Awesome Furniture Find

I mentioned the other day that my grandma found a furniture refinishing project for me. Well, let’s just say, my grandma is the coolest grandma in the whole world. Not just because she goes to zumba class (true story) or because she owns every single McDonald’s Happy Meal toy ever made (pretty sure she does), but also because she found a serious treasure for me! An old-school wooden library card catalog cabinet. I am so excited about this furniture find! She has one at her house, and I had been on the lookout for one for a while but haven’t had any luck finding one for a reasonable price. I thought it would be a really cool, unique place to store all of my craft supplies.

My grandparents go to auctions frequently, so I had asked her to keep an eye out for one and if she found one for a good price, I’d pay her back. We happen to have a family friend who owns a few vacant school buildings around Indiana. (I know, random.) She called him up and it turned out that one of his schools had one of these cabinets inside of it. My grandparents drove to the little town where the school is located, disassembled the cabinet and lugged it home for me. (I know, they are pretty great.) Oh, and best part? We didn’t have to pay a dime! The friend said we could just have it! (Thank you!) The only thing is that one drawer is missing. They searched everywhere and couldn’t find it. I’m thinking either I will order a new drawer on eBay (I’ve seen several) or come up with some way of making it look intentional – maybe a bottom row with jars or baskets instead of drawers. (Thoughts?)

Unfortunately, we were not able to fit the whole cabinet in our car to bring home from Indiana. We brought half of the base and several drawers, but we had to leave a lot of it behind. My dad and brother will be visiting soon and they will bring the rest. I can’t wait to get started on this project!

Are you ready to see a few bits and pieces of it?

I warned you, it’s in pieces! But use your imagination.

I will post more pictures when the rest of it arrives. I haven’t decided yet if I will attempt to stain it or paint it. Maybe you can help me decide.  Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on refinishing options and/or solutions to the missing drawer issue. I’d love to hear what you think!