Thursday, December 24, 2009

The Old-fashioned Dry Sink

I'm so excited to announce that the +7 year project has come to an end. A few years before I met Dan a pulled this old piece of furniture out of the little old house that sits in my parents' farm yard. I had a dream to have it refinished someday.
The old house was the first house my grandparents lived in when they were first married. When my dad was born my grandpa upgraded to the house that I grew up in.
Anyway, this piece of furniture was always sitting in the bedroom of that old house and my sisters and I would play with it when we were little. The ceiling in that room started to crumble down about 7-8 years ago, so I moved it out and into my parents' porch.
It was used as a wash stand/dry sink. There was no running water in that house, so I assume my grandparents used it as there would-be bathroom sink. It probably had an old pitcher and basin sitting on it. The rack on the right side would hold towels. And the mirror pivots to accommodate tall vs. shorter people. The mirror has some spots and actually looks really old.

The bottom part was missing a drawer and part of the little door. Dan started working to scrape the old white paint off a few years ago, but progress was slow due to his lack of knowledge and tools.
After moving here we found out that an older gentleman at our church was a retired high school shop teacher. He let Dan bring it to his shop and helped him repair and refinish it.
It looks a bit different from the white paint it had, but after taking the paint off the original wood had a dark stain similar to this.
This picture outside has a better lighting. The camera didn't do it justice, it looks much more awesome in person. Dan worked many hours on this project and finished it in time to give it to me for Christmas. Thanks Dan , I love you. I'm excited to have this piece of family history in my home.

(I have some pictures of what it looked like before the refinish, but I can't find them right now. When I figure out where they are I'll post some before and after pics.)

5 comments:

Jill said...

Hey Dan and Leesa it looks awesome! You did a great job Dad.

Sally said...

wow, i barely recognized it! it will be so fun to see the before pix with these new ones! it looks so good! that's so neat that you get a bit of history in your home!

Chapman Herd said...

OOHHH!!! I LOVE IT!!!! What a beautiful piece of furniture and History! Way to go Dan!

The Hiller Family said...

now, you need to find a vintage towel, a wash basin and a water pitcher to put on it!! I love it!

Ryan Family said...

That did turn out great.