there beneath century old irons, crystal and tools was the table I had been envisioning.

Needless to say, I walked away with the table, and an awesome chair.  I made some repairs to the chair, added a coat of paint and now it is a bright new feature in our backyard.  The table of my dreams…Well, I just washed that baby down and left her as is.  I love the “oldness” of it. The cracks, the splatters of paint, the remnants of tape that can be found along the back edge.  Love it.

As you can see, we broke the “new” table in this past Friday on pizza night.  Yes, she will suit our needs just fine 🙂

Old Things

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

Many years ago (I believe I was in junior high), my extended family gathered at my grandma and grandpa’s home for our annual Easter celebration.  My grandma, who was always filled with creative ideas, told each member of the family sit in a circle in the family room.  She and my grandpa then proceeded to hand each of us a plastic Easter egg.  Once everyone had two eggs each, one from my grandma and one from my grandpa, we were told to open the egg.  Inside each egg was a tiny slip of paper.  On each slip was written one thing that my grandma and grandpa found to be unique to each of us.

To this day, I have not forgotten what Grandpa “Dit” wrote on my slip of paper:  “You like old things.”  Those four words could not be more fitting to describe me.  I have worn vintage clothes from thrift stores since seventh grade, love old music, enjoy antiquing, and I have been especially obsessed with refurbishing old pieces of furniture since I has in high school.

Over the course of the past several weeks I felt that itch again.  The itch to take something old and unique and make it new again.  So while my husband was on spring break last week and he spent his hours relishing in the time he could spend with the girls, I got to work on some projects.

For some time now, I have been wanting to find antique pieces to refinish and then use to redecorate our outdoor space.  We spend almost every waking moment out there come summer time, and I felt like the area needed a bit of sprucing up.  My husband’s grandmother, gave me a beautiful iron garden table that I stripped and then repainted.

I then went to every thrift store and antique mall in the city (and my husband will attest that there are MANY in our area), and finally came upon a fabulous dining room table that had two additional leaves that could be added.  With a little tender loving care I knew it would be the perfect table for our many outdoor summer gatherings with family and friends.  I repainted the bottom portion of the table, my husband fastened the leaves together so that it would stay together permanently, and I then put several layers of outdoor polyurethane on the table top to add some extra protection.

I have a few more projects in the works, so stay tuned…