- A buffet, sideboard, or bookcase, especially one without legs.
- A piece of office furniture having a flat top and usually file drawers.
I was saying to myself the other day
Kim you need a new credenza, every farmer must have a credenza.
But when you live in the sticks where does one go about buying such a piece of furniture? How does one explain to small town store clerks what a credenza even is?
So I figured it would just be easier...and cheaper to make one myself.
I have finally done with this project something that has eluded me until now...
I finally painted something white! You see I adore white furniture but every single time I go to use white paint on furniture something more flashy catches my eye...yes I'm a sucker for turquoise and fuchsia and all such bright colors!
Take this chair for example...it was going to be white. Then this great melon color seduced me and I could not resist. I was determined that I would not be dissuaded this time...no I would be strong and stay the course...white it would be!
Life for this particular credenza (what a fun word) started out as an old dresser with three drawers. Baby Boy decided to use the drawers for a step ladder a few months ago and broke the middle support. It was either repair or move on...move on it was!
Just for a little history, when hubby and I were pregnant with our first child (25 years ago!) We did not have a lot of money so we bought a crib, highchair, and dresser/changing table from a neighbor. This is said dresser. It has held diapers, itty bitty baby boy clothing, teeny little booties...I have changed 1000's of diapers upon its top. I could not get rid of it, too many memories!
But re-purpose it I could handle!
I removed the supports and runners for the top two drawers, lightly sanded the whole dresser. Then I then cut a piece of 5/8" plywood on the table saw for a new shelf that would replace them.
Next I got out my handy little jig saw to notch out the corners...I love my jig saw!
I put the shelf in and screwed it into place...
Next I glued and nailed a small piece of molding to cover the seam between the shelf and support piece...and primed the whole dresser and the bottom drawer
Next was my folly...
Instead or reaching for a can of white paint another little can caught my eye...how can one resist a color called 'Italian Olive'? It was left over from another project and was sitting there just beckoning to be used...really it was!
I painted the whole thing with one coat of this great green color...how fun...how different!
It would look so fun and classy with this great shelf paper that I had left over from the farmhouse remodel.
But...
What about my determination to paint something white? Did I have no self-control? Could I never say no to the bright and the funky? Could I not in some small way be traditional...even classy?
So I went to the shelf and bravely picked up a can of creamy white paint and with a slightly heavy heart did this...
As you can see I could not bring myself to paint it all white...I just could not! But I was satisfied that this was as close to all white as my color-lovin' heart would ever come. So two paint coats later I had my white credenza. But something was just not right. It was all shiny and new...too shiny and new.
I took out a piece of 150 grit sandpaper and proceeded to sand all the corners and some of the flat surface until the green paint or bare wood shone through. Yes a little distressing is good for the soul!
Then I put back on the cabinet pulls, the ones that I had touched so many times over the years in caring for my children...when they were just babies...now they are in college...sob.
They were old and dark and I thought just right.
When I brought the piece in the house I knew it would be perfect for my hubby's binders, he is urber organized and has much of our important paper work in matching binders. These binders are all white and all UGLY!
I could not put such ugly binders on such a pretty little piece of furniture so I decorated them...yes I indeed spend part of an afternoon when I could/should have been doing laundry cutting out little pieces of shelf paper, adding stickers, left over from my calendar project, and slipping (actually wrestling) them into the edges of the ugly binders.
Aren't these fun? They almost make going over the budget something I would look forward to...almost.
And as if I didn't already have better things to do, I decided the 'Cars' binder which holds all of our maintenance records for all of our cars dating back to 1992 (yes he is that organized) I decided to jazz it up even more with hubby's favorite car...'58 Corvette anyone?
And wait...
Matching paper in the drawer! I may not be as organized as hubby but I lay a mean shelf paper!
So there you have it, my first white piece of furniture, my first credenza, but certainly not my last piece of re-purposed furniture.
You see I have 3 more pieces of old furniture waiting for me in hubby's garage...sorry sweetie, I'll get them out soon!
If you want I'll just skip the laundry and get right to them...really I would do that for you...I love you that much!
Although next time I think I'm going to go for plum, or moss...or melon! A girl can only do so much white!
So what about you? White or Colored...Cream or Fuchsia...Chalk or Italian Olive?