Preserve or Perish?

I have only recently been compelled to treasure hunt among the little collections of furniture that occasionally occupy our neighborhood street corners, waiting for trash pick up. In times past I would think about driving back to look, but mostly ignore them. Instead, I would head for home, hoping that someone would see the potential in these "throw-aways" and treat them well.


So this past weekend when my husband found me rolling a sad looking buffet up our driveway - while happily chit-chatting with a neighbor who offered to help me retrieve it - he was shocked, to say the least. He accidentally alerted me to the buffet's existence, when he told me to run down and look at a side table in amongst a collection of throw-aways down our street. Unfortunately, the side table was beyond help.


But this...THIS is a dream!

When I decided to adopt it, I wasn't giddy with the feeling that I got something for free. Frankly, I felt more like I was rescuing a dog from the humane society. It always makes me sad to see something so mistreated - in this case covered in a thick layer of army green paint - and then tossed aside without a second thought to restoration. 

I wish I had thought to take a picture before we removed the three middle drawers (it's missing the top two side drawers) and started stripping off the paint. Believe it or not underneath is cherry wood. At one point, it was probably in beautiful shape and I wish I could just re-stain it, but the wood is too far gone in some spots.

So far, it has turned into quite the project. We don't have a garage, so I am forced to work on this when the weather permits and we still have daylight. Plus it is getting cold out! Each dry evening we have, my husband or friend Karen (pictured here) help to I roll it out of the shed - we sand and scrape off the old to prepare for the new, tuck it back in and say goodnight. 

I am scouring Pinterest right now for final finish ideas and I'll post some photos soon to get your feedback on how to rework this baby!