a temporary lapse in sanity

The purchase I made today may fall under the "what was I thinking?" umbrella.  It remains to be seen.  My dad & I spent close to 2 hours doing true demolition work on it.  I'll admit- I enjoyed it.  The sledgehammer, the crowbar, the hammer.... good times!  So we'll see how it all turns out.

A warning, though.  There is no fabulous 'after' picture of this piece at the end of the post.  Not yet.  Sorry.

Want to see the object of my affections/disdain (depending on the moment)?

It's a stereo cabinet.  Maybe someone could give me an idea of the era?  Before my time is all I know for sure.  Here is what we spent 2 hours doing...

It had huge speakers like this on either side.

Pieces like this were everywhere.  They were in there so good, it was as if the manufacturers thought people would be shaking the piece upside down on a daily basis.  There were screws (long & short), bolts, allen wrench thingies, staples, and glue... oh, the glue.  

The record player was the most stubborn part.  It brought blood (my dad's), sore arms (mine) & lots of sweat (both of us) but it didn't beat us.  No, sir.  We got it out.

Here, my dad is saying something like "Why don't you put that camera down and start helping *me* with this huge mess that *you* have made?"  Sorry, Dad.

He is also showing me here what this saw can do.  A reciprocating saw, I believe it is?  This was a last resort, after removing 7,213 screws and pounding on the insides with previously mentioned tools didn't quite do the job.

But the record player is out, see?

The previous owner was a winner with someone, apparently.  Found this deep inside the piece.

"Made in England"  I've never seen this label before except on china.  

Ta-Da!  Believe it or not, this is what we were going for.  Now, I just have to get started painting, replacing the bottom & back, and building a new top for the buffet/chest that I have in mind :)

So picture this... 

With a hinged top, raised up a bit on casters, painted in white with the hardware painted... black?  ORB?  What do you think?  

I am happy today to have saved this piece from the landfill.  If it turns out well, maybe someone else will be inspired to do the same!  It was a lot of work.  Really, really a lot.  In fact, my neighbor/scouter brought home a similar piece for herself just last week and she even told me how many hours she spent getting all the 'guts' out of it.   Did I believe her?  Yes, I did.  But did I get it?  Not too much.  But now I do.

Here's to hoping it is fabulous in a couple of days!

A reminder about the giveaway... I don't want anyone to miss it!!

My friend Becky has a new blog called Kings Down Road & a new Etsy store (also called Kings Down Road), both celebrating her love of all things vintage.  She has so generously offered to give the lucky winner $50 credit at her etsy store!!  Thank you, Becky!

In addition, I'm adding something to the package... a $50 visa card.  So, the lucky winner will get $50 in awesome vintage goodies AND $50 to play with (my mother-in-law calls it "mad money" and I love that).


What do you have to do to win?  There are several ways to get yourself entered into the giveaway (sorry for the terrible grammar, Betsy B!)...

*Become a follower of the blog!  If you're a follower, you automatically get one entry.  Thats one chance out of 209 at this moment.

*For an EXTRA entry, go to Becky's etsy shop & let me know what your favorite piece is by leaving me a comment here.  Make sure to check out the incredible Gucci salt & pepper shakers :)

*For a THIRD entry, go to Becky's blog and leave her a comment that you've come visiting from A Few Good Pieces.

Phew!  I'll leave the Giveaway up until Friday of this week, October 15, at midnight.  And I'll try to remind you as we go through the week!

Thanks for coming by!!  I appreciate you ~ all 231 of you, can you believe it?!

Kathie