In my trolling the back alleys of Birmingham daily travels through the city, I come across some really cool things that people throw out…because they are slightly broken…because they are out of style…the list goes on and on. Recently I found a 4 drawer chest that had suffered just such a fate. On closer inspection of the piece, I realized that the legs of it were completely shot, due to termite damage, and I knew that I couldn’t use it. But, the drawers of it were all intact, and quite beautiful, with carved details.
So, I grabbed them and stored them in my high tech workshop on our front porch, until I could decide what to do with them.
One day I was in said high tech workshop on our front porch, looking for a new project, and I saw the drawers. They called out to me, as most furniture does, and told me what they wanted to be…well, at least one of them told me what it wanted to be…the rest are proving to be quite indecisive. I overheard the drawer on the top right, saying that it wanted to be the next mayor of Birmingham, or a cashier at Walmart. So I grabbed the one and set to work.
First up, I took it apart.
I stared at it, and then I asked it, “Are you sure that’s what you want to be?”
“YES!” the drawer cried out to me. “Use your skills and make me into something new…and useful…and beautiful!”
“OK,” I said, and performed my next step. I cut out a decorative curve on the two original side pieces of the drawer, and left the back piece in tact.
Any idea yet, as to what it wanted to be? An entertainment center? A vanity? The next President of France?
Once the pieces were cut, I began the assembly process, and the piece started to take shape.
If you guessed, a three sided box, you would be…a big fat loser, wrong. It wanted to be a shelf…with pegs to hang things on…like Longerberger baskets. But it would have been nearly impossible to hang anything on the original pulls, so the next step was in order.
I wanted 4 pegs, so I measured and drilled 2 more holes. Then I added some knobs that I had found (savvy readers will recognize them as the mates to the ones that I used on Greg’s buffet redo).
I had given Greg, the best of the batch, and I was left with the crap the ones that were a little rough around the edges. So they would have to be painted…and they were…in a glossy black finish…but later.
I knew that I would then have to address the issue of the top of the shelf. I had used the original back from the drawer, and the dovetailing holes were visible, and that made it look like a piece of crap was not up to the Clif Creations high standards. So, I set the project to the side until I could find something to make into a new top.
I mean, really! Would you want something that unfinished in your house? I didn’t think so.
Fast forward a few days. The gods of the thrifty and cheap smiled upon me I got lucky and found just what I had been looking for…another piece of crap a piece of wood that would be just the right size.
I have no clue what this was, in its previous life. A high tech skateboard? A sliding barn door in a fairy house? Whatever it was, it was going to serve my purpose quite nicely!
I cut it down so that the overall size would have about a 2 inch overhang on the three sides. Then I glued it into place with Gorilla Glue and clamped it until it dried.
I knew that I was going to be using this in our den, which the hubs has designated The He-Man Woman Haters Club the man cave, and that meant that it couldn’t be girly and rustic chic. OK, maybe a little rustic chic, as I tend to sit in there with him, from time to time, and I LOVE rustic chic. 🙂
I stained the top with a cherry stain, and painted the body with white chalk paint. Then I lightly distressed and waxed the wood, and added the knobs, and it was complete, and ready to be hung in its new location.
Styled with Longaberger baskets from my good friend, Robin (she gave me about 30 of them…WOOT! WOOT!), tarnished platters that I found this weekend at a yard sale, and various chotchkes from the thrift store (the hubs collects vintage clocks).
Keep creating!
Clif
Clif Creations 