Hi everybody...
I hope this is going to be a good week for all of us....
My mother and daddy gave this LANE CEDAR CHEST to me when I was starting into high school at 15 yrs old.
That would make this cedar chest......
oh, heck...YOU can do the math.....
I was 75 last December......:(
At that time, all the girls about that age wanted a cedar chest to start their HOPE CHEST.
"A hope chest, dowry chest, cedar chest, or glory box
is a chest used to collect items such as clothing and household linen,
by unmarried young women in anticipation of married life."
My mother, my aunts, my cousins....all made things or bought things for my HOPE CHEST.
Oh, yes...I had some of the prettiest, hand embroidery pillowcases
(that left marks on my face when I slept on them...:)
lovely sheet sets and towel sets...
flatware...
cup towels...
a set of glasses and a set of starter dishes...
pots....pans....all kinds of things.
I've never wanted to sell it or give away this cedar chest...
so it's been in the very back of our large walk-in closet all these years.
When we cleaned the closets out while packing for the move,
Mr. Sweet moved the chest out to the foot of my bed.
It's not very pretty....
but I want to keep it....
maybe one of the grandgirls might like to have it someday.
In the meantime, I want it to look like
My mother, my aunts, my cousins....all made things or bought things for my HOPE CHEST.
Oh, yes...I had some of the prettiest, hand embroidery pillowcases
(that left marks on my face when I slept on them...:)
lovely sheet sets and towel sets...
flatware...
cup towels...
a set of glasses and a set of starter dishes...
pots....pans....all kinds of things.
I've never wanted to sell it or give away this cedar chest...
so it's been in the very back of our large walk-in closet all these years.
When we cleaned the closets out while packing for the move,
Mr. Sweet moved the chest out to the foot of my bed.
It's not very pretty....
but I want to keep it....
maybe one of the grandgirls might like to have it someday.
In the meantime, I want it to look like
THIS !!
CINDERELLA COOL CHEST .....????
HOW can I transform my UGLY DUCKLING
into a beautiful SWAN....???
COOL HARDWARE !
CINDERELLA COOL CHEST .....????
HOW can I transform my UGLY DUCKLING
into a beautiful SWAN....???
COOL HARDWARE !
I know I could add some really cool HARDWARE...
something like these, in a large size....
BUT....
I don't have a clue HOW to get a different finish on the chest....
About the only thing I know how to do to a piece of furniture is PAINT...
ANY SUGGESTIONS ?
It has to be a simple technique or else it will be a DISASTER...:(
Thanks for any help....
It has to be a simple technique or else it will be a DISASTER...:(
Thanks for any help....
HUGS, bj
linking with
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click on the GIVEAWAY BUTTON at the top of my blog.
GOOD LUCK.
Get back. Do not touch it! It is beautiful just as it is. Really, really. One day very soon (what's another 40 years?) it'll be a genuine antique, but this is a Lane Chest so do your research. I'm thinking your sweet little great-granddaughter is going to think it's really cool one day. What about a nice polish and a quilt draped over the corner. I really do love it as is. I hope that everyone agrees with me.
ReplyDeletehttp://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/msg061612157092.html
Oh, dear BJ, thank you for proofreading today at my place. I am slipping!
Do NOT do anything to it. Treat the wood...with some good wood oil....put something like a quilt or doily over any really bad parts. I have mine and my mom's, both Lane...AND I have the mini chest they gave me for graduation from High School....I think my mom's is almost identical to yours. I will have to check.
ReplyDeleteI love your hope chest. Hope you will be able to find just the right hardware that you want for re-doing it.
ReplyDeleteI still have my little miniature cedar chest that Lane Furniture Company used to make available (I can't remember how much it cost or if it was a give a way) in the early 1970's. I had a hope chest, too. It was my grandparent's trunk from the 1860's that my Dad and I refinished for a hope chest. By the time I got married, it was filled with all kinds of items for homemaking. I still have the old Grandpa trunk in my living room now.
I wonder if any young women still make hope chests.
I think your cedar chest is just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI have my moms and it is sitting at the foot of my bed. Just like yours!
God bless.
Please do not do anything other than recondition the chest. Someday the blogs will be full of people stripping paint from older furniture like this. I have painted my share of wood but not anything like this.
ReplyDeleteI like it like it is and would probably not paint it if it were mine but if you really want to paint it- go for it. It is yours and if the "kids" want it back to its original wood someday they can strip it. There are several ways you can get that look you are after. Just google it for instructions. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI really think that you will regret doing anything to the chest. It is beautiful the way it is. I know because I have my mom's that is almost exactly like it. (Mom's has a drawer at the bottom)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Vee & Ceekay. Clean it & then polish. Bring it back to it's original glory.
ReplyDeleteSmiles,
Carol
Yes, SWEET friend o'mine. Turn it over to your Mr. Sweet who is one of the most talented men I know. He will make that little chest sing his praise's to the cedar chest gods...ok..just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI never had a cedar chest.. :(
A long time ago I got an old trunk salvaged from a dear friends attic in a home she bought years ago. A little late but I love it.
Yep, Mr. Sweet could make that cedar chest sing!!
