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The Garden Party

my rainy day project (well blizzardy)

15 years ago

what to do on a snowy day, you can't really go out in a blizzard ..i know as i nearly froze going to the mail box ..had to shovel about a foot of snow to get there..and my hands were hurting and bright red when i got back.

well i decided to do that project i've been thinking about now for years..My mom had given me an antique secretary desk with a curved glass china cabinet ..many years ago..and the inside walls of the cabinet were not finished..i know wierd huh? I had been batting around ideas of fabric or wallpaper, but it is my TEA cabinet in my dinette area of our kitchen by the rear sliders onto the deck..and i thought, why not decoupage cook book pages onto the back.

Well I hauled all the stuff out of it today, took out the shelves and glued pages of an old crappy cook book (antique but not valuable or worth saving) to the inner walls of the cabinet..and then put the stuff back in.

I took a lot of pictures but you really can't see the walls inside very well..too much glare. This is where i keep my tea sets, a set of purple glass dishes, some pink dishes, tea balls, teabag holders, a few cookbooks and a lot of tea..

I'm going to put on a few of the picture, you can barely see the cookbook pages in the back, but it isn't dark like a cave like it was before, really really dark inside. (no no place for lights) ..i hung a few antique crocheted potholders and hot pads and hung some of the tea balls inside too this time..just with thumbtacks.

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Comments (11)

ronbre
Original Author
15 years ago
i posted a few pictures of it with the door open to see the inside on the home decorating forum, here is one.
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calliope
15 years ago
Ohhh another tea drinker! Gal after my own heart. Your unit is quite lovely. My old china closet is unfinished inside as well. So is my old corner cupboard. The china closet I left as is, but the corner cupboard, I wallpapered in the same pattern as my wall. My wallpaper is gone now, but I left it in the corner cupboard, because I like it.
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i can't wait to see both of your message boards when you get them redone, that will be niced, the corks sound really interesting. I never thought of putting cuphooks along the bottom of the message board..that might be a good idea..not sure what would get hooked there though, i have a gob of cuphooks. There is a freezer on the right and a wall on the left and to the right of the freezer is a tall cabinet, my plan??? is to plane a couple of oak boards and cut to length between the wall and the cabinet on the other side of the freezer, and make two shelves to go the distance (leaving air space for freezer to breathe)..and i could hang cup hooks from the shelf on the bottom, that would be nice for coffee mugs and cups over the coffee maker..we used to have things in a different space and had a cabinet on the wall..but that has moved to another room. i like the hook idea but think maybe on the shelf would work better, a place to hang cups, for me, but i'll think of adding them to the board as well.
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Thanks for commenting, punk, sorie, kathleen, marlene & purplemoon ... punk..blizzards are over & "sunshine" just makes all the diff in the world! Very cold yet tho...but do-able! I'd love to visit your home...from what you share, it's just downright SWEET! sorie ... that print is by Robert Duncan called "April Storm" ... by his signature it says 1980 ...but I bought this print at an frame shop & had it framed 7 or 8 yrs ago...it is one of my favs! kathleen...no, the tree I bought on an after Christmas small town shopping trip...at a specialty store...they had used it in their display decor...& had it for sale...I was in heaven! I'd been wanting one for some yrs since I saw the grapevine handmade ones at a craftshow that sold for lots of $$$. It would be fun to try to make a "small" one. PM...hey, next mo (March 20th) is first day of Spring...so maybe you can decorate for that! You'll be bringing out all those beautiful bunnies!! You've got alot going on right now, woman! Thanks, gals! Jeanne S.
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While this is a fairly young plant, I have had "Arkansas" before, as a NOID. Picked it up from Lowes or Home Depot. It is definitely a "standard" and from what I recall of my older mature plant, probably "medium" in normally trimmed form. I have been slowly but surely gifting all my NOID's except for the few that I have grown attached to. The Arkansas was one of my so-called reds that I really liked so the last time I placed an order w the SG, I put it on the order. I have been trying to find the fine line where I can keep some of my larger "standards" trimmed back to where they look nice but don't take up a dinner plate sized spot under the lights. This "Arkansas" is one of those plants. Hopefully careful trimming of the roots and leaves w leave me w a slightly smaller example. We'll see!
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Josh
15 years ago
Very creative solution...looks great. But why do you suppose the insides of such pieces were left unfinished? I'd have thought the wood might warp over the years with no protection. Do you have an estimate of its age? Anyway, a lovely place for your tea paraphenalia and you can sit and sip and admire your handiwork and remember the blustery day next spring...and smile. josh
Janis_G
15 years ago
Very Nice.
ronbre
Original Author
15 years ago
my guess is probably mid to late 1800's but not sure
lindac
15 years ago
It's an oak secretary/bookcase. They dated from 1890 to 1920 or so, many had leaded glass doors on the book case part and some had flat glass. It's special for one to have curved glass as yours does.
The insides of old cupboards/bookcases was not often finished....that's just the way they were.
Linda C
ronbre
Original Author
15 years ago
yeah, goofy me just doesn't like that unfinished look, although I have lived with it a long time, at least i didn't destroy it as the cookbook pages would easily come off with some water..no worries.

I knew it was older than 1900 but not sure how much older. I like it a lot, begged it off my mom as she has a lot of antiques that i love. No one else in the family really cares other than the value. I love them as I have always had my house done in either antiques or reproductions.
mawheel
15 years ago
Very creative and nicely done
andie_rathbone
15 years ago
Very nicely done. I rescued a similar piece from my parent's basement almost 40 years ago. It had been used chiefly to store years & years of National Geographic magazines & was covered on lord only know how many layers of shellac. I stripped it & refinished it & it's now our liquor cabinet.
ronbre
Original Author
15 years ago
from tea to liquor cabinet..hmmmm interesting
andie_rathbone
15 years ago
To each his own.

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