Hutch

I am not one of those people who love to wake up at the crack of dawn on a saturday morning and drive all over the valley hitting every garage sale at every corner in hopes I'll score big with some $2 antique hiding behind a layer of dust, that when polished is worth $2000. Nope, not me. I have enough problems trying to figure out where to store my own stuff without adding other peoples junk into the mix. Don't get me wrong, I love a good bargain. I didn't earn the title "Clearance Queen" for no reason, let's just say I prefer to do my bargain hunting in a air-conditioned store and buy things that don't have dried boogies and cobwebs clinging on to them. But when my neighbor across the street announced she was sorting out her closets in hopes to make a few bucks, I was elated!

My neighbor doesn't do junk...she does Macy's, and Village Quilt shop, and Tai-Pan. In other words, she has good taste. (and no boogies)

I must admit, I held off till almost noon. I had just bought a new quilt for my bed, new clearance clothes for my closet, and Tai-Pan and I are on a first name basis I go there so much. So I didn't think there would be anything I really needed. Yes, I know there's a difference between wants and needs, so when my husband told me I needed to go see what Mary had, I didn't hesitate to take him up on it. ( I later learned those were Mary's words, not my husbands)

Oh, books. I love books. She just happened to have one of my all time favorites of Dean Koontz, Life Expectancy. I highly recommend it to anyone, and if you'd like to borrow a copy, one just happened to come in to my possession lately.

Pillows...I love pillows. A cute little christmas pillow will look so good on my bench at Christmastime. Shoes. How convenient that she is just my size, a pair of red, pair of white, pair of blue (looks just like the red one), how patriotic of me, yes I am. Just doing my part america.

But when Mary said she had just the 'thing' for me, I was slightly disappointed to see her standing beside an old 1950 something secretary (not the person type, a desk type). Eh, not interested, but not wanting to hurt her feelings, I gave it a looksy. Solid wood...maple...(I like to eat maple, not look at it)...not really my style...kinda old fashioned...kinda antiquish...antiques can be cool...it is real wood....and then it hit me! What would Vanessa do? She would refinish it, paint it, scuff it, antique it, restore it! SOLD! 35 bucks...what a steal!

Mary's son who was selling his stuff and just happens to be a woodworker, got all excited when I said I wanted to refinish it. He started telling me how to sand it, use some type of goop to remove the varnish before I re-stained it.

"Do I have to do all that if I'm going to paint it?"

"Paint it? Why would you paint it? Don't you know that's real maple? You don't want to paint over maple!"

"Uh, yes I do"

I think I just got eye rolled at, and I'm pretty sure he would have refused the sale and refunded my money if he had his way. He was a little disgusted with my plans. But I could see it in my minds eye. Black...no, too dark. It would stick out like a sore thumb. Barn Red? No, that's a fad color. I don't want to have to repaint it in a few more years. Off-white, sanded edges, antiqued finish. Yes! I can't wait to get started...and started I did. I sanded that very day. The next weekend I painted, that thursday I stained. Two weeks, a lot of work and a little love, I now have a beautiful secretary sitting in my kitchen.

Well, that doesn't sound right...

Maybe I'll call it "Hutch". Sounds manly. It will be nice having a 'hutch' hanging around the kitchen.