The Antique Wardrobe

The antique wardrobe is finished...for now. Mr. DIY is still digging in his heels about painting the exterior of the wardrobe. After a good cleaning with bleach and Lysol, I got started.

Mr. DIY is 6'2". The wardrobe is over 7 feet tall.

The interior was a rough, unfinished wood. I used an old "junk" brush to prime. Due to the previous inhabitants of said wardrobe, I wanted to make sure every inch was covered.

I thought I chose a nice, fresh olive green color for the interior. Instead it looked like neon yellow. I tried to live with it for a few days. It wasn't happening. Back to Lowes I went.

The new color I chose is called Weathered Glass (EB8-3) by Eddie Bauer Home at Lowes. It is nice and bright and gives me a feeling of clean when I open the doors. The pictures are not great because I took them with my old point and shoot...and they were taken indoors. The dark spot you see on some of the pictures is something on the lens inside the camera. I'll use my Rebel XT from now on.

When I finished painting, Mr. DIY built new shelves for both sides of the wardrobe. They are got a fresh coat of Weathered Glass.

For now, it is still sitting in our dining room. It is too big to maneuver it into our bedroom. Slowly but surely, I'll get it moved into our home office. I will use it to store cherished, hand-quilted quilts, embroidered doilies, runners, and pillow cases made by Mr. DIY's grandmother. It also holds grandma's wedding gown and my wedding gown.

Many Furniture Refinishing Projects

Mr. DIY's 85-year-old grandmother passed away last week. She lived out on the family farm. We now have the task of cleaning out her house. Like many people from her generation, she was a "pack rat" or hoarder if you will. She saved everything from fast food containers to used tin foil. As we dig through the house, the treasures we are finding are phenomenal!

She was a quilter. She kept a notebook with a record of every quilt she ever made and who she made it for or sold it to. We are talking hundreds and hundreds of quilts...they were hand quilted, not machine quilted. Three Lane cedar chests full of finished quilts, quilt tops, blocks, embroidered pillow cases and doilies were divided between my husband and his sister. We each also chose a cedar chest to keep our treasures in.

The remaining items in the house will go to my husband and I. There are many antique dressers, tables, wooden chairs, a china cabinet, dry sink, and my absolute favorite...an antique wardrobe. I fell in love with it the minute I laid eyes on it. It even still has the key to lock it!

The only down side to these wonderful treasures...mouse droppings. Living on a farm and being an elderly, stubborn German lady (I say this with love, she was ornery!), she refused help with her house and the mice have taken over. My first instinct is to bleach everything, but I don't want to ruin any of the pieces.

I'm looking to my fellow DIY furniture refinishers for advice on how to clean these pieces so they are able to be used again and without hurting them.

I still need to take pictures of the pieces, but many of them are still in the house and will be moved to a storage trailer temporarily until I can work my way through them.