Aged to Perfection

Three and a half years ago, I came upon a set of furniture (dining chairs, buffet, and cabinet) that I fell in love with.  Even though they'd been stored away for many years and were covered in grime, I could see through the dirt to the wonderful shape and ornate detailing.  The woman that I purchased them from told me that they had belonged to her grandmother, then mother, and at last came to her.  They had even been moved across the country from Pennsylvania all the way to Spokane, WA  (hmm, sounds familiar).  Her mother had painted them many years ago and since she wasn't a fan of painted furniture, I was happy to take them off of her hands. 

Little did I know at the time that these "projects" would take years to complete.  I refinished the chairs and sold them at an antiques show right away and the buffet was scrubbed down and has been used in my former dining room and now serves as our television cabinet in the new house, but this cabinet has remained in the last three garages of our former residences...

Maybe it was all the grime, and the fact that one of the bun feet was obliterated, that held me back from getting it all fixed up again.  It was just too much time to get it where it needed to be and furniture for antique shows and shops took precedence, not furniture for my home.  Now that I'm setting up house and this is the last piece of furniture to finish off the formal dining room, I decided not to wait any longer.  Time to attack the grime...

It took a toothbrush and several hours of scrubbing to get it clean.  I was on furniture auto-pilot...thinking, "re-paint, distress, glaze, etc".  I took a step back and realized that I was about to re-paint and "faux" distress something that has already been authentically aged and was certainly distressed.  Hmm... I should have just cleaned it up years ago. 

I finally got to haul it into my dining room today and dress it all up (that's my favorite part). 

At last, the dining room is complete! 

More of the dining room to come...

Linking up to:

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays

It's So Very Cheri

Between Naps on the Front Porch

House in the Roses

Dittle Dattle

Sunday's Best

The DIY Showoff