Skip to main content

Upcycled Vintage Typewriter Table Project

My feelings on the self-proclaimed "project" of taking something old and imagining the possibilities of something new without obliterating the lives it has lived, haven't changed much over the years. Vanishing into antique shops and breathing dust for a couple hours calms me while the notion of salvaging with the seer's eye, even if it means using a little elbow grease, excites that secret spot deep within. But it's only recently that I've decided to act on said chronic impulses. 
Sometimes I just want to know what I'm capable of doing because it's important to create an interesting space you want to live in and not simply live in a space in which you have no interest. 
Wild-eyed and no stranger to home renovation, our overly discussed home to-do list usually results in a task that's hard to swallow but not far-fetched enough to prevent doing. Like the gym. Oh, and the recording studio for Alex. But apparently, the smaller things that bother me don't bother Alex nearly as much. Like the blue kitchen walls I'm tired of looking at. Or the some brown, some missing, door frames we have yet to repaint and repair. Still, we love our home and want it to be as happy with us living in it as we are happy to be in it. 

Reared to a family of carpenters, woodworkers and burners, nurses and healers, painters and whispered artistic ability, a family intent on life's necessity to create and nurture, no matter the medium, there's vision in the hindsight of these cherished passed along standards. I've discovered that these special traits, those that made their blood pump and hearts race with a creative voice, now does the same for mine. 
(Above: Progress collage using beautiful cedar to build the new wood planked table top and lower shelf. Below: The before-and-after typewriter base photos.)  
So lately, when I spot an antique typewriter table on its last dying breath, I see opportunity after resuscitation. Instead of thinking all is lost to its dingy steel legs and cat-clawed wood panel body with a $35 price tag, I see a great piece of furniture waiting to happen. Thanks Mom, for all your help and hard work!
First project teaser shown here. Keep an eye out for my next BIG hand built from scratch project! 
Labels:

Comments

fabulousjunk said…
What a great idea, seriously. I love the idea of finding something used, that has a story, taking it and continuing on with its story. I have for so long lived in places that were just spaces, not really mine. I look forward to when I finally have my OWN place. This has given me lots of ideas.

-becks
http://fabulous-junk.blogspot.com
1:26 PM
Alexandra - illustrations said…
Such a great idea! Looks so nice!
7:18 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cellphone Diary: The morning train station

From STL to KC, May 23-25th. ( Nasty Gal asymm tank dress , Vintage belt, Forever 21 shorts, Dylan George destruction cropped jeans/ Vintage Levi's, Target t-shirts, Express silk and lace jacket, BCBGirls/Miu Miu/Jessica Simpson shoes)
13 comments
MORE PICTURES »

The Body

You can barely see it in the last post , so here's a clearer picture of   what I've been working on in my new art studio... not that it hasn't come with little stop your heart stress moments.   The first time I attempted this piece, now referred to as The Body , was mutually as terrifying as it was exhilarating. It was the first full hand drawing I'd ever attempted, and everything was going smoothly until the moment I decided to incorporate oil paint, also the first in my artwork experiences. My grandmother was an award-winning artist, but now, without her wealth of knowledge and go-to advise, this is really a learning/teach yourself process. The drawing was done and exactly how I wanted it, the hair and tights were painted, and the final stages involved adding skin and the completion of the tattoos.   I didn't go in naively, I understood that it would inevitably boil down to the dynamics of trial and error, so I inhaled deeply and began creating my palette. In re
20 comments
MORE PICTURES »

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Today I say goodbye to my sister. Rarely do I write about the intimate details of my life, but this is a new chapter that I'm not quite prepared to read. After rummaging about the endless folders, these images so easily depict the emotionality of what I'm feeling. I wish Alex was here. I couldn't have imagined these circumstances, the recent trials and tribulations that have fallen across our small family like a dark curtain, but with time I suppose all things change. It isn't one of those situations when someone in your family simply moves to another state, and Christmas becomes second to seeing one another after months of sporadic e-mailing. This is different. When she made the impulsive decision (that came quite dauntingly) to pack her belongings and her child, and move to another state to be with a man she'd met only once, all we could do was ask her to stay. I asked a million questions in whisper because I ultimately want her happiness... because through the
19 comments
MORE PICTURES »