A Vintage Secretary in Yellow and Cream

I paid to the hilt for this vintage solid pine Pennsylvania House secretary, but it's just so unique and cool, and I knew if I passed it up, I might never get another one. I justified the splurge with the knowledge that it needed relatively little structural work, just a new look, and so the extra money spent would be made up by the extra time other repairs might have cost. Though really, I just needed it. I needed to repaint it. It was so forlorn, so ugly and dark, and with all those fascinating little drawers and scrolled sides, and tall lean form, it had so much potential.

         I didn't offer this piece up for custom refinishing because I had a vision for it that I wanted to see through to the end. I hope it translates well and one of you will love it enough to put it in your home. The color is Benjamin Moore's Gold Leaf mixed into a chalk paint. The backboard and interior are in a custom cream. I recolored the original knobs and door hinges in gold, and swapped out the drawer pulls for vintage bail pulls salvaged from another project.

         The chair is also a bit of salvage, a vintage Bent Bros. maple side chair that I plucked straight out of a dumpster. I've painted it in the custom cream and did a bit of decorative painting across the crest. And finally, in the theme of survivors, the magnolia branches are from my dear friend Amy's tree in her front yard. I thought they'd been killed with all the others in the horrible freeze we had a few weeks ago, but they didn't, and as you can see, they're blooming their little hearts out now.