A frugalitarian at heart

I’m just back from today’s auction and I’m so happy with this week’s finds. For once we’re not talking huge pieces of furniture, rather a couple of choice items to furnish The Little Grange.

The first is a small iron stag’s head with two hooks for hanging coats. Very country living! The second is a painted iron plant trough and stand which I plan to put by the wall of the barn near the side gates. Accounting for commission fees, the stag’s head cost £20; the trough and stand £17.

Also, yesterday, we took our garden waste to the local waste disposal and recycling site and I picked up another item that had been left for rubbish; a low, stone bird bath for £2. I think I’m becoming a master frugalitarian! SCH

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Renovation of the linen press: before/after shots of top section

Last week the weather was finally cool enough to tackle the second component of the linen press. I set myself up in the shade of the grape vine and cleaned down the entire frame, removed the warn blue paper that was lining the linen drawers and then waxed all the parts.

Unlike the bottom section, which has the appearance of a polished Victorian set of pine drawers, the top component is a simple box structure with ‘open-fronted’ sliding drawers where linen would have been placed in olden times. The wood is untreated as this part of the linen press is intended to be hidden behind two veneered doors. I cleaned and waxed the doors and stored them in the garage as I wont be able to add these until the base and top frames are cleaned up and in situ. That’s probably a job for next week as I still need to treat those parts for wood worm first.

Below are a few pictures of work in progress as well as the finished product on top of the already renovated pine drawers. When everything is finished and assembled it will be placed in the barn/workshop at The Little Grange. SCH

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Another successful day at the auction

But what am I going to do with all of this furniture?

This week I was lucky enough to get my hands on a seven-feet long Edwardian wind-out table that will seat ten people once the leaves are added. It is made of mahogany and weighs a ton!

It is a beautiful piece of furniture complete with turned legs on casters and will no doubt look stunning in The Little Grange (especially once we add a crisp white tablecloth and have guests sitting around it).

As to the price? It cost £156 once the auctioneer’s fee was added on. Marvellous! SCH

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Edwardian wind-out table with two leaves