My Favorite Piece of Furniture...Possibly Ever

      There are some perks to being a furniture refinisher. There have to be to justify perpetual minwax stain under the nails, paint in the hair, and all the bumps and bruises from hauling furniture in and out of the workshop. The ultimate silver lining is that I can skim my favorites from my inventory to keep for myself. My house ends up being an eclectic mix of furniture that has too many issues for me to re-sell (so I slap some paint on it and live with badly working drawers or missing wood-work) and furniture that is so so good that I just can't bear to part with it.
      This antique step back cupboard that I picked up on Friday falls firmly in the latter of the two categories. The piece dates to about 1860-1880 and considering it's age, it's in flawless condition. At some point it was painted, maybe a light yellow, but someone meticulously stripped it a while ago, so you can just see the faintest traces of the paint. At another point the glass doors were swapped out for these tremendous copper mesh ones. I prefer the mesh, and it's been there a long time.
 I've had "a good antique step back cupboard" on my wish list for many years, but the best ones are usually at least $750. This one was considerably less than that- so much less that I could hardly pull my money out fast enough and get it into my truck quick enough.
On top of that, it has a provenance, something we antiques dealers always love. This piece had been in the family of the previous owner its entire life. The gal I purchased it from knew that it had belonged to her husband's grandparents, and possibly his great grandparents. It had come back from Arkansas a few decades ago, and judging by the material (oak and southern pine) and the construction, I'd be willing to guess it was made in Arkansas, probably for a farm house.
get ready to be jealous ~