harmony house credenza

Confession: I bought this Harmony House credenza a year and a half ago. I was so excited, too. It was covered in water rings, had damaged and missing veneer, was splattered with pink nail polish, and needed repair. It was only $9.99 at Value Village and I had a 20% off coupon, making it an incredible steal. Even more incredible now that their furniture prices have gone up.

I was at the register paying for it while a guy was circling it in the furniture area. If I'd been five minutes slower, it would have gone to bidder number two. As it was, he jealously watched the salesperson put a "sold" tag on it and mentioned to me that it was a nice piece, but needed a drawer repair. "I know," I said, "thanks!" I recently spied it's twin on eBay for $575, though in perfect condition.

My goal was to restore it to its former state and resell it, but the original legs were missing. I searched out new legs for it at BRING, found four that almost matched for $1 apiece, and decided that they'd fit the bill. (I'd eventually need to cut off the brass capped ends to make the lengths match. It seriously pained me to do it, but couldn't be helped.)

I poked their threaded rod through a cardboard box to stand them up and start the stripping process.

The messed up drawers and top got stripped at the same time, first with green stripping gel, then with a sanding sponge.

The back of the top had lost its veneer, exposing the particle board (!!!) used for the top, so I ironed on and trimmed some new veneer along the back.

I also had to re-nail the masonite board to the back using little penny nails.

Finally, I started the staining process.

First coat.

The sides had too much damage to the veneer, and sanding too much more would have utterly destroyed it. I took a deep breath and decided to paint the sides and front frame with grey chalk paint.

Here's a nice angle of the freshly finished top.

This shows the stained veneer strip matching up decently to the rest of the edging, the re-nailed back, and the painted side.

Water-ring free top!

The brass hardware needed to be cleaned and refinished.

I don't recommend soaking in the salt/lemon juice mixture recommended on some blogs. All my brass plating sloughed off unevenly.

I used Rub n' Buff to recolor it until I can afford electroplating.

A little bit of sanding at the edges for texture, and some dark colored wax over the finish on the sides.

Finished, with legs reattached!

This is the first time I've refinished a piece this large, and I really like how it turned out. In the end, I moved it into my house rather than trying to resell it. I assume the painted sides, refinished hardware, and inexpert drawer repair make it less valuable (although certainly more attractive than the "before" photo).

Also, now that I know the top is made of particle board, I wouldn't feel right listing it as simply "wood" as the owner of the $575 eBay version does. I mean, technically, that's correct, but I'd expect it to be a plank, not sawdust + glue covered with beautiful veneer. Apparently, this is standard practice in the industry, but if I were the buyer, I'd be pretty surprised to make that kind of a discovery for nearly six-hundred dollars.

Counting the price for the credenza plus the legs, stain, stripper, and sanding sponges, I think I have about $50 into this piece. I think in its current condition I could probably sell it for more than that, but I'm going to hang onto it for awhile for storage. It looks kinda awesome in the spare room.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

p.s. you can make these photos larger by clicking on them! take a look at the first one, especially, to see the years of damage that had built up.

linking up to:

Junkin' Joe @Cottage Market

Creative Inspirations

Thrift-a-Saurus

Catch as Catch Can

The Vintage Farmhouse

thrift store finds: piano

I've mentioned before that I was in love with the idea of an antique piano, but couldn't figure out how to get one home. Even though the last one I found and wanted (badly) was only three blocks away from my house, I figured moving it would be dangerous to attempt alone (even with a team and a truck) and getting someone to move it would be too expensive, so I let that one get away.

Who knew that antique pianos were something that people donated literally all the time? When I saw this one, I had a feeling about it. The mister did not. So we hemmed and hawed for a couple of days. I may have pouted about it a bit; my memory on that subject is a bit hazy.

But you know how this story turns out. In the end, he said if it was important to me, I could bring it home. He's a really good guy and trusted that I'd find a way to make it fit in. And as I mentioned in a previous post, I followed through on that trust, moving furniture, getting rid of a ton of stuff, and basically making a nice new home for my heaviest and most gigantic thrift store find ever.

As a bonus, the mister and the kiddo are both pretty taken with it. It's hard to ignore a thousand pound piano in a room, so I hear them playing it at random times. 

Now, the reasons people donate antique pianos to thrift stores are many and varied. Generally, I think the cost of tuning, repair, and moving probably outweigh the worth of most old pianos. This one was has a serial number in it that indicates it was made in 1906. 1906! Imagine the changes the world has undergone in 106 years. It predates two world wars, women's suffrage, Mt. Rushmore, and Glacier National Park, and was built the same year Teddy Roosevelt became president. Doing pretty well for an old lady. The one chipped key in the photo there is the only dead key (though several need new key tops). It's even mostly in tune.

It was priced at $100, but I had a 20% off coupon, so I paid $80 . . . and then a ridiculous $120 to have it moved three blocks in the back of the piano guy's beat up Datsun pick-up truck. He and a buddy managed to alienate the store staff by showing up an hour before we'd agreed to meet there (me, with purchase receipt in hand) and giving them a hard time until they relented and let him load it up. 

It arrived in mostly decent condition (there's a chip on the back corner, but I couldn't swear that it wasn't there when I bought it). The piano guy even told me it had been a really high-end piano in its day (though of course, the value has almost all disappeared except as raw materials), made of solid mahogany (he thinks) and hand-carved art nouveau details.

There is some major crazing to the finish, but no moth damage to the wool felt on the hammers.

And of course, a large and very heavy amount of solid brass inside. The front flips up to expose the interior, where the cast brass informs you that "Walters pianos are built to last a life time and are unequalled in tone and construction. They have reached the highest pinnacle of perfection and are masterpieces of piano building." This one, clearly, lasted longer than a life time. 

Originally manufactured for and sold by Macy's department stores, this turn-of-the-century piano has been accessorized with a Judy teaching clock from the 1970s, an Ikea dining chair, my Cathrineholm bowl, my old manual camera (purchased in 1994), an old mason jar, Hardy Boys novels, and three yellow lotus bowls, all of which (coincidentally) are thrift store finds. 

Okay. So what's your largest-ever thrift store find? Or your most musical? Or when have you hired a "professional" to do a job, and had that person not seem super-professional after all? Share in the comments section below; I love reading your comments and visiting your blogs.

Thanks for reading!

Linking up to:

Apron Thrift Girl

Simple Design

Cap Creations

p.s. you can make these photos larger just by clicking on them, but you probably already knew that.