The Best Things Are Free!

After spending weeks refurbishing an old run down dining table, it has become one of my most favorite things... that I acquired free of charge.  In honor of my new blessing, here is a top ten list of some other things that I've collected ... at little or no cost to me.  The best things in life are definitely free!

shaving mirror

1) This is a wood framed tri-fold shaving mirror from either the 1930s or 40s. About fifteen years ago, an old man in my community had passed away. After his family had taken all they wanted, my husband was hired to clean out the rest of his belongings, and I went along to help. The family had left so many things behind, and as we cleaned up, we also spent the afternoon learning so much about the old man. Although I had seen him everyday, walking his little dog, I had only met him once. He had stopped to talk to the group of kids playing in the courtyard (my daughter included), and we struck up a conversation. I knew he was a Jewish-Italian-American, that he had been in the Navy, and that he had gone through WWII. What I learned that afternoon was that he was quite distinguished, and had collected some very fine things throughout his life. I saw the hospital photographs and court documents, after he had been the victim of a hate crime. I took with me some beautiful antique furniture, an Italian newspaper from 1944 with articles about the war, and two old Time magazines, each dedicated to the murder of a Kennedy.  I also took with me a new and deep respect for the man I never really knew.  I talk to him sometimes, and thank him for all the things he unknowingly passed down to me.  I think he appreciates that I appreciate them.

bar cabinet

2) This is the solid wood cabinet that I also acquired from the old man.  It has been used as a dining room buffet, a TV stand, among other uses, and now it serves as a printer stand.  It was originally intended to be a bar cabinet, but we don't drink very often so it stores batteries, plastic grocery bags, miscellaneous electronics, and pet supplies.

Uncle Charlie

3) This is a faux carved wood wall hanging, depicting one of my most cherished ancestors:  Emperor Charlemagne (aka Uncle Charlie). We know about him from school, of course, but we know about our relation because of my grandmother who spent her life researching our family genealogy.  This carving had hung on her wall for as long as my brain can remember, and when she passed away several years ago, it was handed down to me, to hang on my wall for the rest of my life.  Those are two reasons why I love it dearly.

The Guardian

4) This black stone lion was brought home by my husband about seven years ago. He found it in a vacant apartment, abandoned by the previous resident. He came to me just around the time that I was studying the art of Feng-Shui. I named him The Guardian, and wherever we live, he is perched on the porch, beside the front door, protecting us from negative energy. I painted his eyes, to give him a sense of life... and his toenails, to give him a sense of style.

painted mirror

5) Here we have a four foot long, heavy as hell, silver framed mirror that likely hung in some restaurant restroom. It was collected by my late father in law, who was a retired apartment maintenance man, who likely found it abandoned in a vacant apartment. He gave it to me nearly two decades ago, and I gave it a face lift. I sponged the frame in pale yellow and blue, and then stenciled on some ivy in mixed greens, and some leafy vines in blue. 

crystals

6) Aaaah, some of my most prized possessions. These three crystals came into my life nearly three decades ago, when my ex-husband found them while cleaning and painting his bosses daughter's apartment. They became the very first stones on a long and beautiful path into a world of deep spirituality, and an interest in ancient Celtic mysticism ... crystal healing, candle and incense burning during prayer and meditation ... which led me to a deep respect for the natural world, and it's sciences.

sofa

7) This sofa was an unexpected gift from the universe! Seven years ago, I had spent weeks trying to find one just like it ... searching newspaper ads, Craig's List, used furniture stores, and thrift shops. They were all either too expensive, or already sold. Just when I was ready to give up, this sofa appeared on the curb in front of my neighbor's house, while they were moving out. I introduced it to my carpet and upholstery cleaner, and it took up residence in my living room. It couldn't be more perfect for those long Saturday afternoon naps.

kitchen cabinet

8) This white kitchen cabinet was a gift from an old neighbor. She was an employee and a resident of the complex where we lived after arriving in NC. We only knew her for about six months before she found a new job, and moved out. Before leaving, she offered us this great country style kitchen cabinet, among other pieces. It was already white, with pine surfaces, but I painted the door and drawer pulls in Hunter Green. We used it for a microwave stand, and food storage cabinet until we moved to this rental house. The kitchen is much too small, so it became a TV stand and bookshelf for my daughters. We have since moved and it has returned to its original position in the kitchen.

Bamboo Shelves

9) When we moved to NC, the apartment beneath of ours was the designated "guest suite". A short term rental unit for residents to house their out of town visitors, like a big beautiful hotel room. Well, when some of the student residents began using it for all night parties, the management decided to turn it into a regular unit. All of the model furniture inside was offered up to the employees. I jumped right on it. I walked away with this bamboo and glass entertainment unit, a long white wicker dresser, and two matching white wicker nightstands. Yay me! Yay free!

Table

10) And the piece de resistance ... without any further adieu... (I have no idea if I've spelled those correctly, but the spell checker didn't highlight them, so I'm going with it) ... the dining room table that was found on the curb after some neighbors vacated, about a month ago. Has it been a month already? Yeah I guess it has. I sanded it, I stained it, I coated it, and turned it into the beauty that it has become. If you'd like to see the photos of the table in it's original state, just look through the recent previous posts (on the right sidebar) for one called "Trash To Treasure".

If you have a cherished freebie, post a pic in the comments!

A Busy (Manic) Week At The Circus

Bzzzzzzzz... this house has been a hive of activity lately.  So much so that I have neglected my blogs.  It's not that I haven't had anything to write about, it's just that I haven't had the time to sit and write it.  So, here, in one fell swoop, I'll give you an update on the status of the circus.

