KOOKY COMRADE POST: AUNT SUE

One of my favorite furniture acquisitions is also one that nearly gave me a fit a few years ago. My husband’s mother’s husband’s daughter’s husband’s mother (I’m not even following. Let’s just say my brother-in-law’s mom) was down-sizing from her beautiful family home into something smaller. My daughters and I went over to “help” with the clean out. No shocker that we ended up taking home several beautiful pieces of heirloom furniture.

Fast forward a few years and these wonderful pieces that were in storage were pulled out for use. There was one particular buffet that I loved. Here it is in all of its perfectly imperfect glory:

It was in seemingly beautiful condition, with a cool striated (aka striped) painted finish, BUT—and this is a big but—I thought I saw mold. Look closely at the picture (bottom middle of the doors), and you can see for yourself.

I wasted no time at all to remedy the situation. I immediately took to scrubbing the piece with vinegar water, followed by painting it with primer. And this is the part where the story gets…. Interesting.

Somehow, some way, I realized the ‘green mold’ wasn’t mold at all. It was beautiful green paint. Errrr, at least it used to be.

I could have cried. I may have cried. Who am I kidding, I totally cried.

But tears weren’t going to fix this amazing piece of furniture. That’s when I set my sights on a new goal: Undoing what I had just done. This piece is one-of-a-kind, and that’s what I wanted to recreate—its true, beautiful former self.

It took nearly an entire summer of painting, repainting, dry brush painting and more painting (Oh, and crying. Some crying, too.) before I was satisfied with the result. I only changed a few minor structural things: The feet, and the knobs.

Then one night, my husband came home, and I told him it was finally done. He took a look, and said, “I’m sorry to tell ya hone, but it looks exactly like it did when you started.”

I could have cried. Again. But this time, the tears were happy ones.

The lessons I learned, and the lessons I feel obliged to pass on to like-minded lovers of design are simple:

1. Tell everyone you know that you are a furniture/décor scavenger. Trust me, they will remember you when they want to clean out.
2. Do NOT start priming over what might be a perfect finish. Take time to evaluate a piece before you make any quick decisions.
3. Once you decide that a piece needs work, practice color and technique on a scrap piece of wood. It saves stripping unnecessary layers.
4. Lastly, love the one you’re with. Furniture, that is.

AFTER: