It’s spring, and the newness of it all causes me to want to make
some things new myself. I’ve been ready for an office reno for a while, but as
a ministry family, we’ve always had to live on a budget. That budget insures
all decorating requires getting creative.
I remembered a piece of furniture in storage that I almost
sold at a garage sale. It started life as a dark pine buffet in a dining room.
When I bought it second hand, I painted the base white, the hutch interior
wisteria, and put it in my soon-to-be-born daughter’s room. She lived with it
until she was in middle school. Then my mother left her a little money with
which she bought a sleigh bed and matching dresser. The buffet went to the
barn. And there it has stayed for over ten years.
I wondered if I could strip down the top of the base, paint
the bottom, and use it as a sort of credenza in my office/sunroom.
I spent an entire day last week doing just that. Jerry helped me move a whole lot of junk so I
could pull the buffet out. It was covered in dirt and some mildew, so it took a
good bit of cleaning before I could do anything else to it. I pulled off the
doors, because I intended to use baskets where the doors used to be.
I didn’t want to use chemicals, so I scraped the paint from
the top by hand then used an electric sander to smooth it (the wonder of power
tools). I went to the paint shelves and took a can of yellowish paint/primer I
had left over from another project and mixed it with a little bit of grey and
teal from two sample cans. I know this is making some of you perfectionists
cringe. I'm following the Nester's creed, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." After a few adjustments, I covered
the base with color. I bought a few new knobs from a craft store, and spray painted the pulls I already had.
And here it is.
I painted my scratched up faux cherry desk to match, then covered
pillows and an ottoman with fabric I’d had for over a year. I need a rug, but I have my eye on a pet friendly one which I hope will go on sale.
So, I did this with stuff I already had except for eight dollars in knobs.
God is the ultimate renovator. At a time in
my life, when I felt everything about me was broken, God came in and began
restoring and renewing me from the inside out. He scraped off the veneer I’d
been hiding behind, so that His glory could shine through. He repaired the
shattered pieces of my heart. And every day, he continues that restorative
process. The verse says, “He is making . . . , “ present tense. He continues
the work he began, on and on.
It’s a comfort to know that when I feel like a mess
that He does not abandon the work of His hands.
So, I’m enjoying my renovated furniture and my renovated
life.
However, I’m having a hard
time convincing the cats I didn’t redo everything just for them.
