Respect....the story.

Lessons....

We teach our kids lessons all the time.  How to be kind.  How to be honest.  The consequences of not doing what they should have done....like homework.  These are all lessons that as adults we get..we have been there done that.

The other day I was at an auction.  It was a GREAT one!  There were pieces I really wanted and I bid to win.

Victorian dresser with square nails......the antiquity and craftsmanship is lovely

I can get kind of geeeeeked at an auction.  If you have not been....well the energy is palatable. You can taste the competition.   I talk about this obsession in one of my posts...http://joanniedoors.blogspot.com/2012/05/hunt.html

Dont worry...I am not going to add more layers of paint...this guy needs to be stripped..cant wait to see what is under all that paint.

There was a sweet little victorian dresser that had great lines.  It was heavy and it needed me.  As I marked it I heard a conversation in hushed tones behind me.  I tried to ignore it but it was hard too because it was about me.

each drawer has a lock and key............sigh

The little dresser was at auction because a family was liquidating their grandmothers estate.  There was a gal on the phone from across the country who despiritely wanted that dresser.  She remembered it from when she was a child and could not bare to think of it being sold at auction.

This is how you know you have an old piece....always check out the back....thick solid barn type blanks....

I froze.    All these treasures were obviously someones at one time.  That is the whole point.  The idea that things can be repurposed and reused and loved again.  But the heartache...the memories that are infused into the table that you had tea at with your beloved grandmother.  The dresser that held the hand mirror that belonged to your mother.  This is real ....the stories are inside of each piece.  They maybe dusty or covered in layers and layers of old paint...but the stories live on in the treasures and in the hearts of those that loved them before.

Dove tail.............stay tuned on this one...it will be for sale ...Most likely $350, but I need to see how much fun I need to put into it.

I was taught a lesson at auction.....one that intuitively I thought that I knew.  But I really didn't.
So...I want to thank all those old pieces that I have repurposed and loved on....thank the folks that kept them so that I could do what I love....and thank the customers that always become friends for keeping the story going.....it is humbling and i promise to RESPECT THE STORIES......always.

Tiny spaces......

Awwwwww.......the tiny downstairs bathroom.

The one that everyone in the neighborhood uses.  The one that floods most.  The one that gets

 "clogged" most.  And in my house...the one that gets neglected...in the decorating department..

Who has time to worry about the way it looks and how well it is functioning when you need to be on the cleaning part....

Well with the kids back in school this was one of my projects.
I love crates.....and I scored a bunch at an old antique place...soooooo!

My little bath that needed some storage and some love got some this week.

I brushed the crates off with light steel wool and then hit them with lots of Minwax...clear.  There are lots of Minwax products for all sorts of projects.  I didn't want to change the color of the crates I just wanted to bring out the vintage yumminess and protect them from little hands.  This paste is easy.....wipe on wipe off.

My love for all things Ball Jar...continues...they just make me so happy...I mean who knew the jars that my grandmother used to put up the tomatoes are now used everywhere in my house....

FIND THE STUDS!!!

This is a must and I don't mean your hubby.......

This one isn't as old but the lid is great to hide the TP.......

The towel rack was pulled down too many times.  Kids eager to get back outside just yanked and it was gone.  This simple solution has managed to stay up and the kids return the towels.

My mom makes these cute purses.  We keep the hairbrush and face powder in it for quick touch ups...and it is a sweet splash of color.

Shine the light on me!!

Repurposing old treasures into everyday joys!!

Send me your broken!!
Send me your rusted!!
Send me your "hate that thing"!

We all have a stash of these items.

The stuff that was you at one time, but we change and we replace and we HUNT!

But what we dont do is toss.

I should toss more, but I fear that I will miss my treasures..... ya know what I  mean...


Here is a perfect example.....


Lamps.....


Bought ten years ago from Kirkland's......
Matchy matchy, brown with a pineapple thing on top.....and cheap.


They worked hard...got dinged up ...broken...repaired...well sort of and stuffed in "the closet".

I have been working on the master bedroom......in this new house for over a year.

It just was not coming together for me....I wanted Swedish White and Gray....clean lines....

WEllllll....not happening.....


In the mean time I got into a red spray paint mood and started hitting all my old stuff with it.


The lamps included.....they looked super cute.

But still in the closet....did not want to keep those lamps.....dont know why...just wanted NEW!


Well this weekend i was sick of looking at the all white walls in the master....they were dark and I mean dark blue.....so I painted them "steam" by Benjamin Moore.  Super bright and airy....and no color in the room at all.....

So, I went HUNTING...in my own closet....and the "Lazarus Lamps" jumped out at me.....

I was inspired by the red and the need to brighten up my once "clean lined" all white Master Bedroom.

Soooo..... I screwed them together again...tightened them as best they could and added Estate jewlery and other sparkels....cause I loves me some SPARKLE!

And  Cute..CUte  Cute!!

I guess this goes to show me that...even though you love what you see in the magazines....ie..the all white rooms..and how badly we want that image to be our reality....NOT!!

You just got to be you.....

AND I NEED SPARKLE!

So let the light shine in ............and up-cycle  those old treasures.

blessings!