Not What I Expected

This summer I was looking for a fall and winter project.  What was I thinking? I have been so busy so far this fall. Alas, my neighbor was having a yard sale and I thought I would scope it out to see if he had any furniture for me to repurpose.  He had lots of items on display.  He had moved into his mother's home 2 summers ago when his mother was moved to a nursing facility.  He has plans to sell her house this summer and has been in the process of clearing it out to prepare to put it on the market. There was a large range of items from glassware, to old tools to furniture.  I had my eye on 5 items: a footstool, 2 cedar chests, a wooden tree coat rack and a wooden bench made from a tree that had been planed and fashioned into a rustic bench.  The prices were all too high for "playing around" so I walked away and told him to call me if they didn't sell.  I got the call the next afternoon.  I had thought that if I could get one cedar chest that would be good.  Well, for the price of one cedar chest, I got two and the coat rack and foot stool.  Oh, well now I am going to be busy.

I had never refinished a cedar chest before and watched a lot of Youtube videos on the topic.  It was a work in progress. First off, it was my first attempt.  Secondly, it was more daunting since I didn't have a clear vision for it.  I was hoping to make it into a blanket holder for my living room.  Our room is very large and I thought it would fit great under the tv and hide some cords in the process. So now it had purpose and a location, but what would it look like?

Cedar chests are made differently, some are wood on the outside and some are veneer.  The type of exterior determines how it can be finished - stained or painted.  Cedar chest number 1 was wood and cedar chest number 2 is veneer.  So I will be trying two different finish styles.  But for now I was focused on cedar chest number 1 and planned to stain it.  I love the color of the stain on our kitchen hutch and pantry.  It took me some research, but I discovered it was called Driftwood.  I could see the finished project in my mind's eye. I was excited!

First, I had to clean it really well inside and out.  Then I removed all the hardware and cleaned it again.  It was at this point after closing the lid on my fingers three times, that I pledged to install soft close hinges. The next step was to scrape the finish off the lid, sides and front of the box.  This was a tedious process.  After the 2nd day, I purchased a one inch and two inch scrapper that made it a lot easier.  It took me about a week to complete.  Then I sanded it inside and out. I sanded the outside to prepare it for staining and the inside to refresh the cedar wood.  The smell was divine.

As always, I was ready and excited to see the finished product so I couldn't wait to get the stain on the wood.  As I stained the lid, I was fraught with concern.  The color was not at all what I expected.  Instead of a gray color I was seeing a reddish brown.  Maybe when it dries it would be different, but it wasn't. That is the unknown of stain.  It will present as different colors depending on the wood.  I had cedar and some other unknown wood.  In fact, the lid stained differently than the sides and the sides were different than the front. The trim well that was totally a different color too.  My cedar chest stained with the same Driftwood stain was 5 different colors. Oh well. This is why I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. The lid was pretty just not what I expected.  The sides were boring, but fine.  It was the front that I really didn't like.  The wood on the front was like a thin plywood.  It was wood, not veneer, but the stain was dark brown and looked horrible.  The center was the worse.  It was a textured wood like wainscoting and was looked out of place on this piece. I decided to fill the grooves and paint the center black in hopes of camouflaging the texture.  The best laid plans were faltering on this project.  I would carefully fill the groove and smooth it.  Then I would have to let it dry for many hours and then sand it. The filler didn't take hold after 2 attempts with two different products.    I was going to have to accept the grooved front panel for what it was. So I painted it black.  My husband kept telling me it looked fine and I was trying to convince myself while I put on the finishing touches.  I rubbed hemp oil on the cedar and it really brought out the colors.  I was rich and gorgeous.  I had my husband help me install the soft close hinges.  This was my favorite part.  No more pinched fingers, no accidental slamming of the slid and no more holding the heavy lid up to take things in and out.  

Before Oil

After Oil

Before Oil

After Oil

Soft Close Hinges

It had been four weeks and I wanted to be done with this project and the garage was needed for the next venture of having the house sided.  So I called it "good enough" for a first time repurposing a cedar chest.  It was nowhere near what I had envisioned, but it was what it was and I had my husband move it into the house. 

I looked at the cedar chest every night while I watched television in the evening.  It wasn't growing on me, not at all.  I was not satisfied with the front. I hated all the different colors of stain and something was still missing. I watched a few more video and decided it needed some color and texture in the front to offset the center panel texture.  I went into my scrap closet and found two panels from our bedroom shades that would fit. I measured. I cut. I glued.  Ah, that's better.

                                    

My husband and I left for our 10 day Rt. 66 trip. I felt accomplished, but when I returned and watched the tv at night, my eyes still went to the cedar chest.  It was better, but still not right.  I still hated the painted section.  I again dug through my scrap closet and found a fun material I bought on clearance a year ago.  I pulled off the black and silver covering. Again I measure. I cut. I sewed because I was short an inch and a half of material for the center panel. That center panel is going to be the death of me! I glued and waited.....

There has not been an evening that I have not looked at the cedar chest and felt it was incomplete.  She is not perfect, but she makes me smile when I see her.  Do I keep my blankets inside the cedar chest instead of strewn around my living room? Why yes, I do. Thanks for asking.

Reflection: I love to do projects, especially repurposing items. This one was a challenge. Not only in skill, but vision.  I was so excited to see the finished project, but when it didn't look like what I expected, my mind shut down.  I couldn't vision it any other way.  I was rushing to complete it and didn't allow myself enough time to sit with it and try to see it a different way.  Though it took more time, I got there.  Hmmm There is a life lesson there. Isn't there?