The end of Day 4 of the Rubber Room Remodel, and I’m right on schedule. Kate came by this afternoon and said they would be back tomorrow evening to get her desk and hopefully the aquarium. Everything else can stay for a while, since it isn’t in my way. Tomorrow I start moving in, much to the husband’s delight. I’m so tired of hearing him complain about moving a chair out of his way, or hitting the Clip-it-Up as he comes in the door. I’m sure he’s tired of complaining too!
Today I got the cabinet reassembled. It’s amazing how I found all the hardware that I removed some 20 years ago. As you can see from the photo, the original cabinet was white (check out the floor sifter on the left-hand side). It still has white paint on it that I decided to leave. I find great comfort in leaving some of the old cabinet still there. The handles are original. They were worn and rusted and I gave them a fresh coat of black paint today. The hinges are also original, with some white paint on them from a repainting many years ago. If I remember correctly, when I first started stripping the paint off, there were about four layers of white paint, and hidden beneath them all was some decorative painting on the upper doors. I vaguely remember a basket with flowers – much like an old quilt pattern. The enamel top to the cabinet pulls out and makes a larger work space.
The table to the left in the photo below is what my grandfather called a water table. He actually made this table. When he gave it to me, the table was white with the enamel top trimmed in red. At some point I was using the table as a computer desk and painted it brown. As proud of myself that I was, he let me know in no uncertain terms that he had never seen a water table that was brown. They were always white. I wonder what he would say now that it has a fresh coat of black paint.
When Lance and I got married, he brought along a bookcase built by his grandfather. We used it in our first apartment to hold can goods in the pantry and then after the girls came along, it has held all their books. Today I unloaded all their books and painted the bookcase black. I now have to find something to store their books in and not on Mallory’s bed where they are right now. I can’t get rid of them. I might have grandchildren some day!
As I have worked these last few days painting and working of old family pieces, it has brought back so many memories. I can see my great-grandmother’s Hoosier Cabinet sitting in her kitchen, the wood stove in front to the left, and feel the warmth of the kitchen on a cold winter morning. On the back porch was an old water table along with another old wood table. I can still smell the apples from the orchard. I am so glad that I decided to use these pieces in the new rubber room. The feeling of accomplishment I have does not compare to the sense of family and heritage that I once held so dear and had forgotten. I think I have found the balance that I have been missing!
