LIFE AT THE COTTAGE

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Aqua Therapy



I truly believe that learning to discern trash from treasure is merely a matter of experience and personal interpretation.

Over the years, I have trained my eyes to see beyond the obvious—to imagine the possibilities.

Image source: Jared Neumark http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com
This particular local haunt has been one of my favorite training grounds for over fourteen years.

Most likely, your initial gut response to the images above, and the one just below, is one of two—a landfill in need of immediate cleanup or a veritable trove of undiscovered treasure!

For the Yankee and me, it is definitely the latter.


I cannot even begin to calculate the countless hours he and I have spent, through the years, rummaging through piles of salvage, boxes of what many would consider trash, and barns—stacked full to the rafters—with wonderful old, vintage, and antique pieces.


On one such treasure-hunting trip, I had the good fortune of spotting this lovely Victorian lady tucked among mounds of other antiques.

I instantly saw her possibilities and snapped her up to carry back to the cottage.

Remember the sneak peek I gave you here?


Her finish had aged to an almost black patina.

Two of her legs had been dislodged, due to the breaks in the underside of her top. But, I was confident that a touch from my Yankee could remedy all of that.


After carefully chiseling out the broken pieces from the underside of her top, the Yankee cut replacement pieces from stronger, vintage oak and glued them in. No more wobblies for her!

I cleaned her up thoroughly and gave her the necessary treatment to prepare her for her new finish.


I envisioned her wearing a much lighter coat, one that would playfully spotlight her curvaceous legs and delightfully decorative top and midsection.



The crowning touch was the light distressing to her gorgeous aqua attire.



Now everything about this little lady exudes sweet cottage charm!











Let's parade on over to Roeshel'sSusan's, Cheri's, Cindy's and then participate in a DIY party.
Let's also join Kimm, Heather, Leah and Maryann.




39 comments:

  1. What a beauty, Liz! I love the curvy top and the color is perfect!

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  2. A very pretty lady and I love that color!
    Kammy

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  3. I'm in NC too. I could spend all day in that place ,, wow,, thanks for sharing

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  4. I love what you did to transform that table. I would love to have a place like that to rummage through. I have been repainting and distressing quite a lot lately and really enjoy it.

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  5. Your pretty lady really is gorgeous now that she is sporting such a beautiful shade of aqua!

    Kat :)

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  6. Wow, that would be a dream for me to go through all of those "treasures"! I absolutly love your table.

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  7. Your table is gorgeous! Love the color too!
    Blessings,
    Donna

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  8. Gorgeous color! I bet the lady is glad she came to live at your home.

    I hope you'll drop by AtticMag and see what Jane posted for Met Monday.

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  9. I love the color. I could spend hours digging through all that stuff...after my tetanus shot!
    You can find the best things in all that junk.

    I would love for you to stop by and enter my giveaway.

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  10. What a neat place! That's a beautiful table!

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  11. Hey I posted a turquoise table this week too!!!!!!! Stop by and see mine!

    Love the table. The pics of all the goodies (junk) made by heart go pitter patter. I would love that!!!!!

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  12. Love the style of the table. It is just gorgeous and the aqua color is wonderful. I love it . Great job. Hugs, Marty

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  13. Love it! And photographing it on the bricks next to the pink flowers was an excellent choice. I would love to visit that treasure Haunt. Thanks for sharing

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  14. absolutely Bee-You-Tee-Full! I'm in love with your little table! What a great job you did!

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  15. She's got GREAT legs!!! :) The color is terrific too! Great job!

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  16. I love it! I love the spindly legs the most. And you chose a great color! I am new the thrifting and am slowly learning to see the possibilites. Thanks for sharing!

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  17. What a beautiful table! The color is so fresh.
    Sincerely ~ Trish

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  18. it's WONDERFUL...
    i do hope that you can hop over and tell me the exact paint color you chose because i am in love.

    great job!

    chasity

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  19. She's a beauty! Love the color!!!!

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  20. She is beautiful!!! Your photography is beautiful too!!

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  21. Your ingenious Yankee did a wonderful restoration on this old beauty. Aqua is one of my very favorite colors, and your piece is a gen.

    Scribbler
    http://scribbler-unfocused.typepad.com/

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  22. That's one of my favorite colors too! Very nice!

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  23. Beautiful work and fabulous color!
    God's blessings,
    Sarah :D

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  24. Oh my, if you took me into that place, I wouldn't come out again for at least a week!
    I love what you have done with that gorgeous little Victorian piece. The colour is so pretty and you got just the right amount of distressing.

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  25. Your lady is dressed in a beautiful outfit! Love the color...

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  26. Okay, I would LOVE to know where that place is in those pictures with all the cool junk...that looks like my kinda place...I live in NC and it looks like that might be somewhere near Charlotte which isn't too far from me...can you please (with a cherry on top) tell me how to find that place? And by the way, that table makeover is ADORABLE! love it!

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  27. What a great blog....I sure wish I could VISIT that place!!!!! My new favorite color is aqua. That table looks great and how lucky you are to have a Yankee!!!

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  28. I think she was always meant to be that color. Look how happy she looks.
    Pam

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  29. I'm seriously dying over that salvage yard - oh how I'd love to stumble upon that place one day!!! Love the redo - the color is gorgeous & really shows off her curves :)

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  30. It looks amazing! Perfect color - it really pops!

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  31. Simply gorgeous! I need to start thinking out of my black and white color box. That aqua is delish!
    Oh what I would give to go to that haunting ground with you!

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  32. LOVE this!!! I'm jealous of the "junk" yard!! :)

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  33. Looks like a really fun place to go get lost for several hours! Very cool little table, and I love her legs, love her color.

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  34. What an aqua beauty! Love the color you picked. Thanks for sharing again at the POPP.

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  35. Love the table and as a fellow NC girl you gotta give the scoop and tell us other girls where that heaven of a place is - please?
    Maybe we could all meet up for a NC blogger treasure hunt.
    tammy

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  36. yeah, what Tammy said....I'd love to meet up with some NC blogging treasure hunters for a day....looks like you gots the best digs, but who knows what all we could find in good ol nc. *grin*

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  37. Hello...

    Ohhh...what a beauty! You are absolutely right, she does have beautiful, curvy legs! How sweet of your honey to fix her and make her more stable. I love the aqua that you chose...sooo very sweet! My friend, I just love places...such as your local haunt! I love to dig right in and uncover all of those hidden treasures! There's nothing else like it! Thank you for sharing your pretty aqua treasure table with us...it's lovely!

    Warmest summery wishes,
    Chari @Happy To Design

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Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to comment.