I have a treat for you!
My beautiful and talented friend Claire from A Little CLAIREification has graciously agreed to guest host today.
I am very grateful to have her here because I have been so busy with our Client Diaries: Jess & Brad Project… my head is spinning a bit!
Things are moving fast and Kent and I are anxious to show you the progress.
Until then have fun with Claire… she is a hoot… and clever too as you will see from her fantastic Card Catalogue Restoration project!
Hi there! I’m Claire and I blog over at A Little CLAIREification.
I am so happy Cynthia asked me to stop by today to share one of my favorite projects with you – our Antique Card Catalog Restoration!
Cynthia is always running around working on beautiful projects and makeovers so I’m giving her a well deserved day off and I’ll tell you about this fun piece.
I have to warn you – the “before pictures” are over a year old and probably taken with my iPhone at the time so you’ll have to excuse that part.
So, years ago and far away, my Mom found this card catalog next to a dumpster outside the school where she taught.
Wooden card catalogs were being replaced by newer “modern” metal pieces {which makes me a bit wistful since now the digital age has replaced them altogether}.
I am so glad my Mom had the foresight to snag this and save it for me.
The piece was plain, low grade wood when she found it with no paint and tarnished brass hardware.
The drawer section is separate from the base so it’s a two part, yet very solid, piece.
I was in my early twenties at the time and didn’t think twice about slapping a coat of white paint on it – I didn’t even take off the hardware.
Mistake number one – I am older and wiser now. 😉
So there it sat for about 8 years or so and one day I decided to paint the base aqua.
For no reason other than I like the color but… I didn’t finish it.
Fast forward another 5 or so years and last year and I decided it was time to completely re-do the whole thing.
My Husband, thankfully, insisted that we had to do it right this time. I can be a little bit of “Impatient Pants” sometimes. 😉
He completely removed the hardware and sanded the entire thing. Each little part.
And then we carefully painted the piece before reapplying the hardware.
We considering staining it but the sides and top were really not in good shape.
Isn’t it fun? I have people write me all the time since they are looking for old card catalogs and I feel so lucky that I ended up with this one.
I’d love for you to stop over and visit and tell me about any fun projects you are working on or have completed as well!
You might also enjoy my Budget Dresser Makeover:
Thanks so much again, Cynthia, for having me over today.
As always, I can’t wait to see the next posts about your fabulous projects!
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Thanks Claire,
I love the hardware on that piece… it turned out beautifully!
Be sure to pop over and check out A Little CLAIREification if you haven’t had the pleasure before… her links are above!
