my girls and I love to go for evening walks like the one we did on last Wednesday evening. We park our car in a parking-lot and always walk the same way. After about an hour and when heading for the way home I noticed something on the side of the road. Looking closer it turned out to be an antique Singer sewing machine in an old cupboard with 6, yes 6, drawers and the most amazing hardware! So when we arrived back at the car there was no question about me going back to take a good look and hopefully I could save this old beauty (unfortunately I have no pictures of the entire cupboard and sewing machine because it was too dark and almost 11 pm and I didn't want to make a fuss).
The closer I got to this antique the more something became obvious to me ~ the horrible smell of the wood!!!
It had this intense yucky musty smell of damp old wood that I have smelt many times before in antique furniture and there is no way that I know of to get rid of it ~ what a shame! This meant I wouldn't be taking the entire cupboard with me and since I couldn't salvage even the drawers for reuse I decided to still take them because of the wonderful hardware that was on them.
This is the beautiful hardware still attached to the drawers and doors I took alone. Isn't it just so pretty?!
So many neat drawers and all for the trash! I could have made some really nice things from them.
I did find more amazing things in one of the drawers. It is a little box full of attachments and parts for the sewing machine and the booklet that tells you what everything is for.
This is the little box!! This is how I found it still dirty and messy. It is so neat the way it is constructed but unfortunately it and the book have the same bad smell as the rest of the wood ~ so sad!! I am not sure what I am going to do with it. I am thinking about selling it maybe on EBay. I am sure somebody might have the matching sewing machine to go with all these little bits and pieces.
And these are some other little treasures that were in the drawers.
Aren't these drawer pulls just beautiful?? They are over 100 years old. I have 9 of them all together and for now I will find them a little box where they can wait until I come up with an idea of what to do or make with them.
It is true what they say, what is one person's trash is another person's treasure!!
Have a peaceful and creative day,
Karen B.
so cool..lucky you, even if you couldn't salvage the wood. so many tresors.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen,
ReplyDeleteIsn't it sad how people don't take care of their things? I bought an antique farm table and huge cupboard with doors with screens in them and had to get rid of both! They smelled so bad we couldn't keep them in our house! I was SO sad about that! I couldn't even be in the same room with them-everytime I did I would cough and cough! I'm sure they had some kind of mold spore in them! They were fabulous pieces too. Just as this sewing machine w/ cupboard was! I tried everything to get rid of the smell and nothing worked. I'm glad that you at least got to salvage the hardware. The doors were beautiful!
Thanks for sharing with us.
Hugs,
Sonya
What an amazing find! Sad about the wood, though. Can't believe it was just lying at the side of the road - amazing what some people throw out!
ReplyDeleteliz
Here's my fix for old smelly wood pieces....cat litter.....the clay kind.....fill up the drawers to the top and cover with newspaper or whatever to keep the litter contained. Leave it like that for at least a week on really nasty stuff, then dump the litter out and vacuum the insides and clean up. I have done this on old dressers and cupboards. And the cat litter is re-usable.......
ReplyDeleteOh no, what a shame that you didnt save the beautiful wood. I saw a post on Living with Lindsay only yesterday, about cleaning smelly wood furniture. You can find it here, just in case you still have the drawers - http://livingwithlindsay.com/2011/06/cleaning-smelly-thrift-store-furniture.html
ReplyDeleteHow brave of you to pick up that wonderful find along side the road. Very sad about the odor. Hope one of these comment suggestions helps you rid the wood of the smell. I have used newspaper soaked in real pure vanilla flavoring. It gets expensive and doesn't always work. Love what you did salvage.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great find, and hope some of those tips work, if you still have the drawers.
ReplyDeletehugs and blessings
barb
There are sealers available to deal with the odor of the wood, as well. That hardware was gorgeous, too!
ReplyDelete