Cursed Cabinet

Ah, the post-time change slump.  I've said it before and I will say it again... every single year.  I am solar powered.  Once I start running out of daylight at 4:30, my energy and motivation go with it.  Lately I can find motivation in the flip, but non-flip DIYs seem to be on hold and my pretty new sofa and this sweater have been acting like magnets.  My apologies if I'm getting a little one note here.  You can tell me.  I can take it.  Anyway.... Do you ever get an idea stuck in your head?

Yeah, me neither.  Have a great week!

Ha!  Yeah right.  We all know by now that stuck idea syndrome is an affliction I often have and this time it's about finding the perfect small glass cabinet to use for staging over at Millie.  While the house is nowhere near the staging stage, I've been trying to keep my eyes open for vintage pieces that could be a great fit.

This cabinet has been haunting me.  Literally.

This specific craigslist cabinet is missed opportunity #2.  The first was pretty much exactly the same cabinet on sale for $50.  I fell in love with the waterfall edges on the top and can just see it in the new master bath holding fancy towels and toiletries much like this dreamy bathroom by H2 Design + Build that I came across on Pinterest.

While I e-mailed the seller promptly and asked for dimensions, my follow-up response saying that I wanted it was a mere 1/2 hour too late.  Whomp whomp.

Minutes after that one escaped my grasp, instagram taunted me with it's twin styled up with linens that were on sale.  I can't for the life of me remember who's instagram it was and it was about a month ago, swallowed into the instagram abyss, so I'll just live with the taunting memory.

Returning to missed opportunity #2- the wound is still fresh.

I noticed this exact elusive cabinet (image from the listing) listed for FREE on the curb.  I didn't see the listing until about 10pm last night, but I e-mailed to see if it was still there, assumed it wasn't, forgot about it, and went to bed.  This morning I woke up to 2 things.  Driving rain and an e-mail from last night stating that the cabinet was still hanging out on the curb.  Wet.  Ruined. (presumably) I will mourn it's loss.

At this point, I figure it's one of 2 things.  A. either I'm not meant to own this cabinet or B. when I do find the right one it'll be all the more sweet.

I'm thinking more A at this point.  I mean, how many of these cabinets living in Eastern Mass are bound to get listed on craigslist in the exact timeframe when I'm hunting for one?  Maybe I will find that unicorn.  And maybe I'll win the lottery.

And maybe I should just avoid dreary, rainy Monday mornings following a night of sleep disturbed by nagging feelings that something is off with the flip kitchen.  On the bright side, Thanksgiving is this week and I welcome the family, food, and forced day off.  Bring on the turkey leg!

Make it Work: Thrifted Art

In the series, Make it Work , I show you how to take a seemingly random thrifted find and hypothetically 'make it work' in an awesome space.  WWTGD (What would Tim Gunn do?) On to today's Make it Work!

I've been scouring Craigslist a lot lately.  I mean a lot even for me (and that's an awful lot for most people).  Aside from a few things that will probably work for eventually staging Millie, I haven't been coming across any total gems.  Sometimes not being WOWed by a piece gives you the opportunity to add the WOW yourself, however.

I present to you: dated 70's hot air balloons currently on sale on our local craigslist for $20

I'm betting about 87% of you are questioning my vision right now.  Am I in the midst of a stroke?  Losing my eye sight?  Nope, I truly think these stuck-in-time pictures have potential.  With some modifications.  Something about the hot air balloons draws me to them.  Something about the current color scheme and the frame scares me away.

First, I'd start off by correcting the hideousness that's scaring me.  Paint the mat white and use a gold rub-and-buff on the frame.  Now the only color issues reside in the paintings/prints themselves.  My solution for this?  Dip it!

image credit: insidecloset.com

In reality, the process would be less of a 'dip' and more of a 'tape off half the painting then use a brush or spray paint' but the effect is still the same.  Our previously questionably hot air balloons would suddenly look ethereal and modern.  Here is my not-so-perfect photoshop rendition to give you an idea of what the balloons would look like.  Picture the frames shinier and the paint wouldn't look so flat.

You could also take it one step further and stencil or paint on a favorite quote or phrase.  I like the idea of a tone-on-tone.

Now what's one to do with this bizarre revived art set?

Personally, I think it would make the perfect statement over the sofa.  Large enough to fill the space, the new paint gives it a night weight, and it demands attention without screaming for it.

side table: target/frames: target/sofa: mitchell gold + bob williams/pillow: caitlin willson textiles/lamp: ikea

I know the dipped look isn't one to please everyone's tastes, but it's a great way to make a statement on a budget.

Are you on board or do you think it still looks like junk?  I'd love for you to weigh in!

If Walls Could Talk

I'm always fascinated by the items that I find hidden in houses or old furniture.  In past flip houses it's been very minimal since they've been pretty young houses in my opinion (60 years?  that's nothin.  Talk to me when the house is 100+ years old and still standing.)  This house, Millie, however is 100 years old and I can tell it's just busting at the seams to tell its stories if you'll listen. Last week, as I demoed the closets behind the kitchen wall to allow for the future master closet, it was like cracking open a time capsule.

The earliest treasure you might have caught a glimpse of on instagram- a Worcester Telegram newspaper from May 12th, 1915.  As I tried to unfold the paper, however, it disintegrated in my hands.  Apparently above the ceiling of a closet isn't the ideal location for the archival of newspapers.  Who knew?  I gently tried to unfold a few pages to show you the headlines from 99 years ago.

"Two Philadelphia Boys Among Victims on Ill-Fated Cunard Liner Lusitania"

This headline was the most interesting in my opinion.  The Lucitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat on May 7th, 1915, less than a week prior to this paper, so this was probably still breaking news.

On a lighter note, can I interest you in purchasing a horse or bull within the city?

"Submarine Wrecks Unidentified Ship" which was apparently still burning in Amsterdam at the time of publication according to the article

The next stop on our timeline from the 'time capsule' was from inside the wall.  A 1934 postcard offering a special test drive of the NEW Nash 5- Passenger Broughan to Miss D. A. Scott.

Good news!  The car sports 'built-in fender lamps' and a 'gracefully designed built-in trunk.'  I'll take it!  I blurred out the street address, but I love how it just says "City."  I also love that its addressed to Miss Scott.  It was probably a rarity in those days for women to drive cars, let alone purchase them, so I dig it.  I wish I knew if she ever went on the test drive.

One step further in our timeline takes us to the later 30s onto the Queen Mary Ship.  This poster wasn't hiding per se, but it was on the wall down to the basement.  As you can see, it's suffered some water damage over the years an had to be taken down.

Friends of mine actually had their wedding on this ship just a few years ago, so that adds to the cool factor here.

Lastly in today's time capsule, we reach the late 60s, early 70s.  Hidden inside the wall behind the kitchen was this collection of small child's items.  Lincoln Logs, a plastic cowboy hat, a plastic screw driver, a christmas bulb, and a quarter from 1967.  There was a small plastic teacup too, but it got lost in the demo debris (pout).  Nothing particularly notable or unique about the items themselves, but I love how they found their way into the wall....

I present their entrance.  The perfect, Lincoln Log-sized hole behind where the stove previously lived.

Inside the walls of one small closet, the treasures spanned from 1915 to 1967 and that only includes the items that I discovered.  Who knows what else might be hiding behind these walls or what other stories this house might share with me before I finish the project and resell it.

THIS is why I love old houses.  The generations that have existed within the same walls.... the monumental historical moments that this home has stood through... and the deeply personal meaning this house has had to so many people for so many years.  How can new construction hold a candle to that?