The Ugly Rocking Chair

Rocking Chair Original Cushions

I came across this pitiful rocking chair at an estate sale. It was in the garage, which meant it didn't have much value to the owners, but to me it had presented a challenge, so I had to have it. No doubt about it. This chair was ugly! More than just ugly, it had

Rocking Chair With New Cushions

been filthy dirty, smelled musty and moldy and had been covered with spider eggs. I wouldn't even attempt to sit in it, because it was so nasty-looking. After closer inspection, I made an interesting discovery. This was no ordinary chair; it was a Windsor-style cricket rocking chair, likely an antique that had gotten re-covered with the yellow fabric sometime in the 1970's. Underneath the skirting were two springs on either side of the chair, so that while all the legs touched the ground, the chair had a gentle swivel and rocked easily back and forth. This added new value to my little gem. After I paid for my chair, a nice gentleman had offered to carry it to my van and after placing it inside, I closed the back and headed home for a closer inspection.

Bavarian Hand-Carved Table

Bavarian Before

This table came to me as a referral from a woman who'd

Bavarian After

purchased the "Petite China Cabinet" from me. She told her friend about my work and soon, her friend called me and asked me if I could refinish a table for her. She then brought over this very challenging project; a table that looks like something you'd see in Frankenmuth. To those of you who live in Michigan, you've probably been to, or at least heard of "Frankenmuth," known as "Little Bavaria." The two restaurants, "Zehnders" and "The Bavarian Inn" have famous chicken dinners that lure thousands of visitors daily, filling up on the excellent German cuisine and enjoying the ambiance of "Little Bavaria," shops and all. Anyway (sorry for getting off-track) this table reminded me of something you'd see at The Bavarian Inn because of its intricately hand-carved legs. It also had a removable glass top, which was interesting, since one of the items I'd sold to the other woman who also bought my china cabinet was my oval table which too had a removable glass top which had doubled as a serving tray. To see another table with a glass top was really amazing. While the glass on this table was in pretty good shape, the the frame was scratched up. In order to make this look pretty again, I had to completely hand-sand the frame and re-stain it, then spray it with semi-gloss polyurethane. The results were amazing! I can't believe it's the same scratched frame she brought over.

Top Before

The table was another story entirely. It was pretty scratched up,

Top After

top and legs, but again, I was up for the challenge and began the tedious task of hand-sanding, a time-consuming job to be sure, but the only way to get the results to make this piece glow again. Once I had completed sanding, I carefully applied a walnut stain to the legs and cherry stain to the top. This table had at least three different types of wood. The top veneer sported a burled maple, which was gorgeous in addition to smaller bits of birch.

The end result was a table that was void of scratches that will last a long time. What an outstanding piece this turned out to be! So you be the judge: Bavarian or not?

Telephone Table With Cherry Stain

Telephone Table Before

Telephone Table After

Looks can be deceiving and this one looked like it would be "a piece
of cake" to remove the old stain and simply re-stain. Yeah, right. It proved to be quite the challenge as that old stain simply REFUSED to come off. I have three power sanders and lots of sandpaper and I used all of them to remove the extremely stubborn old finish on this old cherry telephone table. This was a client of mine who also had me refinish her red magazine rack. I had no idea this piece would be as difficult as it was! I spent the better part of 1-1/2 days just removing the old finish, but I was determined to make

Magazine Rack Painted Red

Magazine Rack Before Painting

Magazine Rack After Painting

This was indeed one of my best "before" and "after" projects,
ever! It was a very adorable magazine rack of unknown origin. My guess it was something from the 1950's, but I could be wrong. A lovely woman who lives in Grosse Pointe had asked me if I was able to paint this piece a nice red, similar to the red that hardly clung to the piece. It was hard to tell exactly what shade of red this used to be. The color had faded and you could only see a bit of it, so it was hard to determine what color red to choose, but I was up for the challenge and once on the search, I found the perfect color, "Colonial Red." It was a very close match to this little magazine rack/table and an ideal color.


After sanding the entire surface, it was ready for red. I gave it a light coat first, then waited until it dried, then gave it a second coat to completely cover the surface. Once dry, it was red and glossy and lovely. My customer was very happy with this table's new look as was I! I took a tired old magazine rack and restored it to its former glory with some elbow grease and two cans of paint!

