Grandma's Tea Cart

Some projects hang around for a few days, a couple of weeks or even months.  This one has been with us for almost 13 years.  Not long after my Grandma Taddiken went to be with our Heavenly Father my mom brought me a tea cart.  She said that before Grandma passed she made sure my mom knew it was for me.  I was getting married in 3 months and I like to think that Grandma knew I would someday like a piece of furniture like this for my home with my future husband (who she had met and liked almost as much as I did).  Mom thinks Grandma probably got it out of her parents’ home because my great-grandfather was a woodworker and had projects like this in his shop.  Maybe he got it at an auction and had plans for it, we’ll never know for sure, but I like the fact that my Grandma wanted me to have it.

Over the past thirteen years we have moved a couple of times and rearranged storage spaces probably dozens of times.  Each of these has brought up the question of what to do with the tea cart?  Bob patiently waits while I think about it then tell him to put it back where he found it or find a new space for it even when we really didn’t have room.  I’m not the most sentimental person about belongings but I make an exception for this piece every time. 

We recently finished a guest room in the basement and the tea cart found a home.  I realized it would be a great night stand and when I need it for something else around the house it would be easy to get to.  I finally went to work on it a couple of weeks ago.  I decided to finish it in white paint then distress it since it is older.

 

Two coats of paint and some sandpaper got us to this point.  I distressed it once then lived with it for a couple of days before deciding it needed more distressing.  It’s now FINISHED and in the guestroom.

 I really like the look of mixing rustic with modern and since the guestroom is painted in a blue-gray that lends to modern it's the perfect marriage of the two especially then adding a modern lamp. (Please forgive the poor photo quality AGAIN!  The room paint really is blue/gray and not digny like it appears here! The room is in the basement, it's cloudy outside and I'm ready for a nap) 

My grandma probably wouldn’t understand why I spent a couple of hours painting the tea cart to then sand the paint off but I know she would love the fact that I love it and am using it in my home.

Miss you Grandma…