It wasn’t easy getting this piece home, but we did it. We borrowed our neighbor’s van because the cabinet was too long and too wide for our CR-V. But moving it out of the antique barn required three of us trying to maneuver it out a door, down a flight of stairs and into the car, all the while sweating in 90% humidity. The whole time we were worried about the glass doors. And dropping it. But Patty, who works at the barn, is an old pro at loading and unloading furniture – I don’t know what we would have done without her!
I had to lighten this photo a bit because it can be dark in this little corner. For a second, I panicked that it wouldn’t fit, but it fits beautifully, almost as if it was made for this space. Don and I are in love with it and we can’t believe what a difference it makes in our home.
It also takes up less space than the desk that was here previously. The cabinet is only 8 inches deep, so it doesn’t block access to the bathroom, which is to the right.
Once we got it in the house, Don took off with his camera and I proceeded to clean out 86 dusty and dirty cubbies. Yikes! Then I had to sort through all the stuff in the desk, find a new home for all of it, then put the desk and chair outside for Don to take to our storage unit.
While cleaning, I discovered some things about the backstory of this piece. I think the cubbies were separate at one point and that long ago, someone built this cabinet around them. Why? Because there are letters and numbers and, in some cases, names written in pencil over the cubbies in old-fashioned handwriting. But whoever built this unit put the cubbies in upside down, so I have to cock my head to read them. Most likely they were in an office somewhere, used as mail sorters/mail slots.
See the R and the S? There are also paper letter tags towards the bottom of the unit. When I have some more light (it’s cloudy today) I’ll try to take some pictures of the names,
I haven’t done anything other than to clean it thoroughly and put two egg cups inside just to see how they fit and how they look.
They fit perfectly, as I knew they would.
Eventually, I might get a piano/desk lamp that would focus light downward on the contents of the cabinet. We’ll see.
I love this piece. It was made for our little cottage!
I’ll most likely spend the weekend playing with the egg cups and where to place them in the cabinet. This morning I have to recycle and do some mowing before…yes, you guessed it…the weekend brings even more rain.
Happy Friday.
