Mission Accomplished

Sometimes we don't get what we want because we're supposed to get something better - case in point: one china cabinet with great structure ready to be refurbished.

Today Jeff had a lunch meeting with several other music directors to plan the regional band, choir, and orchestra festival in the spring. As he rolled out of Native New Yorker's parking lot, he was stuck in construction traffic and began peering around until his eyes rested upon an unobtrusive little sign announcing the opening of a consignment shop on the corner. "Huh," he thought, "next time we're over this way I should take Jen there to look at fixer upper furniture." As this idea fleeted through his mind he inched along in traffic and it began to nag at him. It nagged him so much that he made a series of right turns through a nearby neighborhood circumnavigating an entire block to get back to that little store where he found not one, but four nice china cabinets on display.

Waiting at home for the replacement dishwasher delivery (which is a whole story unto itself) and swimming in papers in need of grading, my phone began buzzing with photographs of these cabinets. After several volleys of texting, I dialed Jeff to discuss price and possibilities. Luckily, we both liked the least expensive piece which was marked $395 (yep, a hundred bucks less than we were willing to bid on last night's cabinet). Then, when Jeff spoke to the sales lady, she knocked another hundred off to seal the deal quickly. This piece of furniture is solid wood (no veneer here) 1970's era Thomasville (the label is still on the inside) with four lovely arched glass doors atop three large drawers and a storage cabinet on either side. The hardware is a little dated and there are some scratches around the bottom of the base, but otherwise it is in perfect condition. There are some interesting modified cross/star designs on the bottom portion that date it, but we think we could fill those with some wood putty before sanding and painting the piece. However, I know now that the upper doors will remain just as they are. Each door - with its arched glass front - has a smooth, light wood finish with a second piece of wood inset around the glass. The inset piece has the grain running crosswise, giving the impression of a faint stripe or mock tiger oak. This distinctive feature will surely look great with a two-tone base and outer cabinet finish in cream.

I am so excited about the piece, I wanted to put it directly in the garage for immediate work; however, Jeff pointed out that I should practice on my little desk first, so we moved it inside to provide housing for the family china, which looks fabulous inside already. I'll be sure to take some before and after photos of this project to share as I go along. I just can't wait to get started!