To kick off December, I made a few changes to my little booth at Brown Street Emporium in Oconomowoc. I brought in a couple of cool furniture pieces, in addition to some vintage ironstone dishes, reconditioned cutting boards, and lots of other smalls and Christmas decor.
The star of the show is this 12-drawer industrial cabinet that my husband and I refurbished.
Refurbished industrial cabinet
When we found it, the cabinet was in rough shape. Not only was it grimy and paint splattered, but a couple of the drawers were missing and the plywood was chipping off in chunks along the bottom, probably from being dragged across the floor. Jim attached heavy-duty wheels to the cabinet straight away, to get it up off the ground and make it easier to move around without doing any more damage to the wood.
Then he built two new drawers to replace the missing ones.
Meanwhile, I sanded the cabinet and filled in the chips in the plywood with wood epoxy.
The epoxy was easy to use. It came in two different jars: one contained resin and the other hardener. You have to combine the two in a 1:1 ratio.
I put on rubber gloves and kneaded the two together like I was playing with Play-Doh. Then I pressed the combined epoxy into the chinks in the plywood and leveled it off with a putty knife.
When the epoxy dried, I was able to sand it down and paint over it.
To finish the piece off, I painted it black (technically it’s “Eclipse” from Rustoleum Milk Paint) and Jim added some gold cup pulls to the drawers. I also sanded down the top and polished it up with a coat of food-safe Watco Butcher Block Oil and Conditioner. I envision the refurbished cabinet being used in someone’s kitchen, but it would also make a great standing desk or storage piece in an office or shop.
Wall-mounted plate rack
The other piece of furniture I brought in this month is this plate rack that Jim made out of reclaimed wood. I had a few vintage ironstone platters and reconditioned cutting boards that I wanted to sell, but I didn’t have a good place to display them. After a quick Pinterest search, I decided they’d look great on a rack that hung on the wall, and Jim hammered this one out for me in a few days. (When it comes to projects like this, he generally does the construction work, and I handle the painting and finishing.)
He also figured out a way to hang the plate rack so it could safely hold platters while also being easy for a shopper to lift off the wall if they want to buy it.
Christmas decor and smalls
In November I had this black and white lighted cabinet filled with red and green Christmas decor, but I wanted to switch things up this month, so I moved the holiday stuff onto a different shelf and moved some black and white and brass pieces in. There are also a couple of ironstone pieces that didn’t fit on the plate rack in here.
The black metal box with the Swiss Cross design on it is a piece that I did a quick upcycle to. It was originally a sad industrial grey color. I sprayed it with a black semi-gloss paint which gave it a buttery smooth finish. The crosses I cut out of vinyl on my Cricut. The key is missing so the box can’t be locked, but it’s got handles on the sides that make it easy to move around. It would be perfect for document storage or even for holding first aid supplies.
If you read my post from last month, you know I sewed four upcycled bedspread stockings for the booth. They sold pretty quickly, so I made four more. Two of those have also sold, so I’m now down to two.
And if you appreciate Christmas bells, the two sets hanging next to the stockings are perfection. They both have brass clappers which make a the most beautiful sound. The set on the right was hanging on a frayed rope when I found them. I cut the old rope off and replaced it with a salvaged leather strap, so now they look as good as they sound.
One last thing I wanted to show here was this vintage green wooden box. I’m not sure what its original purpose was. The previous owner had lined the inside of it with high density foam, so it must have held something fragile. The green paint reminded me of Christmas, so I added a tree silhouette to the front of the box. With the padded interior, it would be perfect for storing glass ornaments or lights in. The tree is made from removable vinyl, though, so it can be peeled off if the new owner wants to use it for something else.
As always, thanks for reading! And if you’re interested in anything you saw here, please check out my booth. Sorry, I don’t sell online, and I don’t ship, but I do appreciate your business!
— Lisa