hay trolley lights

I love to restore and repurpose vintage items, and I was especially taken with two hay trolleys I found in my barn. They were from a manufacturer here in Ohio: The F.E. Myers & Bro. Company from Ashland, Ohio. One of the trolleys still had the original metal tag with the manufacturer information - very neat. 

I cleaned them of the dust and dirt and we sent them to Skinners Powder Coating in Piqua. They did a great job of prepping them for me, even though they had never done trolleys before. Next, I painted them a vintage bronze with Rustoleum 2x spray paint. (I love this paint for projects....coated well and dried quickly) We found vintage-looking glass pendants from Home Depot to hang from each trolley. The bulbs are the old filament style. 

Jeremy hung them for me, as they are very heavy. He had to rig them a special way to hold the weight and not take away from the look of the trolley. We are very happy with the final product. They fit right in our southwest-themed conference room with local antiques.

barn dirt and all

after initial cleaning - not bad patina

original tag

fresh from Skinners and ready to paint

both units side by side

painted and hung

nice patina without the rust

with lights on in the room

I will post more on this room as we continue to work on it. It is a special labor of love as we try to salvage as much as possible from our farm, family, and local history.

Frederick's bed

I decided I wanted to restore a piece of furniture for each of my children that they can take with them when they are older. I look for inexpensive pieces that need restored, fully or partially, and I get to work. We found Frederick's bed in Northeastern Ohio a couple years ago and I refinished it this winter. I like to refinish with scrapers, chisels, hand tools, etc instead of chemicals.  It is old school and I find it relaxing to work with my hands. Typically, I will use sand paper on the raw wood, but as I was not taking this piece to the wood I used steel wool to rough the original finish so the new finish would adhere. The detail areas I did scrape clean for a sharper edge. After I had the bed smooth and ready to "shoot" with clear, Jeremy and my dad put the finish on for me. We use sanding sealer, which gives it a nice sheen, but not too glossy.

Frederick was SO excited when we set up his bed and he was able to sleep in it for the very first time. He took his little stuffed horse and his cherished blankie and jumped into bed.

The headboard

the victorian bed

I like to look for good deals at garage sales, and this particular item I had driven past the entire Memorial Day weekend...trying to convince myself to stop. Finally, on the last day they were closing up and it was still there. A bed. It needed refinished and needed siderails, but I loved the way it looked. Victorian design, black walnut, double book-matched veneers, beautiful carvings...I had convinced myself to stop and make them an offer. And so I bought a bed for $150.00. I had thought it would be nice to give each of my children something that I had refinished with my own two hands; something they could appreciate and take with them later in life. This bed I chose for Elauna as it looked more feminine.

It sat in the garage for a year and a half (mostly because I was pregnant, then raising an infant and toddler) so the dedication wasn't there that I needed. Last fall I decided to tackle the job. I used blades and scrapers and stripped the bed...hours of handwork, then getting the small details ready before I sanded. My dad gave invaluable advice while I worked on the bed. (He is a Master patternmaker, and an extremely skilled woodworker. He makes using a chisel look so effortless.) I learned so much while I restored this project, and am pretty pleased with the results.

Jeremy sprayed each piece; the intial coat required another sanding, then two more top coats. He did a beautiful job! The bed is now in Elauna's room and she feels like such a big girl!