As someone who searches out treasure for re-sale, most of the time, I’m looking for items that are near perfect. I want things with zero chips, cracks or crazing. I’m looking for bits with lots of life left in them to be used in the homes of my buyers. Patina is one thing, but breakage? No. When I buy things for myself I usually look for great condition as I too, love to use the treasures I find in my home. Recently, a perfect 1930s pitcher I bought for myself got tipped over and cracked. I was so upset by this – it was in such great shape when I bought it! I will admit that for a moment, I loved it a little less.
I shared this sadness with my friends in the Creative Vintage Darlings community and they were quick to tell me stories of the items they still cherished even though they were damaged. Shelia of Audrey Would published a blog post on the subject. I kept thinking about this as I shopped, looking at things in a new light. Then I saw this:
It was in the thrift shop. It was $45. I had been looking for a cabinet exactly this size and exactly this style for a year and a half. I had too many beautiful treasures hidden away in cupboards and I was dying to get them into a cabinet for display so I could see them every day. The legs on this cabinet. The hardware. The wood tone. The fretwork. The three panel doors! I was so smitten. Love at first sight. Then I had a look at the condition – nearly all of the beautiful wood veneer was peeling off and there were some big chunks completely missing. Then I noticed the piece of glass was missing off of one side and one joint was loose. My heart sank a little. And then, it lifted once again as I remembered the stories from my friends who encouraged me to love the cracked pitcher despite the breakage. I loaded this beautiful cabinet into my car and hauled it home.
I began filling it with all my treasured items and the rest is history. I was totally, absolutely, in love with this damaged thing.
My lovelies in the CVD community also suggested touching up the damaged areas so they would be less jarring to the eye. They were bang on right! I picked up these veneer touch up markers (partner link) and went to work. I began on the back corner until I picked the best colour for the match and then I did the rest of the cabinet. Now, make no mistake, these markers do not fix the veneer. But they do make it easier for your eye to gloss over the damaged areas. Close up you can really still tell that it’s damaged but from further away, it does help.
I spent time moving pieces around and styling all my lovely things inside. I spent time thinking about how as I only spent $45 on the cabinet, at some point, it might be worth it to invest in a complete, professional restoration. Everything is there aside from one panel of glass – it just needs to be refinished with new veneer and stain.
I had to move around the items on the wall to accommodate the height so now I need to repair some holes and fix that up – more imperfections. But I’m in no rush, we’ll get there. I also want to paper the back of the cabinet in something light in colour to showcase the depression glass I have. The glass is lost with the dark background but overall – I’m so loving the wood tone! I realize the easy solution would be to Spackle and sand the damaged areas and paint the whole thing but I just couldn’t do it. The wood tones are just so glorious and deep and rich. Painting this would be….nope. Can’t do it.
Every morning I walk down the hall out of the bedroom and this cabinet is the first thing I see. Every morning I fall in love with it just a bit more. It’s going to have a long and happy life with our family and it certainly qualifies as a ‘flawsome’ find! See what the other Creative Vintage Darlings are talking about on our blog hop today. Their blog posts are all linked below. And be sure to join our Facebook community for first hand advice and to participate in all our vintage loving conversations!
Lora B. Create and Ponder // ArtisBeauty.net // Sweet Pea
I love this piece and love how you styled it, Heather! The rich wood tones balance out the sweetness of all the pretty pastels. And I’m so glad you’re embracing Flawsome…pretty much describes everything in my life! LOL
The chips in the veneer just add to the love I have for this piece! It is gorgeous and tells a story. Plus how you have everything displayed! PERFECTION!
Hugs,
Karin
I love that you picked up this gorgeous piece, Heather! And thank you so much for the mention – that was really sweet 🙂 I am 100% on board with not painting this cabinet – the colour and grain are so beautiful as is. I am totally loving the profile of the cabinet doors – the hexagony shape is such a nice contract to the smooth curves of the center and legs. And hey, where did you pick up those veneer markers? I ‘need’ them!
*contrast, not contract!!
I found them in the hardware store but I’ve also linked to them on Amazon above 😀 They worked pretty well and there were more colours available than just these – there was a grey toned set too.
I am stealing this word! Hope that’s okay because I could use that for EVERYTHING in my home! haha I’m so glad you are loving your gorgeous cabinet, it is completely flawsome!!!! And your goodies are making me swoon a little, wee bit jealous, but I love you more, so it’s okay – you can have that awesome! 😉
Darling Ingenious Nifty Knowledgeable! Yep all that!!! hee hee
I have so many flawsome pieces in my home. I love that you created such a great word to describe those imperfect pieces that we love. Your cabinet is beautiful and I love how you styled it with your vintage treasures.
I love the word “flawsome” and am adding it to my vocabulary NOW! I swear, half the things–no, that’s an exaggeration–at least 10% of the stuff I have is flawed. I repaint chips, use clear nail polish on dish chips, pose things as shelf pieces, etc. It lets me have real beauty for a fraction of the price, and I love them just as much as a perfect piece! I swear, everything I inherited from my late M-I-L had a chip, piece missing, cigarette hole, or bleach burn as she shopped second hand, loved Clorox, and was a careless smoker! After you polish something for 40 years, you love it the way it is! Thank you for keeping your cabinet the way it is; paint covering that beautiful wood would just be wrong!