I'm afraid I have to agree with the majority here BJ. Polish that sweet chest and love it as is if possible. The painting craze will end and it is not the right shape or wood to look as rustic as your inspiration picture. It looks a lot like the Lane chest my grandmother had, (although I am sure she got hers a LOT later in life than you did!) She kept the most fascinating treasures inside. Rhinestone jewelry, ribbon flowers and pretty linens. I used to love opening the lid and touching all the beautiful things inside. My brother has the chest now, and someday when he isn't home....Lol, oh you know I wouldn't do anything bad like that!
ReplyDeleteMay I just add that your headers have been truly amazing. I would buy a book called "Headers from Sweet Nothings" by BJ.
ReplyDeleteNoooooooooooooooo! BACK AWAY FROM THE CHEST!!!!
ReplyDeleteIn only 35 yrs., this gorgeous treasure will be a true antique. Don't you watch Antique Roadshow??? Don't do anything to it!!!
Maybe some Liquid Gold furniture polish will bring back the original luster & shine to it. I love that stuff!
I foolishly let someone "whitewash" my cedar chest years ago when we were moving to FL & I wanted everything "light" & it is butt ugly now. BIG regret!
Oh & I agree with what Vee said above me about your headers. I wish I knew how to do them like you do. Would you consider a tutorial someday??
fondly,
Rett
OT but... I wrote 2 emails to the Food Network, concerning their reinstating Paula Dean.
ReplyDeleteTHANK you for making it so easy for us, to voice our opinion.
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is certainly a keeper:) I don't have any suggestions for getting the look you want but I am sure our talented blogger friends will help! Have a blessed week sweet BJ, BIG HUGS!
ReplyDeleteOh, I think your Lane cedar chest is beautiful and wouldn't do a thing to it!! I know why you like the other one though....I had one nearly just like it that I bought years ago at a garage sale. I was told it was a carpenter's chest. Now, I regret that I sold it at a garage sale when we moved about 10 years ago.........but our future was a little uncertain and it looked like we would have to majorly downsize, so it was deemed dispensable. It is all just stuff and I have to remind myself of that and that fact that I am so fickle about what I like and don't like in home furnishings. Hope you get to move really soon. It can be so frustrating....we are both realtors and counsel people to do what you have done, majorly strip and pare down their homes so people can really see the bones of the home. Blessings, Linda
ReplyDeleteI would not to a thing to change it, b.j. It is very nice the way it is. I too have my cedar chest my mom and dad gave me. I had embroidered a lot of things to put in it before I married, now it holds some of my memories of times gone by. Have a blessed day. Madeline
ReplyDeleteBJ, I wouldn't touch it. I know you can find a way to place it in a pretty setting while preserving the integrity.
ReplyDeleteBJ I think it is just gorgeous how it is. I always wanted a Cedar chest but never had one until a few years ago when I found one for $20 at a thrift shop. I love that thing now and it holds extra blankets and linens. Oh and I voted in your poll. Shame on Food Network is all I can say.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Linda
I agree with Vee....and Ceekay...and everyone else that says don't touch it!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Penny
This is so weird....I am sitting in my comfy chair having my coffee...right next to me is the exact same cedar chest...It was my Mom's. I think from following your blog that you are from Lubbock and so was my mom....wonder if they came from the same furniture store!!! I think it is beautiful,just like it is...We are also moving this summer to a new place and I am going to put it at the foot od the bed. love your blog...I feel like I am chatting with a good friend every morning...thanks.
ReplyDeleteThis is so weird....I am sitting in my comfy chair having my coffee...right next to me is the exact same cedar chest...It was my Mom's. I think from following your blog that you are from Lubbock and so was my mom....wonder if they came from the same furniture store!!! I think it is beautiful,just like it is...We are also moving this summer to a new place and I am going to put it at the foot od the bed. love your blog...I feel like I am chatting with a good friend every morning...thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm with everyone else. I think it's beautiful just the way it is. A little oil to shine it up is all.
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I both have our cedar chests from our 16th birthdays, as well. I don't love mine anymore either, but I swore to keep my hands off it. :o)
BJ,
ReplyDeleteI haven't a clue, dear freind!!!
I do believe I have the sister to this chest in my lower level living area, though. It was my Mother's and she gave it to me in 1968. . .for my Hope Chest! Must have worked as "Mr. Ed" and I were married in 1969!!!
I'll be watching to see how this chest evolves from drab to fab as you wave your Magic Wand!!!
Fondly,
Pat
BJ--NO!
ReplyDeleteDon't you dare change your beautiful hope chest. I just love the inlaid pattern. It's a keeper--just as it is.
I had a hope chest too, but I married so early (at just 17) that all I had in it were embroidered pillowcases. LOL It was pretty empty.
PS My daughter has it now.
Boy, you take me back thru some fabulous moments & memories of yore! Smile! I still dry my clothes on the clothesline ... TY for this walk thru the years.
ReplyDeleteBig hugs,
TTFN ~
Marydon
I am on bloglovin' in case google does some silly stuff
Well BJ I think you should listen to your bloggers and walk away from the chest. LOL. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Find another project to work on.
ReplyDelete