Since we've decided to have a Halloween party after all, I looked around with a critical eye--and the first thing I saw was the kitchen floor. Lately, no matter how much I've mopped, it still seems dirty, so I knew it was time to strip off the layers of old wax, and that meant ammonia. Yuk. So all day yesterday was spent scrubbing the floor, with frequent breaks to breathe fresh air, despite opening the windows and turning on the floor fan and the ceiling fan.
While I had the Hoosier partially emptied and pulled away from the wall, I decided to take a few pictures to show you. This was a Mother's Day gift about 10 years ago, bought from a consignment store in Albuquerque. I'm not sure it's the real thing, actually. The plate looks too shiny, for one thing.
And it looks as if it's been stripped and a stain wiped on the front and sides, but not the back, though the back looks to have old paint on it.
See how the top has been attached to the bottom? It's metal, but looks as if the piece has also had a brown stain wiped on it.
But it has a lot of what I've read are Hoosier features.
The two doors on the top open to shelving.
And the one on the side has the flour grinder. (Can you see it under the mess?) This is where you load the flour, or whatever you're grinding.
Underneath is the crank, that empties into your container.
The cutout had a glass rolling pin on the rack and I added some semi-old pharmacy bottles on the upper rack. Usually I keep my most frequently-used cookbooks standing here.
The bottom left cabinet has more shelving.
And the bottom drawer has a sliding metal top, the reason for which, I have no idea. I just store candles and candleholders in it.
It needs a good cleaning again; it's beginning to stick.
The metal tray on the top slides out,
and the wheels are the old small ones of yesteryear.
So, what do you think? Is it authentic, a mish-mash of old and new parts, or just a thrown-together piece of furniture?
This piece I bought at a yard sale, also when in Albuquerque. A man had taken his childrens' old toy box and remade it, with screens in the front of each door.
He had painted a vine with leaves, and flower decals on the top. I took the decals off and changed the knobs, but haven't painted it yet, though that is definitely in the works. I just haven't decided exactly how. Right now it stores plastic baggies and in the bottom I used to keep potatoes and onions.
Well, everything's back in place for now. If you look closely, you can see I still have to take a brush to the edges where the floor meets the baseboards, and clean the baseboards, too, but that was all I could manage on one day off. Tuesday will find me on the floor with a mask, scrubbing away, and then reapplying a mop-on shine. All the floor will need before the party is damp mopping a few times.
Next will be both bathroom floors, and that should last for another year. It's a lot to try and get done this soon before Halloween, but we're coming up on more holidays and then hunkering in for the winter, and I like the house to be as clean as possible so all I have to do is decorate. And sew. And maybe paint the kitchen.
8 comments:
No idea about the furniture but I'll send you someone who might know. Are you planning on painting the kitchen before or after H-day?
Your Hoosier is wonderful, I've always eyed them in the antique stores. I like yours the way it is, but I always vote for making something your own! I'm like you, so it has "more value" on market, but I want it use-able for my needs. That's why our antique armoire and our Victrola both have built in shelves. And, they are usually full, too....
:-}pokey
according to this looks like yours is pretty good.
http://www.antiquecountryfurniturestore.com/Hoosier_Cabinet.html
it says that metal drawer in the bottom is for bread....
ugh that was ME not Subvet!!
Your Hoosier looks like an old one that has been redone with some parts replaced to make it sturdy. It may have been falling apart and the owner rebuilt it salvaging the good parts. The drawer pulls really stand out as new. You could replace them with some reproductions of period pulls. I have a Hoosier in my kitchen too and I use it for storing cookbooks and various stationary stuff. The top drawer is our "junk drawer" that everyone seems to need...scotch tape, pencils, rubberbands, etc.
I love that little piece you found at the yard sale. It's like folk art!
I'm no expert, but I would have to agree with Julie that the piece appears to have been repaired at different times with what ever was handy.
Definitely paint it. I hardly see how that could affect the value because many Hoosiers were painted to begin with. And like you said - who cares? If must please you. Of course, I wouldn't be saying that if it was a Louie XV chair...
A deep clean before the holidays is a good idea. I don't have any floors that are waxed but that is a really big job to do all yourself!
My Hoosier cabinet looks completely different so I am no judge, but it is a curious finish. Seems like it would have been much nicer to just paint the whole thing instead of doing the stain thing. Mine also has the flour sifter and the metal lid (maybe for root veggies to get air?) My MIL used the cabinet in her kitchen as an extra pantry; I use it for quilting.
I think it's probably an old one that has had some changes. The flour sifter looks like the one on ours and ours in in two pieces as well.
Our tag that says Hoosier is small and brass.
Such great and useful cabinets!
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