Saturday, September 17, 2011

Inertia

Do your projects ever teach you lessons?  Mine do.  This particular project taught me how not to load furniture in a truck!

Back in June we decided to replace my husband’s 10-year-old Volkswagen Jetta with a little truck.  (It was his idea to replace the car.  It was MY idea to replace it with a truck!)  I was tickled at the prospect of having a truck to cart around my furniture projects!  So shortly after we bought the truck, my oldest daughter and I took it garage-sale-ing.

We hit pay dirt.  We purchased a cedar chest and a little maple buffet for a grand total of $60 at the same garage sale!  I was cool and collected outside, but giggling delightedly inside.

There was just enough room to put both pieces in the truck (it’s not a very big truck).  How shall we put them in?  Why, back-to-back, of course!  That way the wood won’t get scratched!  We didn’t own any tie-downs yet, but we had sprung for the bed-liner.  I was sure we would be fine on the short drive home.

And truly, all was well!  At first.  I drove slow.  I was careful!  But there came a time when I had to make a right-hand turn, and I heard a big CRASH!

My heart stopped.

Quickly I pulled over and jumped out to survey the damage.

Remember your high school physics class?  What was it Newton said…

An object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same velocity and in the same direction…

InertiaIt’ll get you every time.

What inertia got was the drawer for the buffet.  The truck went right; the drawer wanted to keep going straight…and it did, right into the street!  <sigh>

One of the handles on the drawer broke, and one of the corners snapped off.  There were various other abrasions and contusions, but we came out pretty lucky, all things considered!

I am lacking a proper “before” picture of this little maple buffet.  I only found one “in progress” shot.

fall 023

I decided to give this piece on of my favorite stained-top-painted-base treatments, and some brand-new hardware.

buffet

Note to self:  When you decide to use one set of the original holes for the hardware, make sure you use the SAME SET on both sides of the drawer.  Failing to do so may result in harsh words.

country buffet

I used two coats of Minwax Antique Walnut stain on the top, and finished it with the Hand-rubbed Polyurethane.  I *love* how it turned out.

French Country buffet

I fixed the bottom corner of the drawer with a little wood glue, and sanded out the other scrapes.  You can’t tell that she took a header onto the street now!

bin pulls buffet

She’s just a small little buffet—only 36” wide, so she’s perfect for a small space.

Inertia.”  It may  not be the most feminine of names, but somehow it suits her, don’t you think?

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Linking up here.

33 comments:

Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures said...

Girl you and furniture redos are like peas and carrots. Another fantastic job. I am glad you could repair the damage.

Tina said...

It's beautiful! You did a great job refinishing it and making the repairs...I love the drawer handles!

Jo said...

She's a beauty! Great find and a great job on the new finish.

Unknown said...

great job. love how it turned out... i always carry a big sheet of bubble wrap around with me and some blankets. it helps!

re said...

Beautiful, and you'd never guess the story behind it by how she looks now!
I have a lesson-learned story I'll post tomorrow! I saw yours and did a double take, because I was thinking the same thing. Mine's not about inertia. I just painted a HEYWOOD WAKEFIELD rattan table aqua. I didn't know it was HW until I turned it over and saw the stamp on the bottom...
-Revi

Anneke at This, That and Life said...

Oh no! Glad the damage wasn't too bad. It turned out lovely! :-)

eleven-o-one said...

You are a very good doctor among your many other talents! It looks beautiful!
Fran

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

What a great piece, Korrie! I love it with the stained top. I am thinking of going with the walnut stain on two bookcases my husband made. They are stained {oak}and poly'd so I'm sure I'll have some sanding to do first.

LibbiesHome said...

That is lovely! And I love the name:)
I think the size is great because it will be a fun area to decorate - not too overwhelming. Thanks for sharing!

Allison@FabRehab said...

