Home Sweet Home: What a Steal...I Mean Deal!!

A few weeks ago I found this china cabinet on Craigslist for $20.

Please just use your imagination, I had it all taken apart and cleaned before I remember to snap some before pictures. The top section sets on the bench looking section and then the last picture is one of the drawers. There are some decorative brass pulls for the drawers as well.

So on with my story. I convinced my super patient hubby to drive out with me and check it out (read "buy it"). I happened to know the owners were also selling a secretary for $25, but I wasn't going to push my luck and kept that info to myself.

By looking at the furniture I never would have picked out the owners. Beer and football meets antique/vintage furniture. Interesting. Anyway, we decided to buy the china cabinet and while hubby was loading it up, I wandered over to the secretary and started chatting with the owner about it. It was pretty beat up, but surprisingly they had kept all the broken pieces.

The husband mentioned that they were planning on moving and just wanted to get rid of the furniture, so they did not have to pack it for the move. Being the helpful cheapskate that I am I asked if they would give me a deal if I took the secretary also (as if $45 for a china cabinet and secretary was not already a deal). They discussed it and said I could have them both for $30...uh okay!

As we were pulling out hubby asked "aren't those secretaries worth a fair amount?" Me, "yes so hurry and leave, I feel like we are stealing!"

Here we are several weeks later and I have finally finished the secretary. The before pictures are fairly dark, sorry it was night in my garage.

The middle piece was broken off.

The side molding was broken.

One of the toes was broken.

There was a hole in the back of the bookcase section. Here it is from the back.

And from the front.

There were TONS of scratches on the desk area.

I started out by repairing all the damage. I glued the missing pieces back in place and filled in and sanded all the scratches. I then made a homemade chalk paint with a color called Milk Pail by Martha Stewart. It is a pale green. I left a few areas wood and cleaned them up with Old English polish. I polished the hardware and I will not even tell you how many hours it took to get them clean...yes HOURS! I had a difficult time with the back piece and decided to cover it with fabric and repaired the hole as best as possible. This is the fabric I chose.