Thursday, July 31, 2014

The Eastlake Dresser

I told you about my little potting bench for the garage. It left a hole in the game room that caused a complete shuffle of furnishings on the second floor. 
My little Eastlake dresser was masquerading as a country, cottage piece.
It wasn't supposed to be and it didn't go with anything else in Rebekah's room.



It coordinated okay with the bed but not with the washstand or the secretary. 
I decided to put it back in the spot that it had sat for years.
The next day Bill said that it didn't go in this room either. He said he didn't like it. 
It is Eastlake in style but it is like no other example that I've ever seen. 



The color seems wrong and the knobs were not original.
Eastlake furniture was from the later part of the Victorian era. It had less ornamentation than dressers from earlier in the time period. Eastlake furniture became popular in the U.S. around the turn of the last century. The grooved edges and joinery of the drawers indicate that it is Eastlake. 



The examples I've seen are a medium to dark orange-y color. I've also seen painted sets and ebonized pieces. I'd suspected that this piece may have been one of the painted ones and that my mom stripped it. It would have been part of a whole suite. 
 I'd brainstormed about every possible place this could go and came up empty handed.
I toyed with the idea of painting it to be more original but first it needed a once over to make sure my suspicions were correct. 



I saw signs of solvent and some cream paint left over from being stripped.
There was also what looked like the remnant of some other bracing. When I took this apart it seemed like a mirror or something was missing. 


My mom was a DIY-er and loved an Early American rather than Victorian look. She was an avid antique shopper. This piece had been repurposed. Years and years of drinks setting on it had taken a toll. It was in bad shape and after much thought and angst, I didn't feel bad for trying to restore it a little. 



For years I've used Restor-a-finish. It didn't work. 



I was going for a look so that it could be moved into any of our guest rooms at some point.



I painted it with CeCe Caldwell Chalk paint. I mixed Michigan Pine and Alaskan Tundra. 
It seemed too light. 


 Michigan Pine was the darker of the two colors so it got another coat of that. When that dried I gave it a coat of Johnson's Paste wax.
But it was very blotchy even after it dried.



I did another coat of Michigan Pine and Polycrylic Protective Finish in satin.  I love Polycrylic because it dries in no time flat.



The bear is from Ruidosa, New Mexico. Rebekah painted the picture.




I sanded and stained the top in Jacobean by Minwax.





It's changed the whole feel of it and Bill loves it now.
New black pulls from Hobby Lobby completed the transformation.







 It is very reminiscent of something you'd see in a cabin or lodge but I think it could look cottage in a different room, with different accessories.



I love the top! It coordinates with the rest of the room. It's updated but reminiscent of what it might have been. 



I think my mom would like it.
Thanks for stopping in. 
Katie  
Linking with,
Miss Mustard Seed

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

How To Plan A Vacation- Southwest Arkansas.

Sometimes planning a vacation using the internet works and sometimes it doesn't.



This time it did.
Bill and I needed a mini vacation. 
He didn't have much time off. I didn't want a long drive so that we could maximize our time together.
I pulled out my laptop and looked at Google Maps for locations less than 5 hours away.



It had to be even just a little bit cooler.
The only way to get cooler is to go all the way to New Mexico - too far. 
Southern Oklahoma - been there, done that, had the sweatshirt.
Southwest Arkansas.
We had never been to that part of Arkansas so I went to the Arkansas tourism website to poke around.



The Ouachita Mountains stretch from Southeastern Oklahoma into Central Arkansas. Perfect!
The highest peak is 2,753 ft. - not huge but hilly.
A quick check for activities yielded some of our favorite things to do. 
We like antiquing and visiting historic sites.



 Bill likes fishing and hiking. A few antique shops popped up when I did a Google search. 
This area is well known for hiking, biking and ATVing with Mena, Arkansas as the hub. I began looking at various lodges and cabins around Mena and found the perfect place. 
It was available!


It wasn't in town but close enough.
It was right on the Mountain Fork of the Little River so Bill could fish.


Now that we had a place to stay and some things to do, we could leave the other plans up to pamphlets from the visitors center. 

When I Googled places to go, architectural salvage popped up on the map. 
Now that is my kind of place. It was our first stop in Mena and it didn't disappoint.



 We could have spent a fortune.



The guy at the shop graciously let me take pictures. 


We found a few things at this shop and some others. 
 I'll show our finds in another post. 
We ate at the Skyline Cafe for lunch. I had the best chicken finger dinner and Bill had a Rueben sandwich
We love visiting local diners and this one is fantastic. 
We stopped in at the train depot.



The docent told us about the clock tower, 



the log cabin 



and the restored Esso Station.


How cute is this?



There was also an old Studebaker Dealership. 
 At this point we needed ice cream!
We got very drippy, dipped cones from the drive in and headed back to the house to read and relax. 
We ate at the Chopping Block Steak House that night for dinner. For some reason the restaurant thought it was our anniversary and brought us a piece of cake. 
I was able to convince them not to sing to us. 

The next day after relaxing at the house, we took a picturesque drive on the Talimena National Scenic Byway. 



On the way up I had my head down. I hate loopy, curvy, steep drives. We discovered that the fear goes away if I am driving so I took over at the Rich Mountain Fire Tower. 
Bill climbed to the top of the tower. I made it to the first landing. Echoes of my brother's voices saying, "You can do it." rang in my head but I snuffed those out and climbed back down. I don't have to do it!




Bill took some pictures.



Queen Wilhelmena State Park had a park store and a little train. 



  We never could quite figure out who Queen Wilhelmena was but she plays a big part in the local history.
Read what I found here
After some more ice cream we went across the street to the Wonder House.


This little house built in the 1930s has 9 levels. It's not open so we couldn't see the inside. 



We reached the Oklahoma/Arkansas State line and turned around.

The area is gorgeous. 

We took one of the county roads into Mena. 




We usually don't have every minute of a vacation planned out. We love some planning but also like the spontaneity of finding out what else there is to do by stopping in at a visitors center or talking to the locals. 
This trip was relaxing and fun. 
The perfect balance of doing nothing and something. 
Katie 

Monday, July 28, 2014

Weekend in Arkansas



Bill and I got away for a long weekend. He needed a break. 
We rented a house in Hatfield, Arkansas.


Such a cute house!


The property was right on the Mountain Fork of the Little River.


The view of the river was gorgeous. 


There were other views around the property that captivated me.




The old fishing shack was a tad creepy.




There were quite a few bird houses.




Bill had a grand time fishing from the canoe. 
He caught some fish but unfortunately he lost his glasses when he tumped over. 
He lost his glasses but saved his fishing rods. 
At least he had prescription sunglasses he could wear. 
He has run up to the eye doctor but it may be a while before he has glasses. 
He said it was worth it and was glad it happened at the end of the trip! :)


There were Crepe Myrtles and fruit trees. 
 I was especially taken with the circle drive as you approach the house. I want to remember this design in the event we ever purchase a cottage. 


I didn't take pictures of the inside. It was more cabin than cottage but it was comfortable.

  
Even though Hatfield is only about four hours from home, it was a tad cooler so we were able to sit on the fabulous porch. 
The nearby town is Mena, Arkansas. We found a few fun things to do and I'll share those in another post.