Mammoth Move

I mentioned a few weeks ago about an old dresser that I had bought. I'd wanted one for our kitchen for a while now, as the cupboard I wanted to replace it with was too large - It blocked the old shop's door a little and wasn't of the right style for the room.
So here's my dresser in the raw. Its a VERY rustic country piece and had been dipped and stripped, so was very dry...

I intended to paint it, as I think this was how it would have been originally, which would have covered a multitude of its sins!

To all the lovers of wood out there I apologise! I'm not anti-wood myself and have lots of it around our home, particularly in our kitchen...
The worktops are made from old rustic floorboards...

The old French towel rail sits happily next to a stripped 1930's door...

(More doors throughout our home)

And stained wood shelves are another practical choice in our kitchen. (Pantry door with chicken wire and fabric window)

So anyway...I'd decided the dresser would be better painted and went for a clotted cream emulsion...The stripped wood soaked it up immediately and covered it well...

Love this plank on the back board, which shows it was made from an old door, complete with key hole!

Thankfully the sunny weather made the painting task less of a chore...

I had intended to wax the surface of the paint to protect it, but after a few strokes, I realised that it was going to end up looking like the colour of the bare wood that it started with! So I stopped and painted back over it!

This is the cupboard that needed to move...so then the really hard work began...

I planned to put it in our back room where the French armoire stood! So this needed to move!

This would be useful for our main living room, so it had to be emptied of its contents first..which just happened to be of the heaviest kind! - Our (well, mostly mine! ;-)) - book collection.

Other cupboards had to be emptied too, to make way for the big move...I have such a patient hubby!

In order for a new cupboard to arrive in our home, one had to go...

And it was this one which I bought last year. Our ceilings are over 8ft tall and I always felt this little cupboard was too small...even with all of those French covered boxes on top!

So this one is now for sale in my shop!

The French armoire was going to fit best in the corner next to our fireplace...

So the wall cupboard had to be taken off the wall and moved...

It was placed in the other corner where the other cupboard that is now in my shop used to be...are you still with me??!! ;-))

Armoire settled in nicely...

Kitchen cupboard now takes up less space where the armoire used to be...

So with the mammoth move complete, the fun part could begin!

Faffing and arranging!

The dresser now houses some of our red and white china which we use every day (as well as hiding a few essentials in the drawers and cupboards beneath.)

A few knocks and dings to the emulsion paintwork will add character in my view, so I won't worry about that.

The dresser is less dominant in the room, which makes it more open and easy to use.

(The other cupboard in the kitchen houses my more vivid red collections of Midwinter china.)

Moving on...the books were arranged back in the armoire...

And the little glazed cupboard opposite was given some of my antique treasures.

*

The old kitchen cupboard now houses my vintage hat collection, (with hat stands) which I had put away for a while, so its nice to ring the changes...not that I shall be changing things again for a long while...Hubby will be pleased to hear!

I'll show more of my hats another time, as taking photos of them all takes a lot of time... something I don't have so much of these days...

At least a tidier home for everything means slightly less work.

And as we'd had the builders in making a lot of dust and mess upstairs, I'd had to empty my cupboards up there too!

The shoe collection is now back in its wall cupboard...

And another glazed cabinet down one side was given a few of my other vintagey bits and bobs...

I can't seem to get a decent shot of this at the moment (this is my favourite cupboard too) - So this will be for another day as well.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the move around...

My parents are arriving on Friday, so I need to get on with some housework now, before I'm back at work again tomorrow.

Enjoy the rest of your week,

Niki x

Update:

A message to 'Tabbyroo' - thank you for your comment - No fitted cupboards for us in our kitchen! I'm a vintage girl through and through - I've posted pics of our kitchen many times, but most recently here.

Niki x