OH my...I'm glad it worked out so well considering her fall! She looks gorgeous! I'll try to make a long story short. I finished a HUGE 2 piece armoire for a client. She and her husband picked it up in their pick up...it was SUPER heavy, so they didn't tie it down. However, it was a windy day...a gust of wind hit it just right and the top flew out and SMASHED on the highway. Actually, they were very lucky it didn't kill someone. I could NOT believe it when she told me...it was SO heavy, my husband and I could barely lift it, so it had to be some wind!

jennifer768 said...

She may have had a rough and tumble beginning but she turned out gorgeous in the end.Hugs,Jen

bj said...

She is simply beautiful love it.
I get so tickled that all your furniture is "her", "she"..I keep waiting for a big ole honkin' piece that says "He" or "Mister" or......
:))

Unknown said...

Inertia sounds about as likable as vomit. lmao The piece looks fab.

Gypsy Heart said...

I'd say she looks fantastic! I love the way you finished her plus the drawer handles. Great job!

xo
Pat

Deborah March said...

GORGEOUS...my favourite look...stained top painted bottom...divine!!

Karie said...

The buffet looks beautiful! Once again you worked your magic! I love the wood stain on top!

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

I love the "petiteness" of this piece! :)
oops! I move a lot of furniture in a turck, and I've had a few oops myself. But not with drawers! :) that's always been my fear-inertia! hahaha
gail

Unknown said...

What a riot! Your stories are too funny!

My sister and I can relate to your story. Several years ago a dear lady was kind enough to offer us her Plumeria tree (we live in Michigan, but my husband is Hawaiian).

Anyway... when my sister and I got to the lady's house, we walked around back only to discover an 8' tree bursting with branches, leaves and flowers. The root ball was GINORMOUS and we practically pee'd our pants laughing at how we'd lift it onto the tailgate.

I have no idea how we ever lifted it, but we did. Yep... all was good, until... in the middle of rush hour traffic, a little "inertia got in the mix. All I can say is, that tree was a whole lot lighter minus all that dirt and a couple branches.

Beth said...

Boy, that sure sounds like something that would happen to me. You have Inertia, I have Murphy! I think they're 1st cousins. LOL!

I can see that you made lemonade out of that sour situation without a single pucker! :D It's would be so perfect in my dining room!!

Karyn said...

I totally understand the "high" of scoring a good deal. The buffet looks great and you can't tell at all that there was something that happened that might have caused harsh words (hee hee).

Katie @ sweetgirlexpressions said...

Love it..it's beautiful!.....luckily the whole thing didn't fly out of the truck :0

The Painted Parlor said...

another gorgeous piece! love the top!!

Cynthia said...

I have had a couple of furniture moving incidents myself... I've been lucky both times! Your buffet looks absolutely lovely now.

Unknown said...

It's still a beautiful piece! Good work.

Decor & Harmony said...

Very lovely! Your restyles are always awesome :)

Cassie Bustamante said...

you always manage to pull your pieces safely to shore... beautiful redo!

Jill said...

That turned out beautifully! And you have a story to tell too! Also, congratulations on making Crafting with the Stars. Have fun with it!

Susanne said...

Nicely done - I'm partial to stained tops and painted bottoms on furniture myself.

Charlotte Wilson said...

Wow, You would never know that Inertia had an accident. You did a lovely job!

Honey at 2805 said...

You buffet turned out so nicely after a bit of cosmetic surgery by you. She's probably telling all her friends that she had a ver goo doctor! Inertia looks great!

Thanks for linking to Potpourri Friday and helping to make it a success! I appreciate your participation!

Anita @ GoingALittleCoastal said...

Oh gosh, sorry about the little mishap. Glad you put it together again. It looks great. Love the color and stain combo.

Ellen said...

What a great lil buffet...love the finished look, I like the look of the top being different than the rest of the piece. And you have a wonderful converstion piece to boot...LOL I'm glad it was a minor boo boo and everything worked out in the end.
Hugs,
Ellen

Jacqueline said...

What a lovely makeover! Thank you for sharing at Simply Creations Link Party!