Re-purposing| by a Salt Lake City Designer

Yesterday I posted a story about a client whose house I'd worked on and shared some tips on things we'd done. Today I'd like to share another client's tale. 

Ms. Margaret writes: (the following is an excerpt from her letter)

Dear Ginny,

I cannot began to tell you how pleased we are with the wonderful job you did in designing and decorating our old historical home in Newton. I was just at my wits end as to what to do and where to began. I knew the house would be my dream home if it were decorated properly. It was so much fun working with you and seeing my home come together so beautifully.

Buffet from England

The amazing way you turned the old side board, that was the gift brought to me from England, into an island for my kitchen and how you found the used round table and chairs at almost no cost and turned the old chest of drawers into a buffet for the dinning room. 

You have exquisite taste and talent and you made our home the very best it could be with items I already had just rearranged and just a very few additions that were chosen and arranged with your expertise. You are indeed passionate about your work as a designer and decorator . You may use me as a reference if ever needed. Several of my friends and guest that viewed my home were sad to learn that you had moved away and would not be available for their decorating needs.

We want to thank you for all your hard work and for making the old house into my dream home.

In sincere appreciation for a job well done,

　

                                                                                    Margaret 

Thanks Ms. Margaret, I had a great time doing your house too!

Margaret's house is about 100 years old and has some "quirkiness" that most old homes have. The bones were great, but the rooms needed some "un-updating". The previous owners had tried to modernize the house, but had really only succeeded in taking away the character of the home. The one room that needed the most help was the kitchen. It was a large room, but they had only put cabinetry on 2 walls and there was just a large open space in the middle of the room. There wasn't a lot of counter top space so we decided it needed an island. 

Margaret had an old sideboard that was brought from England by a family member who had lived there. The piece had gotten wet during a heavy storm that had broken out a window and the veneer on the piece was destroyed, but the structure was still in great shape. Because the storage was ample and the piece was going to be thrown away otherwise, I decided to do a make-over project! (My dad is my handy-man and he does great work and he gives me a great rate... I would recommend him to anyone!)

We added "bead board paneling" to the back, sides and doors. We painted it to match the cabinetry that was in the kitchen. We made the top like a large tray and then set the tile in the "tray". We used unfinished newel posts, turned upside down for the legs.  The best part of this makeover is that the tile top and legs are not actually attached to the sideboard and can be removed and the piece again used as what it was intended to be. The finish was already ruined so the new surface and finish would still be appreciated! 

Saved from the dump!

Unfortunately, I don't have photos of it in place (I'm terrible about not taking "after" pictures) but hopefully you can get the idea from these before-during photos. This is such a simple thing to do and made such a difference in the kitchen. This "make-over" not only gave new life to the kitchen it gave new life to a piece of furniture that was headed for the dump!