Old Chest to a Perfect hose House

I bought this lovely old chest about 3 years ago at a yard sale. Yes, I know it's not in the best shape, but I love the olde charm it has. The raw wood, the planks pieced together and the exposed nails. So what if it has a few holes:) I'm pretty sure the hubs rolled his eyes at me when I unloaded it from the van that day....

Over the last few years I've used it various places in my house. As a bench in the hall, under the window in the family room and in the kitchen. It housed many different things- blankets, shoes and family games..... But none of those fits were quite perfect???

In the mean time I'd been wanting to build a bench for the front porch. And as I began a plan to work on it I became increasingly frustrated with the fact that the ugly hose was in the way... And I have to have my hose cause I love me some flowers:) so that wasn't going to go away. I thought the chest would make the perfect fit on my porch. I thought for sure my hubs would veto it cause wood + water = disaster and he is a LOVER of wood- seriously:) But he didn't- he jumped on it- probably to get the ugly thing out of the house- but heck, it's in pretty rough shape anyway, I don't think the water's gonna hurt much.

Once I got him involved it really started happening. Because of the faucet location on the house it was hard to figure out where to put the chest. I considered cutting a hole in the back of it to fit the faucet but then my husband came up with a brilliant idea (as he usually does- love him). He thought that since the hose goes down it would be easiest to thread it up from the bottom. So we drilled a hole in the bottom and cut of the spindles from the reclaimed banister I had and made legs. So we put it right beside the faucet- PERFECT!

At this point I still needed to paint the spindle legs. Um what color? Something that blends or something that stands out? Ultimately I decided on something that blends- rustoleum espresso.

Here it is completed with the pillows I made from some vintage fabric I've had for oh, um, 7 years.. I love it and have been waiting for the perfect project for it- I think I found it:) I even added a fabric rosette pin I made, just for a little pizazz. AAhhhhhh, I'm so glad I found the perfect place for this beaut!

Things to Start With

Awhile back my parents owned an old building. About a year and a half ago they sold it. The people who were buying it were going to tear it down to put in a parking lot. Reminds me of that song, "Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you got til it's gone, they tore down paradise to put in a parking lot. owe bop bop..."

But anyway, moving on... My husband and I went in and tore out so many things before they signed the final papers. Up until that point I had always been interested in having older things but really didn't have many sources to acquire said such stuff. I have done a lot of refinishing and painting furniture, bought some things at yard sales and upcycled- but this was my first big capture of old fun things.... Oh and what fun it was! and has been too- I still have a lot of it and am slowly using it piece by piece....

Amongst the things were probably a dozen solid wood paneled doors.

And we took apart an entire railing and banister. We also got old windows and mirrors and hardware. It was so much fun that day:)

I have always thought of myself as a business type thinker- looking more at things from a practical sense and from less of a feeling sense. But this is the exception... I look at these things and my heart goes pitter-patter. I see something and I begin thinking, "now what could I do with that?" and sometimes I have an instant answer but most of the time it takes months (that's the part that drives my husband crazy:). I enjoy the whole process- even the parts that create some sort of inevitable difficulty. It's a challenge. But it makes my heart happy!

I so enjoy history and tradition. I love seeing something and knowing that it is a part of history- that it a part of someone's memory. It gives me a sense of hope and peace. From that I enjoy creating something unique, full of character and useful.

When I am decorating my house, yard, garden, exc. it's always about that ONE piece. And let me tell you- it usually takes my husband quite sometime to truly appreciate that piece;) but I know it's that piece that makes that space. You have to have the practical pieces- that's unavoidable- but it's when you mix them with something unique or full of charm that you get a home- a true sense of warmth. Plain Comfort.

So that's what I love- to create that.

I have created a few things with some of the items so far and I will be posting them very soon- so stay tuned folks...... I'll show you the inner workings of my mind- bwahhhaaahhaaa:)