Refurbished Goods

My arms are dog tired and full of sundresses on clear plastic hangers. On the tip top of my head, a messy bun barely contains my blonde hair. I squint, staring at the wall of dressing rooms in the front of me, searching for the one where I can see my mothers freshly pedicured red toes. Red has always been her power color.

“Did you try on that top yet? That was particularly cute. I want to see it on you.” I say.

“I’m putting it on now.” She replies.

A few moments later she comes out. I don’t think I’ve ever told her this, but her walk always changes when she’s trying on clothes. She’s always been effortlessly beautiful. Words she’s heard millions of times in her life, no doubt. Strutting over to the mirror, she studies the top.

“You have to get that one. It’s a blue tag, right?” I ask.

“Yes. You really think so?” She says. Mom always plays coy when she knows something looks fabulous on her.

“Come on. You know it looks good on you, plus it’s Trina Turk and an additional 40% off.”

She smiles, sashaying back to the dressing room. She’s buying it.

This has become our ritual at least once a month since I started college. We’ll pick a Saturday morning and meet at the tiny nail salon tucked inside our favorite strip mall in West Knoxville. We read outdated gossip magazines, get our nails done, and then mosey on down to Repeat Boutique - the BEST consignment store I’ve ever been to in my life.

The first thing you need to know is that, the ladies who work at Repeat Boutique are living, breathing ANGELS. Always offering up big toothy grins and heartfelt thank you’s to anyone who walks in the door. I remember they kept this massive bowl of peppermints by the cash register, and I’d grab one before I left every single time.

Back when I pledged my dearest allegiance to the United States of dresses and cute shoes, this store was my chosen playground. We were regulars and man, we found some amazing things that have stayed relevant in my closet to this day.

Since I was a little girl, my mother instilled in me all of the perks one can attain from simply being a hunter of deals. Full price? Only if it was absolutely necessary - this became our motto. It’s no wonder I steadily grew into the eccentric lover of all things old and new that I am today.

I wish I could say that I’d always been this way - but, that would be a huge fib. When it comes to home decor I was a lost puppy for so long, bee-bopping from one style to the next. One minute our home would be modern, the next minimalistic - then I’d moved on to bohemian. Oh, and we can never forget mid century mod. Thank you, Mad Men.

So, how did I arrive to where I am today?

I got mad. I put away all the magazines. I stopped watching HGTV. I learned that MY HOME DOESN’T HAVE TO LOOK LIKE A CATALOG OR A TELEVISION SHOW. It can be simply be me, I just had to figure out what exactly that was?

So, I tested myself. I am fully aware that that this might seem like backtracking, but I got on Pinterest. I logged out of my old account, a graveyard of every phase I’d been through over the last several years and created a completely new account. Before I started searching, I asked myself a question.

In all the homes I’d ever been in throughout my life, which ones had been my favorite?

There was one historic home outside of Atlanta that I thought of immediately and two or three B&B’s we’d stayed at in Savannah, Ga. But, it shocked the daylights out of me when I realized that a vast majority of them had been overseas. I also realized that none of my design choices in any of our homes have ever reflected anything remotely close to what I saw in any of those spaces.

I skipped the parts where it asked my interests and dove straight into it on Pinterest. I searched for The Swan and Minster Mill, a quaint bed & breakfast we stayed at in The Cotswolds. Several images popped up and I saved whatever jumped out at me. Next, I searched for The Olde Pink House in Savannah and immediately started craving fried chicken. I fought through my hunger and saved some things. The artwork inside that restaurant has always spoken to me.

These searches taught me more about myself and my style than I would have realized otherwise. I feel silly saying so, but it never occurred to me that I could dip my fingers in the paint jar of every style and smear them all on at once. Ironically, we happened to be building a new home at the time, and I started brainstorming.

Press the fast forward button and we will have been here in this home for three years on May 18th.

My parents are currently in the process of moving to our neighborhood after buying a home here last July. They are downsizing and getting rid of all types of things. My father had a very old dresser that he’d kept in his office for years that was passed down to him, it dates back to his great-great grandmother.

To my dad she was known as Grandma Wilson, and he was told that she purchased the dresser locally in Newport, Tennessee where she lived for many years.

After noticing my newfound love for all things old, my father gifted it to me in December, and I’m ashamed to say that it sat in my garage until we returned home from vacation in March. Knowing it would be a project piece the moment it arrived at my home, I was a little terrified to start it.

Four months was long enough, I jumped right in. I knew that the old finish would need to be removed from the dresser, but I didn’t want to go through with the time consuming job of stripping it. I also wasn’t sure how this antique would hold up with stripping. First, I removed all the hardware and then applied Minwax Antique Furniture Refinisher all over the dresser. Within minutes the old finish had dissolved.

Afterwards, I applied the first stain color I picked out - Minwax Dark Walnut. I let it dry overnight. The next morning, I dropped off the kids at school and then applied Minwax English Chestnut.

This isn’t the first time I have used these two different stains. I’ve always found that I get closer to the color I like when I layer these up.

I let the English Chestnut stain dry overnight and then applied a layer of polyurethane. The next day it was dry, and I was so pleased with my work that I wasn’t waiting for Jason to get home, I rolled it inside the house all by myself.

I’d always imagined this dresser going in Preston’s bedroom but apparently it had very different plans. After walking it inside the house I paused in the hallway right outside of our master bedroom. I saw the dresser against the pretty blue paint of that space and decided it was demanding to be my bedside table.

I am crazy about it in this room and I have also discovered that Jason loves it as well. He is extremely jealous that it’s on my side of the bed! Now I need to find one like it for him.

View the gallery below to see more of my new, very old favorite dresser!

Xx.