A Redo

Last year when I wrote that I was redoing the blog, I asked for ideas from readers telling me what they'd like to see.  I got many answers (thank you), and will address all of them, and one was suggesting redos, remodels, restoring, etc.  So here we go....


When my grandmother built her dream house in 1950, she purchased a dining room set from
Tell City Chair Company.  That company first began in 1859.  It was well known for building furniture that would last "forever".  In 1962 when Jacqueline Kennedy was redecorating the White House, she commissioned the company to make 425 chairs after seeing a Tell City chair in Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.

All of our family's holiday dinners were celebrated around that drop-leaf table that, when the
leaves were put in, was several feet long.

I now possess that table and chairs.  The table is in storage until it can be repaired but the chairs
are still strong and sturdy.  Last year, I just cleaned one up with Dawn dish soap, water, and white vinegar.  That mixture along with elbow grease removed 60+ years of furniture polish.  The chairs are beautiful.  I recovered the seat and here it is.

Isn't it beautiful?  The style is Duncan-Phyfe Roseback Mahogany.

Last week, I decided to tackle another chair.  I wanted to paint one, and yet I couldn't
bring myself to paint it.  I would decided to paint, then change my mind.  Back and forth.
The chair was sturdy, but not in the condition of the chair above.  The stain was rubbing off in places and if I redo the table and use it someday as dining room furniture, all the chairs will be stripped and redone to the original stain.  So paint I did.

I cleaned it up and spray painted.  I am very happy with the results. Now for the recovering.

I kept the original padding because it is in great shape.  When I was 7 or 8, I helped my grandmother recover these chairs.  She changed them to a cranberry velvet to match a cranberry chandelier she had

bought to put over the table in her dining room. That was 52 years ago!

I kept the original thumb tacks we used.  They held for 50 years so I figure they are good for a few more.  Besides, I am sentimental.  Funny to think, this package of tacks probably cost around $0.49 back in 1963.

I trimmed off a piece of the cranberry velvet and tacked it onto the underside of the seat.  I wanted to preserve good memories.  

I even reused all the hardware.  These nails are long and sturdy.  I don't think I would have found any this size and strength today.

Thanks for walking down memory lane with me.  I hope you have family pieces that you are using.

It is so important to preserve the past.  I know all these things are just earthly possessions and have no eternal value, but if we make our homes places where we point our families to the Lord, maybe some of our things will someday be just a small part of a Godly legacy we leave with them.

2 Corinthians 5:9 says, "Therefore, we make it our aim (purpose)...to be well-pleasing to Him."

Let's "purposefully" make our homes a place where those we love get a glimpse of the divine.