When in doubt, go red!

Umbrella Stand Shines Again

Umbrella Stand Before

This is an unusual piece of furniture to be sure. We did work for a man who had bought two items of furniture from us and had already had us refinish a table for him. He had picked this up and wanted to see if we could do something to improve its looks. What is it? Well,

Umbrella Stand After

it's a very unusual Umbrella Stand, made out of about three different types of wood; maple, pine and mahogany. The front is a curved brass sheet which was badly marred and tarnished. The photo on the left shows the one spot Jim rubbed out the brass, revealing what promised to be a shiny metal buried underneath years of oxidation.

Antique Chair Refinished

Kalamazoo House

Chair Before

Jim and I love Kalamazoo! It is rich with history, art and music. Our second trip to Kalamazoo was this February, 2012. Like the first time we were there last February, we stayed at "The Kalamazoo House," a beautiful Bed & Breakfast in the heart of downtown, right next to the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. The Kalamazoo House is a gorgeous three-story structure, Victorian Era Renovated building that was once a funeral home. The owners, Laurel and Terry Parrot, are extremely friendly and welcoming. You feel as though you're visiting friends while staying at the Kalamazoo House. I highly recommend this place if you love to be pampered. They serve amazing breakfasts, too!

So, while in Kalamazoo in February, Jim and I made the decision that we'd definitely want to come back sometime in the summer months to explore the surroundings. But one thing we did find was an amazing antique furniture salvage store that had a ton of lovely antique furniture and hardware, perfect for those who love restoration as much as we do. I spotted this lovely chair in that store. I felt instantly attracted to it, and simply had to have it.

Well, that weekend Jim and I drove his Grand Prix instead of the mini-van which is the vehicle we

Chair During

usually drive when we're traveling because we never know when we're going to come across something that wants to come home with us (such as this lovely chair!) I realized that I'd have to pass on it unless we could make it fit into the back seat of his car, so the owner was nice enough to let us remove the chair from her store to try it out and make sure it fit, which it did! I was so glad because I simply had to have this chair as I already had plans for it. Other than some minor surface woodworking and a new seat, this chair didn't need much in the way of restoration.

Once I brought the chair home, it sat throughout the summer as other projects seemed to take priority. Finally, I got to the chair last week and finished it yesterday. I had purchased this gorgeous fabric which was left over from my piano bench project and it was exactly enough to use on this chair. I removed the backing first, and to my surprise, there was yet another fabric underneath the floral design! It was labeled, "red mohair," and I suspect it was original to the chair. Knowing that style of fabric was frequently used in the late Victorian period, I now have a point of origin as to the age of this chair. I suspect it dates back to the late 1890's. This was exciting because it's sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to find out the exact age of a piece of furniture unless you have a marking of some kind. It requires a lot of research in styles to determine the age.

Chair Finished

This chair had "good bones" and proved to be an outstanding piece of furniture after the restoration. I removed the backing, but was able to use the original upholstery tacks. And would you believe it? Many of those tacks were so bent I couldn't use them, but found the identical tacks at an estate sale for 50 cents! These extra tacks came in handy since I ended up bending many of them while recovering the chair's back. I then the seat with a new cushion and used new wood because the original wood was completely cracked and not safe to sit on. I custom-sewed the new seat cushion and professionally "tacked" it in place after using my serger on the edges of the fabric so it will never fray. It needed a "touch up" of dark walnut stain and a spray of semi-gloss polyurethane to bring it to life. This sturdy, old chair got a complete makeover.

Petite China Cabinet Makeover

China Cabinet Before

China Cabinet After

This beautiful little China cabinet was a petite, 54" tall. When we first found it at an antique shop in Lexington, something about its "quaintness" appealed to me. I was unsure what kind of wood lie beneath the many layers of stain that had been applied over the years. After many tedious hours of stripping, we revealed gleaming pine underneath all that stain and the wood grain was once again visible. This was a 2-month project in the making, between other projects and we wanted to do this piece justice. The original interior had ugly, hacked up wooden shelves, not original to the piece. Both Jim and I decided that glass shelves would make this special little beauty sparkle. Then Jim suggested we take it a step further and add some "bling" by installing a mirror onto the back. Since the back was recessed, this required Jim's special carpentry skills. He had to add a "filler" to the back of the cabinet, bringing it level with the shelves, so that the mirror fits in position, perfectly.