Hubsy is running himself ragged in his new role of Service Manager at the apartments. He is painfully understaffed, in the upkeep of two upscale five-story buildings, two parking garages, and a strip of retail stores.  Aside from keeping everything clean, his typical maintenance duties, the office politics, the inventory and reordering, and a slew of air conditioner calls throughout our recent heat wave... he's also had to deal with the tragedy of a suicide, by a resident that everyone knew well.  Without being too morbid, I'll let you know that it was done outside, at the start of the heatwave, and wasn't discovered for four days.  Hubsy had to guard the body until the police arrived, and then stay with them while they investigated the man's apartment.  Then he had to secure the scene to prevent other residents from gawking.  Then stay with the crime scene clean up crew for two days, while they attempted to remove the blood stains from the concrete.  Although this isn't the first time he's experienced death in the apartment industry, this was the first time he actually knew the victim, and it was difficult.

On the upside, a new family has moved into the neighborhood, complete with a young girl who's age falls smack dab in between the ages of my Princess and my Punkin.  These three musketeers have been together everyday for the last four days.  Of course, it just so happens that Punkin has been grounded from going out during this time, and so their new friend has been coming in.  When they're not on the phone gossiping with friends about boys... or with boys about friends... they're chasing the dog through house, and doing each other's hair.  On their downtime, they fall into heaps on the floor in front of an SVU marathon.  Although I'm not very used to having more than my own kids in the house, I have to say that I like this girl.  She's ultra polite, and coming from a very nice and strict household, she may be a good influence on my girls.  She's been  helping them with their chores, and even nudges Punkin to "shut up and obey" when her alter ego, Miss Attitude, rears her ugly head.

What can I say about The Boy?  When he's not upstairs in his room, on his computer, he's downstairs with me, on mine.  It's been nearly a month since his high school graduation, and he's done precious little in his search for work.  Everything he's done, he's done from home... filled out some online applications, and created an account with an online job search service.  Since no one has knocked on our door yet, to offer him employment, I'm sending him our today.  Out ... into the world ... feet to pavement, with the wind in his hair, and the sun on his back.  He's not happy about it, but ask me if I care.  Go ahead, ask me.

As for me, I'm still in the process of cleaning up the messes I made during the whole "house reformation" project I started two weeks ago.  After refurbishing the new dining room table, I had to:

1)  Rearrange the living room to make space for the office furniture.

2)  Patch and paint the living room walls to cover the holes I left when I moved shelves and pictures around.

3)  Rearrange shelves and pictures in the dining room, after reclaiming it from the office furniture, and place the new table.

4)  Patch and paint the dining room to cover holes left from moving shelves and pictures.

5)  Relocate Hubsy's Star Wars collection to the bedroom, since there's no longer space for it in the living room.  Luckily, all I needed to rearrange, in there, was some shelving.  I will eventually patch and paint the bedroom walls ... but OMG, not now!

6)  I've also had to take some time out last week to finally get my North Carolina driver's licence.  Geez, what's the rush?  I've only been living here for five and a half years.  

Things are almost back to normal, but I'm still struggling with a few piles of paperwork that have made a home on the new dining room table.  Once that is dealt with, I can post the photos I've been promising.  In the meantime, when I need downtime, I've been playing Sims3.  I tend to get completely addicted to it, so I've been up late at night, playing out the adventurous and lavish lifestyles, that I wish were mine.  In fact, I think I hear them calling me now.  I'd better go!

(By the way, this is what a Bipolar hypo-manic phase does to me. I discuss more about my Bipolar Disorder on my personal page).

        

From A Trashy Table To A Treasured Piece

There had been a pile of trashed out furniture on the curb in front of a recently vacated house for a few days. I kept trying to get a view of it, but every time we drove by my husband would speed up and say something like, "nothing to see here, folks". Well, I did catch sight of a huge dining table, that just reeked of ugliness, but also of pure potential.

The finish was dirty, chipping and peeling. There were several water marks and scratches. It was a medieval monster, but after a thorough examination I convinced Hubsy to help me lug the thing home.

It took up residence on our back porch, which slowly began to resemble the set of This Old House, with sawhorses, orange extension cords, sanders and sandpaper, foam paint brushes, plastic sheeting, a pile of old rags, and various cans of wood finishes. Feeling much like Norm Abram, I set to work. (Yes, that's a Christmas coffee mug, that I use year round).

Hubsy disassembled it, and Punkin and I began to scrape and sand ... and sand and sand. Even Hubs and Princess joined in occasionally, while The Boy watched. It took a solid week to remove the old finish and get down to the beautiful bare wood. And that's when Hubsy really began to believe that we could make something out of this thing.

Using a Colonial Maple stain, something we had left over from our coffee table years ago, I started adding some color to each piece. Believing that the table top was a solid piece of oak, like the base, we were surprised to find that it was covered with a pine veneer, which was peeling in several small sections. So, we peeled up the loose sections, and sanded down the uneven edges. During a brief lapse in brain function, I filled in two of the spots with wood filler, which didn't take the stain well. While the peeled and sanded sections took the stain differently, but nicely. Oh well, a mistake I can live with, because it was still definitely not the same table that we had hauled home. The sides of the tabletop were a beast of their own.  Again, I had used a wood filler to seal some gaps, and it didn't stain well. I ended up having to paint the sides in a brown color that matched the darker knots in the pine. It soaked up the stain like a sponge, and needed four coats of poly ... but it came out beautiful in the end!

In order to make room for the table, we had to turn our office space back into a dining room. In order to do that, we had to rearrange the furniture in the living room to make room for the computer desks. Then we had to paint and patch the walls in both the living room and the dining room! 

Next week will lead me into a whole new project. We've had to take down Hubsy's Star Wars collection from the living room, so now I have make room for it in the bedroom.  Of course, when I rearrange the shelves for that collection, I'll have to patch and paint!  ... and then...