Tuesday, February 21, 2017

BEFORE & AFTER - a 1930's Vintage Vanity Brought Back to Life as a Farmhouse Desk

 
There is really nothing I love more than a really great BEFORE & AFTER. There is just something so satisfying about bring an old piece back to life again, rearranging a room until it is unrecognizable, or turning something tossed away in to a useful masterpiece.  I was born with a  knack for seeing potential - sometimes a curse (like when I can't pass up a "great deal" because "it could be turned in to a....", but mostly a blessing (like this vintage vanity that just needed a little lot of TLC).

 
Our daughter nick named it "the spider desk" because it had 8 legs -a title we found was ironically appropriate when we tipped it upside down to load it in to our van. It had apparently acquired dozens of 8-legged tenants during it's years of neglect in storage -ew!
 
But, I could see potential. Spiderless potential.
Yes, the mirror was missing and the hardware long gone, but it was built in the 1930s with dovetail joints and still stood on original wooden castors. A treasure! I knew it's vanity days were over, but it started to look like a great desk to me.
 
So after a good sanding (and by good, I mean endless) it started coming together.
 
These wooden medallions were selected from a local millwork shop to give the drawer fronts some depth and interest. Antiquing glaze over the paint highlighted the crevices to honor the simple round metal knobs.
 

I asked Mr. Steady to create a front panel with his router to match the horizontal striped panels at the base of the drawer sections.  Once it was fitted in to place and painted, it looked like it had always been there.

 
The base was painted in a light dusty gray with an antiquing glaze finish.  The top is coated in a slate blue/gray (one of my favorites!) and sealed with 2 coats of poly.
 


 I even papered the drawers!


The final Before and After:
This one of a kind Farmhouse Desk is available for purchase locally.
More Rehoboth Farm products available here:

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Honoring Small Business and Selling Local - A New Adventure for Rehoboth Farm

 
A new adventure in the new year!
 We have been astonishingly successful selling nationally, through our Etsy shop.  Interior decorators, small business owners, and everyday customers have purchased our handcrafted products from all over the U.S.  
Having a national customer base is an honor and we are very grateful. We can humbly look back on 550 sales in the last 2 years and see the hand of a generous God.  So blessed.
Our reputation is established, our style is clear. And now we feel it is time to shift our focus. 
 
We're going local! 
 
 I know this seems backwards for a small business. Typically it is the ambition to "expand" outward.  But, that's not our story. 
 
Our hope is to always stay small enough to honor handmade, handbuilt, and handcrafted design.  One opportunity we have to convey this passion is by starting  a "local shop" ...a place to fill with our one-of-a-kind treasures, to sell larger items too cumbersome to ship, and to build a customer base within our own community. 
 
For now, our "shop" is a booth.
 #96.
  In the Mckenzie Antique Mall
 
 It's not much yet, just a start. But, we are proud to have a home for all of our handmade inventory.  We will continue to fill it with inspiring pieces as the seasons pass and look forward to feedback from our local customers in this new adventure for Rehoboth Farm.
 
Here is s peek at the new booth!
The humble beginnings of something great.

70" Farmhouse Console Table with American Black Walnut slab top.
 
A look at the beautiful table top.

Framed feathers from our very own Guineas!

A refurbished breadbox. Circa 1960.

The famous Rehoboth Farm picture ledges - all sizes!

A variety of handmade signs, pictures, and framed photos.


Handmade art from reclaimed cabinet doors.
Original prints from photos taken right here at Rehoboth Farm.

Refurbished Vintage Magazine Holder.

 Rustic Farmhouse Entry Bench - Cherry Wood slab top.

Rustic Farmhouse Entry Bench - Slatted Pine top.