I have a hobby. I love to refurbish furniture and paint and distress pieces to make them look old. I haven’t always been into this. It rubbed off from my bff’s “Jane” and Leelee.
Leelee loves french country and Jane, well, she just likes old stuff.
I’ve done several pieces. I’ve rag painted my bathroom, my mom’s bathroom and fireplace, bathroom cabinets, an armoire, a dresser, a magazine rack, and my most prized posession is my buffet.
Here’s how it all happened…
It was a Thursday. Thursdays are my days to spend with Jane. I remember the clouds were dark–rain was coming in, but it didn’t matter. We had no plans to go out, just hanging at my house watching Vampire Diaries, drinking coffee, and yapping.
The doorbell rang and I could hear her hollering, “Open up! Hurry!”
My dog barked until I wanted to kick her, but she’s quicker than me so I didn’t bother. I opened the door and Jane grinned from ear to ear. “What? I know that look.”
“I found a buffet down the street,” she drawled in her southern country accent. “You must have it because I don’t have room for it!”
I looked around my living room and open kitchen. “Where’m I gonna put a buffet and how much work needs done to it?”
She tugged my arm. “Come on before it pours.”
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| My buffet BEFORE |
We hopped in her Expedition and sure enough there it was in all its um…glory?
It was missing a door. I looked at it and frowned. It was old, heavy–original wood casters and dove-tailing. Hmmm…
I stared at it, trying to figure out if I wanted it or not.
“I don’t know.”
Thunder rumbled, lightning peeled and rain started to come down. We jumped out of the vehicle and kicked some funky insulation out of the way to get to it.
My son was with us and he hollered, “Why are you stealing somebody’s old table? You’re gonna get taken to jail.” I ignored him while Jane and I tried to pick this massive buffet up off the ground.
Jane was wearing a mini-denim skirt. Fabulous. We hoisted half of it in the back and she climbed in to pull while I pushed. A big burly guy two houses down stood outside under his garage awning and…watched. Hey thanks for the help, ya jerk.
We finally got the buffet in, the man had a nice show thanks to Jane’s skirt and the comedic event that transpired, and we loaded it in my garage. All of us, but my son, soaked.
I got excited about it as Jane shared the possibilities.
My husband came home. “What is that load of junk in the garage I just cleaned out.”
“It’s an antique buffet, and I’m going to refinish it.”
“It ain’t worth a quarter.” (He now wants to sell it on Craig’s list) I ignored him too.
I’m painting my walls Calico–eventually, so I chose a nice warm gold paint. I stripped that bad-boy down, primed, and painted then used my putty knife to scrape my fresh paint off giving it a shabby-chic look.
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| Buffet AFTER Go ahead, oooh and aaah! |
It’s wonderful! My favorite piece.
Jane’s hubby made an identical door, she stained it and came over to put it on along with the knobs I’d bought and painted.
When it was over, we ordered a pizza and sat back on the couch, staring at it. When I did my bathroom cabinets, we sat in there drinking our coffee–staring. We like to stare.
I’ll never forget what Jane said to me. “I’m so glad you finally saw the big picture. I knew this was valuable and would be beautiful. We’re a lot like this buffet–missing doors, broken down, tossed out even as worthless junk. But God sees the masterpiece. The beauty and the value.”
I may have a hard time seeing the big picture, but I’m thankful God does not!
What’s your hobby/hobbies?
Such an awesome story. LOVE the buffet. Great job! :o)
I have lots and lots of hobbies. I'm going to need two lifetimes to do everything that I want to do. I love knitting and quilting and… :o)
I'll have to add refurbishing to the mix. Looks like fun. The only things I've ever redone were my boys' dressers.
Oh, did you know that plain old regular Lye from the hardware store (Lye mixed with water) will remove paint and stain from wood? No sanding or expensive paint stripper involved. :o) Just don't touch metal with it. We redid my hubby's gun this way. :o) It's great for things with lots of detail like old pieces of furniture. lol :o)
Great story…You did beautiful work!
As far as creating goes, I like to cook. I love trying new recipes, and I'm the master at the old ones. My mom passed it to me, and I've passed this love down to my daughters and my son. It's a great way to de-stress after a long day.
I love to learn new languages and play new instruments.
I also have grabbed furniture off the side of the road. I took a couch that was sitting in front of the fire station in Waltonville once. Two years later, when I moved away, I put it back where I found it for someone else.
You're so talented, Jessica. Refurbishing furniture takes patience and imagination. I'm laughing at how your son was the only person who didn't get soaked in the rain. Shame on that guy who was watching, though! He should have lent a hand instead of gawking.
I like to fence, dance, and travel.
Good post, Jessica, and that buffet looks fabulous! Absolutely beautiful. I couldn't believe the before and after shots! What a transformation.
My hobbies… hm. Well, I love theatre. Love attending musicals. So far I've seen The Boyfriend, Jersey Boys, Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, My Fair Lady, and Pride and Prejudice. Hoping to go see Les Miserables this fall. Can that be considered a hobby? My other hobby is singing. Love singing! Oh, and baking too! Baking sweet stuff or doughy stuff is my favorite. 🙂
-Lizzie
That's awesome! Great job. Great analogy.
Hey everyone! Thanks for coming by. I'm loving all your hobbies! Musicals are a great hobby. I should start that up myself. New languages sound more like a chore than a hobby! I love to cook and try out new recipes too! We should swap some. And quilts…well I like covering up with them. So could not make one! 🙂
I love how that buffet cabinet turned out! I've thought about getting into refinishing furniture. Besides writing, I also like digital scrapbooking, interior decorating, singing, and of course, reading.
I need a hobby! I feel lame that my hobby is writing, when really it's not like a hobby anymore. It's my occupation. So….yep, I need a hobby.
I love to cook, entertain, scrapbook and make cards. That about sums it up 🙂
The buffet is absolutely fab!
I'm so glad that I can help you see the big picture at times…because you were not seeing it on this particular day! Also, I would like to clarify that my skirt was not that "mini!" Lol!
I follow a blog called Miss Mustard Seed and she showcases a lot of refinished furniture projects.
I have too many hobbies as it is, but if I had any more time on my hands, I'd love to try it. It looks like fun.
I used to list singing, reading, and cross-stitching as my hobbies. Now I barely find time for anything other than raising kids, writing, and critiquing. lol. I do still sing on occassion at church but not as regularly as before. I'll cross stitch or crochet around the holidays usually but I'm with Katey, I think I need to find a new hobby. =) Great post, fun project!!
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