Studio Furnishings

What do you think of this piece of furniture I wonder? Are you like me who thinks it is beautifully mellow and full of character and history and deserves to be loved and cherished? Or are you like J who thinks it is a right ol' hunk o' junk and is only fit for firewood?

A few months ago, we were returning home from an outing one Sunday lunch time and out of the car window I spotted it. It was sat outside a local restaurant near where I live, and it caught my eye instantly. Later that day, on a complete whim, I walked down to the restaurant and boldly went in to ask about it. I asked whether by any chance they might be wanting to get rid of it (it was standing beside the bin), and the reply was music to my ears. Yes, they said, do you want it? You would be doing us a favour, they said, we'd rather you took it and saved us the trouble of putting it into landfill. Landfill???!!! Shock horror!!!!! No no no no no, pleeeeeease let me take it, I will love it and cherish it and give it a good home.

So with some help from lovely friends, this wonderful piece of old furniture came to rest in the Attic24 cellar for a while, and gradually as time allowed I set to work on it. The top was badly stained and covered in what looked like a restauranty mixture of black coffee, red wine and melted candle wax. I gently scraped off the surface layer but it was still badly stained, so I sprayed it with a strong bleach/mould removing cleaner and scrubbed it right into the grain of the wood with an old toothbrush. Left to dry over night, it came up remarkably well. Still retaining it's age and character, but looking a lot more respectable. I gave the door and drawer fronts a good clean with some sugar soap, but left them pretty much untouched. Now for the inside.....

This old piece of stained paper was lining the shelf inside the cupboard, and as soon as I saw it, it reminded me of Liberty tana lawn. As you may remember, I had just had some real success with Mod Podging my memo board, so I thought I could do the same sort of thing with the cupboard and drawer inners. Oh yes! I could line them with Liberty tana lawn, why not?

I have to tell you, I loved buying this fabric. I have always wanted to buy some of these fat quarters but had never had a project in mind until this. They come from a local shop and are heavily discounted, due to some very slight faults in the print in places. But they were perfect for the job.

Just perfect.

It was pretty good fun....

....mod podging drawer bottoms is sooooooo easy. Cut the fabric a few centimetres larger than the drawers, give it a thorough covering of MP (first the drawer bottom, then a thin layer on top of the fabric to seal it). Then once it's all completely dry, the excess is easily trimmed with a sharp craft knife.

I did each drawer in a different fabric, plus used three different fabrics for the cupboard shelves and inside of the cupboard door. Do you like the handles? They are ceramic. Isn't the whole thing completely charming?

Of course, I had no doubt that this amazing piece of old furniture would look incredible in the studio. It looks as if it has always been there.

The old oak book shelf sat on top was a great buy from a local eBay seller, and will eventually be used for displaying lots of pretty goodies.

The drawers just make me go weak at the knees and every time I visit the studio I can't resist opening them to take a peek.

This humble piece of furniture has made me very happy indeed. You can see my basket up there too look, it cost £5 from a local second hand shop.

It's quite large, measuring 32cm across the bottom and about 40cm across the top. I want to keep yarn in it, so decided to make a liner for it to stop the yarn snagging.

I made a basic circle to cover the bottom.....

.....then simply stopped increasing to make the sides go up (much the same as my bag pattern). I added in some increases towards the top edge to make sure it was going to be wide enough....

...then I simply stitched the lining to the basket. Yeah, honestly, it really was that simple!

I just sort of made little stitches through the gaps in the the basket work, every few centimetres or so to secure it in place.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, it looks good?! And er........ta dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really got into those colours, so sweet and pretty and fresh. Even the neutrals are pretty I think.

It's a lovely yarn to work with, a DK weight 50/50 cotton/acrylic mix called "Cotton On" by James C Brett. I bought mine online from here, but I know many online yarn retailers sell it. It's very reasonably priced, and delicious to work with, very warm and soft and pretty.

I've been making something else with this yarn too, which I hope to share with you very soon. I'm having a little struggle on the edging of this Other Thing, but almost there. I think you're going to like it.

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Comments

[FleurBelge]

Like all you crochet or create,
this is so beautifull.
You have a lot of succès among French speaking crocheters.( myself i am half Welhs by mother, and half French-Belgium by father)
Merci for all your sharings in your beautifull blog, you are a lovelly talented lady;
FleurBelge

[susan]

I can't imagine thinking that marvelous sideboard could be considered junk. I'm so glad you rescued it and brought it back to life! I love your studio. Your blog is one of my happy places.

[Sarah]

love love love the dresser....love love love the drawers you know me and liberty....... Thank heavens you saved it from the tip...it looks perfect in your studio...well done you xx

[Kari]

I cannot believe that anyone would even think of putting such a gorgeous piece of furniture in the landfill! Yikes! So glad you rescued it. And it looks terrific with the new drawer liners. I would have liked to have seen every single drawer and shelf. It will almost be a shame to put anything into it. Almost.

