Resuming . . .

WHEW

Now that the holidays are over, I hope to resume my postings. I left most of my Christmas shopping until the week before and so I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. And then I was out of town for several days and when I came home, it was time to do some major cleaning in the disaster zone I call my house. Because we had some really nice weather, I managed to do some work both outside and in. There's nothing like a clean house to make you feel like you're ready to face the new year with vim and vigor. I don't know how long it will last - the feeling and the clean house - but for now, I'm enjoying it all.

BUILDING ON AN ANTIQUE BASE

I'm excited to show you my newest acquisition. Awhile ago, I found an antique buffet for a very good price. It was just the right size to serve as a stand for my TV. Then, I found two stands which had the same hardware and almost matched exactly in color as the buffet. That gave me an idea and since the price of each stand was only $25, I couldn't resist buying them.

My idea was to have a cabinet built to sit on the buffet and two display cases to sit on top of the stands which would go on either side of the buffet. Fortunately, I knew of a master craftsman who could build the furniture for me. He had made custom kitchen cabinets for my sister and BIL's new house, and his work was some of the best I had ever seen.

He finished the furniture right before Christmas and I didn't have time to fill the new cases with my collections until after Christmas. Here's a picture:

 I think it turned out really well even though the craftsman lives a couple of hours away and I had to give him measurements and explain my ideas without having the furniture in front of him. He did have one of the stands but not the buffet. His concept was a little different than what I had envisioned but I love what he did.

My only concern is the lack of light this room gets. It is generally pretty dark and I am thinking about installing some lights in the top of the two cases or adding some fabric panels at the back so the collections stand out more. I'd love to hear any ideas you might have.