A New Use for Old Furniture

We have a large 19th century house and love old furniture that fits with the architecture and time period. Always looking for a perfect piece to fill a need and very hesitant to buy new, we attend auctions and estate sales with a bit of money and a lot of patience in finding the right piece.

On one of our local estate sale visits we found an old bed that was a bit rough and the price was right at $15 dollars. The decorative areas were all hand carved mahogany and the frame solid oak. My husband knew right away how he would use this bed so we purchased it, loaded it on the truck and brought it home. Once finished, this beautiful old bed would become an entirely different piece of functional furniture.

In between the lawn mowing and window work this summer, Mark worked on cleaning up the holes and cutting down the side rails. He fashioned a bench seat and once ready, it was moved into the kitchen. With an old quilt cushioning the bench and perfectly sized corner ledges to hold a cuppa, I now have a one-of-a-kind spot for reading the paper, watching the sun climb in the sky and getting warmed by our parlor stove.

This is perfect for winter mornings or early evenings. Big enough for two and a great conversation corner which will also give us extra seating when we have a small crowd.

Give us a piece of old furniture any day and if we can't use it for what it was originally made for, then we'll get creative and find a new use for it.