[Sonja Mizen]

It is lovely. It is the best feeling ever if you can pick up something so lovely for nothing. Well done

[Liz in Missouri, USA]

What a great cabinet - and what a FIND! I love the drawer linings and yes - it absolutely DOES look like it has lived in the studio all along. Your basket is an inspiration. Now I am looking at a couple of baskets that I have and a pail full of left over yarns! I love your blog, Lucy!

[Elaine/MuddlingThrough]

What a beautiful job you've done of taking someone else's castaway and turning it into a perfect piece for your own use. I like everything you've done for it. The basket with its yarn liner is very nice, too. I've always loved those colors - I used a lot of them in the early seventies (!) when I used to do a lot of crocheting.

[annie]

Oh and the basket and drawer linings! Swoon.

[annie]

Love your cupboard. I always have my eye curbside when we go out and about and have brought home and refurbished a number of 'trash picked' treasures. Amazing what a good clean or new hardware will do. Enjoy your studio!

[woolyavril]

i can't help thinking you might crochet covers for the drawer knobs! (it looks great btw + useful)

[victoria]

How lucky for the sideboard that you happened along when you did.

It's amazing the things that people will just throw away either because they don't know how to refurbish it or don't like things that, to them, seem not perfect.

Victoria

[Karmen]

Precioso el mueble , es una verdadera maravilla . El forro del cesto muy alegre y colorido. Me encanta!!!
Soy seguidora desde hace tiempo y tiene un blog muy inspirador , gracias por compartir. Un saludo desde España.

[Deborah]

Looks beautiful Lucy! You have inspired me to take a small bookshelf that my late father made and had fallen into a shabby state from being used in the garage. I am going to take it out and give it the Lucy treatment. Much love, more elbow grease and lots of imagination. You have brought me out of my unsettled state. Thanks for all you do for us:)

[Karmen]

PRECIOSO!!! BELLISIMO EL MUEBLE Y EL CESTO!!!!!!

[Wendy]

Love it, especially the drawers -- will have to try that.

[Annie]

OMG, that is absolutely beautiful!

[Angela-Southern U.S.A.]

LOVE,LOVE,LOVE it!!!It gives me chills to think it was headed for the landfill!BEAUTiful,so glad you'saved'it(lucky you)and it looks perfect in the studio.Since I'm a self proclaimed"basket case"(I could not guess at the number of baskets I own)nothing better than a basket with some hooky loveliness.Some mini bunting on the edge of the bookshelves would look pretty too :)Can't WAIT for the other hooky reveal!

[Dinahsoar]

It's a wonderful piece of furniture! Had it not cleaned up so well, you might have done a light white wash over the wood, which always looks nice. I have a pine bedroom set I'm thinking about whitewashing just to change things up after all these years of using it.

AND--there is always paint. Painted pieces--especially those painted with chalk paint--look wonderful. I have many painted pieces in my home and they co-ordinate with everything.

You can take a bunch of chairs or pieces of furniture in all kinds of wood/finishes, paint them and they 'match'. Instant awesomeness.

For durability I always paint my wood furniture with exterior house paint. It comes in a myriad of wonderful colors like any paint and wears like nobody's business AND it's not necessary to add a topcoat or sealer. It's built right into the paint. Just think what painted houses must withstand--blazing sun, rain, hail, sleet, snow, temperature extremes and the paint stands up to all that for years and years.

[Theetje]

oooh wow!!!
It lookes great!!!
The colours are beautiful!!
And that studio of yours.....mmmmm i heart it!!!
Love Theetje

[sew]

Well spotted and well restored, Lucy.
Are we allowed not to be very keen on the handles and wish they had crocheted covers made for them?
xx

[Brenda B.]

I absolutely LOVE your "new" cabinet! What a brilliant idea.. I adore your liner for your basket also.. (I am making your bag right now!) Can't wait to see what your newest project is! I enjoy your blog so much.. Thanks for sharing with all of us in blogland! Blessings..

[PinkCatJo]

It's beautiful - I love it and you've restored it beautifully.
I'm loving seeing your studio come together. It looks great! x

[Gillian]

It's gorgeous! A really good piece of furniture that you've rescued from landfill and given a new lease of life. Love the drawer liners. xx

[Annelie Sahlén]

Wow this is beautiful, I love these kinds of old furniture, you did a great job with it.
Thank goodness you got the chance to save it! And beautiful fabric, such good idea to use it in the drawers. I handn´t thought about using fabric like that before, I always think about using paper in drawers. Great idea and beautiful job!
Thank you so much for sharing!

[Pj]

What a gorgeous piece of furniture - definitely worth saving and you have done such an amazing job of transforming it. Such a lucky find! Best wishes, Pj x