As I mentioned yesterday, my parents taught me everything I know about crafty renovations- and their work has spanned decades. So when my folks told me that they were re-doing our
pie safe, I couldn't wait to share the process on this blog!
Let me take you to the very beginning: in the early 1980's, my folks purchased this antique pie safe. It was certainly a little rough around the edges, but with some hard work and creativity, my folks turned it into a lovely little wardrobe...
For
me! See the piece of furniture in the background? That old pie safe became my armoire, and I have very vivid memories of lots of
OshKosh B'gosh corduroy overalls hanging inside when I was younger!
As you can probably assume, my attire eventually outgrew the pie safe, and it was re-purposed as a video/DVD cabinet which stood in the corner of our family's living room for the better part of my life. But earlier this year my folks decided to redecorate, which meant that the pie safe needed an update... here's how they did it:
My mom began by finding the perfect stencil.
After removing the doors and panels...
She planned the design.
(Just looking at this photo makes me think of all the craft projects I did growing up using that same ruler... doesn't it look well loved?)
As my dad was removing the pie safe panels, he unearthed a bit of the wallpaper they had used when they first refinished the pie safe for my childhood bedroom. (On a side note, when I was little I used to stare at those tiny flowers until my eyes crossed and the pattern started to move... have you ever done that?)
But back to the project- after the doors were removed my folks prepped the panels and painted them.
My mom then prepared the stencil...
Before getting out her brushes and getting to work!
(I have to tell you- my mom is a very good stenciller!)
See her excellent form? I remember trying to copy the way she held a stippling brush when I was younger but I could never quite master it... maybe someday...
After she finished the first color, she reveled the rest of the stencil and switched to the accent color.
And before you know it, she was finished and my dad had reassembled the pie safe...
Doesn't it look perfect in their living room?
Our pie safe sure has come a long way, thanks to my very creative parents! I love knowing that this piece of furniture has been a part of our family for so long- and I can't wait to see how it changes over the next 20 years!
Thank you for stopping by- I hope you have a great weekend!
I'd forgotten that I'd taken these pictures this summer before I moved into my office. As you can see, it was pretty rough in the beginning, and while I'd made the office functional for the last months, it was still lacking...
Until now!
Not too bad, right? I must admit, I was extremely lucky these past couple of weeks, and almost all of the recent decorating changes were made for free! For example the associate dean moved and gifted her furniture to myself and a couple of other coworkers (which is why I get to have a Pottery Barn rug and quality furniture in my office)... and the Aida poster was a gift from one of my students who thought it would look nice in my office... isn't that sweet?
And I finally put those shelves to good use by using them for all sorts of storage!
So while it might have taken me a while to make my office "my own"... I'm pretty pleased with the results! What do you think?
Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great weekend!
