Beauty and Function

When you work from home in any business, things can get messy! When your business is furniture makeovers and upholstery...it can take over your entire life! The first year I had my business up and running full time, I either had my sewing machine on my breakfast nook table or on a card table in my living room. You don't know the term "frustrated" until you have tried to hem 9 foot blackout lined drapes on an old sewing machine sitting on a card table...there were tears cried, pin cushions thrown, and many many trips to my closet to scream into my pillow!!! But, you deal with what you have and handle it frustrations and all. 

Then I lucked out. A client was wanting to have a fun little chair upholstered and she had this old piece and was wondering if I might want to trade: my upholstery work for me getting this awesome old piece. I said yes, and she dropped off this old beautiful armoire. It was in really bad shape. The bottom and back had water damage and some bugs had had their way with quite a bit of one side. The veneer was loose and it just needed a ton of work. From the front it looked gorgeous!!!

So I had an idea and went to look for inspiration.  Found several pictures to help me along, but this one below was my favorite. I found it on pinterest.

 (source)

So naturally I got out my sketch book and went to work with my own thoughts and specifications.

I knew, because of the amount of damage and things that needed to be replaced, that this piece would need to be painted. It also needed to be taller for the drop down table to work and still have any good storage left. I wanted to add a storage drawer at the bottom to make that happen and add additional storage.

The entire back needed to be replaced

Then the bottom of each side had to be re-enforced

My father did the work on the piece for me so that I could try and keep up with all of my client work. The details of it were so perfect that it needed to be replicated perfectly, Dad is great at that! This is the new drawer unit with the original base below.

Once all of the pieces were made, it was time for stain and assembly. That's where I came back into the picture. I wanted the whole piece to be consistent and all look as old as the original cabinet.

I painted and distressed the main piece

 Then I waxed it, added some new pulls (obviously still needed to paint the drawer)

 These details y'all!!! It makes me happy!!!

Next came the inside. shelves were installed where there used to be a hanger rod. The hinged table was installed. It is just perfect!!!

 I can now tidy up my living room in 5 minutes and all signs of work can be hidden away inside this cabinet. 

I'll be honest, most days it stays open because I typically work around the clock. But, being able to stow everything away in minutes when people are coming by makes me really happy!

My daughter's cat loves it too!