Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The old shelf...

Way back there in January (feels months and months ago) I posted about my new/old wooden rooster tray that DH found for me. Some of you that have an observant eye noticed it was sitting on my old green shelf and inquired about it. Here's the picture I showed in that post:



rooster tray 3



Here is a picture of the whole shelf. You can see some of our collections..old crocks, a couple of crock bowls, some of our old jars. The black object with the wheel is some sort of old mill..not sure exactly..but it's very heavy. The red and white object is a vintage ice crusher. I have a big basket on the bottom shelf to hold all my spices since I have very little storage (old house drawback). Underneath is my old juicer and more old utensils! Oh yeah, my little wooden churn is hiding in the corner!



green shelf



I have had this old shelf for over 25 years now. I found it in an outbuilding of an old house we were renting at the time. I never knew what it was made for originally but it was handmade by someone, probably the old man who had owned the house, and seemed to have been made using old scrap wood. So we dragged it out and I started scrubbing and cleaning on it. It had been painted white and most of it came out okay except for the wider top shelf. There were rust rings on it where old paint cans had been and I couldn't get them off no matter how much elbow grease I applied! I had no paint available either, nothing that I could think of except some handy, dandy contact paper. As some of you know, that contact paper was the going thing then and we covered everything with it...even walls!! Nasty stuff to remove though as I found out many years later!


I liked living in the old house but since it was very close to a state park, the state decided they wanted to buy the old place to expand the park. We had to find another place to live. I decided right then and there they weren't going to get my old shelf!! It would probably have been hauled away to the dump anyway. So I took it with me from place to place. When DH and I moved into a small apartment, my daughter stored it away for me in her basement. When we found this old house, I knew the shelf had found a home too. When we painted our kitchen cabinets I decided to give the old shelf a face lift with the same paint..after struggling to remove the 25 year old contact paper! I'll try to get some decent pictures of my whole kitchen later and show you.

17 comments:

Diane@Diane's Place said...

I love your old shelf! It has character, which a lot of the newer stuff just doesn't have. I like old furniture, especially the handmade stuff. I like old kitchen stuff too, and I know what all your utensils in your header and on your shelf are for.

Looking forward to the pictures of the rest of your kitchen, Hope.

Hugs,

Diane

j said...

I love it Hope! I'm glad it finally got the home it deserves! It is well stocked too. Jennifer

Brandy said...

you need all these old bowls i have here!!

Rosie's Whimsy said...

Hi Hope! Thanks so much for visiting me so I could find you!

I adore your green shelf....and EVERYTHING on it! I am a rooster/chicken girl so you snagged me with that right away :-)

Have the Best of Days.......Rosie

Peggy said...

can't wait to see your whole kitchen! love the shelf and crocks!

Karen H. said...

Good Morning Hope,
Ohmygosh, I love your shelf. Green is my favorite color you know. It looks so good painted that color. I love all of the old dishes and other things sitting on it. Makes it all look antiquish. "THANK YOU" for sharing it with us. If you ever want to get rid of it, remember me. LOL. I would love to have it. I am looking forward to seeing your kitchen. I bet it is beautiful as well. It's a rainy day here. They have us under a Winter Storm Warning till 4:00p.m. this afternoon. I have no clue why tho. It's been raining since last night and it's been thundering and lightening as well. I had seen where Lib was sick again. She mentioned something about surgery tho. Do you know what kind of surgery she was talking about? Take care my friend and have a great day. May God Bless You and Yours.

Love & Hugs,
Karen H.

j said...

Um, Hope? How can you be the number of years that I have heard you mention to be? Could you please send me a bottle of the water you drink 'cause it has to be from the bloomin' FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH! Gosh, woman! You look GOOD!

j said...

Not that the # is all that high, mind you. But you really don't look that #. You know what I mean, SHEESH. You are just lovely!

Prairie Gothic said...

Love that shelf Hope, neat stuff!
xxoo christie

Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess said...

Some things you JUST have to hang on to. I think if I was in that situation I would always try to hang on to my vanity. I have had it since I was just a girl. It has my handwriting inside the drawers of when I was very little. i would hate so much to part with it...while I am alive anyway!!
Thanks for stopping by. I feel so badly for you that you never got to have the great experience of riding a bike as a child. I have so many memories of that. I cannot ride now because of my hip/leg pain. it would only make it worse. So sorry.
Sandy

Hootin Anni said...

I'm happy to hear that you could get the awards blog done for yourself. You did good understanding what I tried to type...after I re-read it to myself, it just didn't make sense....guess it did afterall. AND!! I must say that I LOVE the little "happy valentine's day" cursor thingie! That's way cool. Coming up with this idea was a neat thing for the holiday.

Have a terrific day.

Betty said...

The shelve looks really good now, Hope. You have more patience than I do to take it and rework it and make it look so good.

bj said...

That's a fabulous old shelf. Isn't it amazing the things we become attached to? Your shelf looks wonderful with all the old things on it.
hugs, bj

Yellow Rose Arbor said...

I remember using contact paper a lot! Neat old shelf, I love the way you have the things arranged on it! I enjoyed the story of the shelf too!

Katherine

Renie Burghardt said...

Hi Hope,

I love old shelves, too, and your old crocks are wonderful. I have a few myself.

Really enjoyed looking at your collection. Can't wait to see your kitchen pictures.

Thank you for visiting me. Have a wonderful evening.

Hugs,

Renie

A Romantic Porch said...

How beautiful! I LOOVE old rescued pieces, and have many! I know all about the old house drawbacks!

Betty said...

Hope,
Your kitchen has so much character....much more than a brand new kitchen....I like the dark green....

I really like your shelf in the post below....I would have hung on to it for dear life also.....

Thanks for coming by.....Betty