Cabinet in its new home!

On the day we installed the mirror, it was a nail-biting experience until it was firmly and safely in place. Once there, we knew she'd be just great. Indeed, this little gem turned out to be one the most gorgeous pieces we've done so far. Adding "bling" to any old piece of furniture can turn an ugly duckling into a sparkling, beautiful swan.

I ended up selling this cute little cabinet to another customer who had also purchased my oval table. She bought the table and I showed her this cabinet. A few days later she informed me that she just had to have it and came back yesterday to pick it up. It's now a part of her home, gracing her foyer. This is the part of the restoration process that most appeals to me; when the piece I've lovingly restored, finds a new home and has brought someone who cherishes it as much pleasure in owning as I had in restoring.

Good bye, my little treasure!

Oval Table With Glass Tray

Oval Table Before Restoration

Oval Table After Restoration

I found this gem at a local estate sale. It had a bit of water damage on the bottom of the legs, but otherwise in great condition. I thought there was something unusual about the table, and I was correct. I had noticed it had handles on the sides of the top. "Aha!" I thought. The top of the table

Display Cabinet

Display Cabinet

This display cabinet is my very first restoration project. I bought it at an estate sale nearby. While it's not an antique, it's a great reproduction and I particularly liked its cabriole legs and clean lines. It had a broken door, but otherwise, it was in great shape. I repaired the broken door (at the pivot point) and added a mirror to the interior back of the cabinet. Then I refinished the exterior with red mahogany stain and gave it two coats of semi-gloss polyurethane.

I ended up selling to a woman who had just moved into a house and needed a little cabinet or table for her living room. She was so happy to have found the perfect little cabinet and especially loved the mirror in the back! I also painted the tarnished gold knobs to a shiny silver, which I felt tied in nicely with the mirror. It also added a little "bling," giving this display cabinet a touch of elegance, while maintaining its functionality. Is it any wonder I get excited when I find these great little pieces of furniture??

1960's Desk Refinished

Desk with New Handles

I came across this desk last summer at a garage sale. It was solid maple, but in need of refinishing. After carefully stripping the old varnish and stain, the desk had started to take on a brand new appearance. In the interim, a friend had told me, "I'm looking for a desk." I told her, "Well, you're in luck, because I just bought one and am working on it now!" She couldn't believe it. I sent her the photos of the desk, and she said, "I love it. I want it." So, she selected the new handles for it and brought over the stain, which she chose as Early American. I completed this desk and had to modify the original holes to accommodate the new handles. I've discovered that furniture made in the 50's and 60's have a different standard for handle hardware and the ones sold in the stores don't match. Luckily it was less than an 1/8" inch off, so I was able to make her new handles work. She's using this desk for her son's computer and like many other pieces I've restored, it has a new chance at life. Unfortunately, I can't find the "before" photos of this desk, but you get the idea. It looks great!

Old Chair Repurposed

Garden Chair Before

Garden Chair After

My husband, Jim and I love to shop in Antique and Resale stores. Sometimes I stumble on something that inspires me to think outside the box, or as in this case, outside the garden! I saw this forlorn, ancient barn-wood style chair sitting in front of an antique store in Lexington and just had to have it. I wasn't sure what I'd do with it when I bought it, but the chair seemed to call out to me, "take me home, please!" It was raining and the chair was wet.

Antique Knitting Cabinet Redo

Knitting Cabinet Before

This was an unexpected estate sale find. I had seen a knitting

Knitting Cabinet After

cabinet such as this at an antique store in Kalamazoo when we went to the Art Fair the first weekend in June. It had sold for $180.00 as it was about 100 years old. This one had come from someone who had lived in St. Clair and was moving all the furniture out. I couldn't resist since it looked like it just needed a little bit of love. The only broken piece was the left handle on the top drawer, an easy fix. The cabinet was in excellent condition otherwise with its fluted and turned legs. Other than a bit of debris in the deep ends, it was fairly clean too. After I fixed the broken knob, I gave the entire cabinet a thorough sanding, and re-stained it with dark walnut, which brought out its natural walnut finish.