Is it possible to give something old new life?

When my husband and I moved to Georgia over 29 years ago we dragged a lot of old furniture with us that was in our previous residence. Tucked in that moving van was an old bedroom set that was about 10 years old at that time – a triple dresser, armoire and nightstand. This bedroom suite was purchased by my husband before I was even a twinkle in his eye.  And honestly I never really liked it, but it’s all we had and it was functional for the time being. It had water rings scattered on the nightstand and on the dresser there were spots where the varnish had all but disappeared from splashes of my husband’s cologne. My thought was that we would keep this until we can get a new ensemble – something that I liked too. Well jump ahead 29 years and that same bedroom furniture is still taking up space in our master bedroom.  Things got in the way of my plan for new furniture … like having children. And then those children needed bedroom furniture and not just once – at least twice - from baby to young person! Their rooms looked better than ours and still do and they are not even living here anymore! WTF.

I made the attempt to paint the furniture once and did a crappy job.

It's hideous  - I know. But it will look great when I'm finished refinishing it (and clean off the top!).

Hey I’m honest. I did not strip the stain and varnish. I just sanded a bit and slopped some black paint on it. Frankly it looked worse. Now I was not only stuck with furniture I didn't like, but stuck with furniture that looked ghetto.

When I began thinking about renovating the bedroom I of course wanted to start with the furniture, and my impulse was to buy new. I did some research online, scanned sale fliers and even walked through furniture stores. I soon realized that I would never be able to afford a set with the quality of workmanship that the old one has - dovetailed drawers, real wood throughout the entire set and NO MDF in sight. The bottoms of the drawers are thick slabs of wood and are sturdy and reliable. Not like the kind of furniture you screw together where the bottoms of the drawers sag and sometimes fall out of the little slots that were meant to hold them in place. The only screws in this furniture are where the drawer handles meet the wood.

Nightstand is done and looks great!

So this time I have decided to strip it to the bare wood and repaint it. I’m painting the triple dresser and nightstand black and the armoire white. Stripping, sanding and then priming before painting - yes – this time I’m doing it right. I’m using latex enamel with a satin finish. 

I now realize saving and caring for this furniture is a metaphor for other things that are old – namely people.  Even though we may show our age, we still have some admirable qualities that can still be of worth. Just like the old bedroom furniture, we need a little work on the outside, but once you strip down to the actual stuff we're made of you discover we're tough, resilient and valuable. I decided not to discard but to re-imagine these pieces of furniture with a new finish and proudly showcase them in our master suite. Sometimes giving something old new life is the right thing to do!