My Bookcase
My bookcase, a lovingly restored piece of furniture now stands proudly in the dining room of my Victorian home. Once doomed for demolition and the landfill, it was in a former life a fine piece of furniture in a Georgian Drawing Room. This once beautiful period home was now home to a firm of Solicitors and so the bookcase was utilised for storage of case files and reference books, until one day it became surplus to requirements and was destined for the scrap heap.
Having a passion and flare for design and restoration I could not bare the thought of this fine piece being dismantled and discarded to landfill and so I came to it’s rescue with the intention of restoring it to former glory.
Now dismantled into 3 separate pieces in my small flat I set to work on my restoration project. Layers of white paint and stain which resembled treacle were painstakingly removed, a time consuming but rewarding piece of work. Not only was I saving something from landfill but also breathing life into something that had long been forgotten. It was taking up valuable office space where there would be room for a modern desk. But what many people out there see as a space-consuming relic from the past, I see a possibility.
Refinishing or taking off an old finish to create a new one is physically demanding, messy and cumbersome work but the final result is very rewarding as can be seen. Because I was undertaking the project at home I used chemical stripper and lots of sandpaper. I determined that the beautiful colour of the wood did not warrant re-staining and so I finished it with bri-wax in antique brown.
I am now the proud owner of a fine piece of furniture that has stood the test of time and is admired by all visitors to my home.
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