a record player update (finally!)

(Breaking out some (new) old posts here.)

Sorry for the wait on the record player! I know you've been sitting at the edge of your seat for months now. Haha. Actually, I'm sure you've forgotten but I haven't! The record player, unfortunately, does not have a home upstairs in the natural light because 1) we don't have a good space for it yet and 2) Ladybug has pulled the glass tubes out and we don't want them breaking! That has made it difficult to photograph - it's pretty dark in the basement!

Here is my last post about it. (Really? Over a year ago?)

Anyway. I had to pull off and sand a bunch of glued on veneer. The point has never been to refurbish the wood (as this would be too pricey and over my head) but rather, because of the water damage and 25 cent price tag) to paint it whatever color I wanted.

I sanded the whole thing down and then glued my own veneer pieces to the sides. This brought the sides flush with the corner pieces (unlike the original) but I was okay with that.

Make sure you have enough clamps! I'd already glued it and then had to run (literally!) to the store before the glue set to buy more clamps.

Disaster averted.

Here is the BEFORE:

And the AFTER!

We brought it up to enjoy some old music with friends and family on the girl's birthday.

After it was glued and the holes filled with wood filler, I painted it in a flat Clark and Kensington "Yarrow Point" then aged it a bit with Annie Sloan's Dark Wax.  Then we took an old door pull from this project and screwed it in with a new screw.

I kept the inside its beautiful dark wood and the record player mechanism looks like it did 60 years ago!

It's far from perfect - I would love to replace the speaker fabric under the face (but that would require disassembly, perhaps with a crowbar!) and the floor of the cupboard is damaged beyond sanding and painting - but it's ours and it's lovely.

Now if there was only a perfect home for it upstairs. Maybe someday!

Here's a little taste of its sound.


record player from Lisa Shunk on Vimeo.

Cheers!

(Can you believe Thanksgiving is in a week!? November has flown by...)

Trash or Treasure? My newest project on the list.

So, we headed out the door to make a fun little roadtrip to Target to get us out before the girl's bedtime and got about two blocks down the road when I spotted these beauties on the side of the road (excuse the harsh sunlight).

"Jeremy, turn around! I have to have those!"

It wasn't, "Oh, go back so I can look again." It was love at first sight. I knew I needed this furniture.

Granted, when we got up close, we could see why they were sitting by the side of the road. It was actually pretty disgustingly covered with dirt and animal hair. And I'm not talking a few, I'm talking clumps of animal hair.

Jeremy was grossed out and proceeded to try to talk me out of these. "Really? Are you trying to discourage me from doing what I love? I know ladies on blogs that would DIE to have these things to re-do! Come on, just help me!!!"

I wasn't havin' any arguments. No way.

Look at those lines! Lovely. No missing legs (only 2 missing finials - easy enough fix!), no wobbly arms. Just really dirty and stinky.

Miss Mustard Seed would've been proud. And, my husband showed his love and helped me load these up in the car and drive the 2 blocks (or 5) back home.

We didn't make it to Target, but my heart was fuller with these beauties in my possession. Annie Sloan Chalk paint and new upholstery, here we come!!!

So many projects, so little time! :-)