We bought some pretty beat up old furniture from yard sales when we moved into our flat in Vancouver. It was kind to our empty immigrant pockets, and I like owning things that have a bit of history. A naff glass top table with wooden chairs, and a credenza from the late ’70s were prime candidates for some rainy Sunday DIY.
I’m very partial to vile colours. I immediately pictured the boring wooden chairs in the ultimate ‘so wrong, it’s right’ colour — chartreuse. We sanded ’til we could sand no more, then set to work slapping on that delightfully offensive paint colour.
A few layers of paint later and voila! Chairs with (nauseating) impact. I got lazy with the table, and threw a thrifted vintage table cloth over it. I found the material for 3 bucks, and it miraculously fits the weirdly shaped table perfectly.
The credenza was found in a CRAZY junk store. I’ve visited some chaotic shops, but this took the biscuit. Picture an episode of Hoarders. Then, picture said hoarder with a penchant for rancid old running shoes, tied together with laces and shoved inside EVERY piece of furniture, nook and cranny. Then, imagine they love balancing pieces of furniture arbitrarily on top of each other, like some crazed life-size Jenga experiment. Then…only kidding, I’ll stop there. But you get the idea.
Our credenza was under a pile of other furniture at the end of a tunnel of wood and shoes. We rescued it! Peter sanded it down and we re-varnished it. The colour is richer and it evened out a lot of bruises and imperfections.
Please, please forgive Peter’s monolithic television. I lost that fight. Someday I will “Ooops, I can’t believe that fell and smashed into smithereens!” WIN.
