This is my dresser. I’ve had this piece for almost 20 years. Walking along the street one day in Cambridge, I saw this dresser sitting at the curb. I was pretty sure it was free for the taking. Just in case it wasn’t, I thought I would finish my errands and if it was still out there when I returned home, I’d find a way to get it up to my apartment. I didn’t own a car when I lived in the Boston area because I could get everywhere via public transit. So when I walked back toward my apartment and saw that it was still sitting there, I had to think fast. Luckily, my neighbor and good friend was home and I enlisted her help. We lugged the dresser home in the summer heat, a distance of about 4 city blocks. Then it was hefted up 3 flights of stairs.
I didn’t like the dark wood, so I painted it gray. It followed me out to San Diego when I moved there to take a new job. Eventually I painted it yellow and replaced the knobs with green glass knobs from Restoration Hardware.
When I painted the legs, I left some of the gray paint untouched because I liked way the contrast highlighted the carving.
The soft yellow (a shade by Ralph Lauren) makes me smile. Truth be told, it has become a bit battered, the drawers don’t close right and sometimes I want to replace it. I may do that in the next couple of years. I don’t know if I could let it go entirely, however. I’ll have to hang on to it, even it it means storing it in the shed. It reminds me of the streets of Cambridge, my wonderful apartment on Harvard Street, a time in my life when I was having all sorts of adventures. I had embarked on a teaching career, I loved Boston and teaching at Boston University, and I finally had an apartment with more than one room. It was a very special time in my life. I eventually moved to San Diego, met Don, fell in love and married. I left my single girl days behind. Happily. But I treasure those Boston memories…and the dresser is part of them.
Some of my favorite things are here. A McCoy dish with a bird whose tail feathers are broken (I have one just like it with the bird intact downstairs,) two pieces of Roseville Pottery, and a photo of my husband. There are several necklaces draped on the photo’s frame – Don says it looks like a shrine.
This is my favorite piece of Roseville. It is the Bushberry pattern – a cornucopia. Lovely.
Little did this dresser know that day as it was forlornly sitting out at the curb, that it would find a new home and cross the country not once, but twice!
I’m experimenting with making my photos larger – after pouring through all the tips online, I think I’ve found something that works with my template – what do you think?
Hello sweet Claudia…
Oh my gosh, I love this dresser. Isn’t it funny sometimes, how the one piece we keep the longest and move the farthest are the ones that didn’t cost us a dime. I so love this little dresser, and your McCoy pottery is just beautiful sweetie. Just absolutely beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Hope you had a beautiful day.
Country hugs sweetie…Sherry
Claudia, I love pieces that have a story and are meaningful. I think it’s neat that your dresser is not only so well traveled, but that it has been a part of your life for so many years. I think I would just find someone to fix the dresser drawers and keep it. It’s like an old friend, and old friends are golden.
Speaking of golden, the yellow Ralph paint and the green Anthropologie knobs are the perfect touch. I love all of your McCoy pottery on top of it, along with your DH’s picture. It all works together for a nice cohesive whole.
Love to you…
XO,
Sheila
hi claudia,
i love hearing these tales of your determination!
what years were you in boston? i used to drive up a lot in my 20s (to see bands play) and 30s (pricey haircuts before kids).
love the color and knobs of the dresser.
xo
Claudia well if it looks like a shrine; it’s the most beautiful shrine I have ever seen :0) I don’t think it looks like a shrine though. All the items are wonderful I love your dresser it’s gorgeous.
.•:*¨¨*:•.Blessings*¨2 U 4¨**¨¨*the holidays .•:*¨¨*:•.
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Hi Claudia.. you got very pretty dresser and love how you display all you fave pretties.. all so colourful! thanks for sharing and wishing you a very nice day!
xo
fitty
I love old dressers….yours is just lovely! I wouldn’t be getting rid of it either :) I have a few old dressers that my mom bought for my room when I was growing up at some antique stores, and the irritate me sometimes…sticky drawers and such…but the memories remain, so shall the dressers remain.
Hi Claudia,
I love your dresser and pretties! I am right there with you…many times I have been known to load a dresser from the curb or a yard sale into my VW convertible and bring her home:-)
Love your ‘RescueDresser’, the McCoy and Roseville pottery. Very, very, special pieces! Lovely pictures, arrangements and memeories. Thanks for sharing!
Great post. I can totally relate to your feelings for this old dresser. I have “Velveteen Rabbit” ideas about almost all my stuff . . . makes for a lot of stuff! ;)
Buongiorno Claudia,
I love the dresser and the transformation. Have a great weekend Ciao Rita
What a sweet dresser. I really like how you painted it and the knobs are beautiful!
Our guest room is pretty much the same as my bedroom was when I was single *wink*
Hugs,
Marsha
That dresser has so much style and grace. It is one of those pieces that would not be overlooked, especially the way you have restored and decorated it. Lovely!
Susan
Hi Claudia,
What a gorgeous found treasure and I love the color!! How wonderful that you have loving restored it and it has traveled with you for so many years.
Some of my most beloved treasures were rescued curbside or from a dumpster!
Love and hugs,
Karyn
Love the traveling bureau and the “bigness” of your photos! Anthro has some cool pottery pieces right now (the tea cups are cool and unique). I saw them on “Man Shops Globe” and then in my Anthro catalog that came yesterday! I adore pottery, too :)
Looks perfect to me, honey! No way would I ever part with it. Use it as storage for something or store it in the shed but DON’T get rid of it. You’ll be forever sorry if you do, chick.
xoxo,
Connie
Oh my gosh, don’t get rid of it, you will regret it! I have a similar one in my living room! There are so many different areas you could use a piece like that! It’s so beautiful and I love the yellow paint!
I remember dragging luggage around from the boston airport to the train station in the summer heat. It’s so much hotter back there with the humidity than it is in California!
What a lovely dresser with memories attached!! LOVE LOVE LOVE Boston and Cambridge, my hubby and I have many sweet memories of those places too!
Oooh pleeease, can you share the tips for larger photos?? I’ve found some but I want to keep my own template… Thank you!
Monicax.
OMGoooooodness……..it’s totally delish, Claudia…I love it. I agree, it would be hard to part with. And, your Roseville?….could you just pop that in the mail for me? :-)
I love the bigger pix….
Huggies,
Spencer
Love the dresser…and the glass knobs!!! and Loving all your sweet treasures!!!! Hope you are keeping warm…we had 80 degree weather a few days before Thanksgiving!!!
hope you are doing well!!
hugs,
Joy~
Your post about this dresser made me SMILE, Claudia! I loved the dresser #1, then I loved the nostalgia feeling you have for it because it reminds you of your single adventurous days. I too, have fond memories of being young, single and on my own. Quite priceless, don’t you think? I also love the way you display your Roseville! Lovely!
Don’t EVER get rid of that lovely dresser! It deserves to have a special place in your home and NOT in the shed!!! I love the color and way you have left some of the old paint on the legs. That dresser has character, personality and a sweet, fun story about how you obtained it with lots of love!!!
Peaking at your blog today and enjoyed the dresser story. I read back to the two left sides of the bookcase post and it made me smile:)
Joyce
Love the larger photos!
That dresser is to drool-over…… love the legs and color!
Great job Claudia!
What a wonderful dresser, Claudia, and a great story to go with it. It’s hard to give up ‘old’ things when we’ve had them so long . . . they become a part of us.
I’m loving your larger pictures . . . they look fantastic!
Thanks for sharing!
Hugs,
Teresa