Restoration

We have a little cabin. A very little cabin, here on our property. I believe that it was built to be lived in while the main house was being constructed. Later, a second room was added, then later still, the wall between the two rooms was removed to create a slightly larger space. It has been used for a workout room and a wood shop in the past, and when we moved here Adam slid in and made it his own. At the time, I had neither the time, the energy, nor the resources to fix it up for him, for which I will forever feel massive mother-guilt. He lived with spiders (which is pretty standard for here), lizards seeking warmer ground, and the occasional woodland mouse.  

 I’ve been feeling more energetic lately, and as long as that lasts, I’m going to ride the wave!  Adam has been living in Utah for the last year and a half, and for the past couple of months the kids and I have been working on fixing up the cabin for guests to use when they come to visit us.  In July we worked busily to try and fix it up for my dear Melissa and her family, but only got it part of the way finished. Then I had to paint a mural at the fairgrounds, which took up a couple of weeks. I thought I had more time to finish the cabin before Adam returned in late August to stay for a few months, however his lease ended sooner than he thought it would (due to bozos running the management office at his apartments, duh), so he returned home a month earlier than planned. Of course, I was thrilled to see him, but sad I didn’t have the cabin finished for him yet.  Now that he’s here, he said he’ll help, so it’s not all bad!

In future posts I’ll share the progress of the whole space, but tonight I thought I would give you a little peek. Last week Tessa and I refurbished this little leather loveseat I got for 80 bucks from Marketplace. The loveseat was sturdy but dirty, and the finish on the arms and seats was pretty well worn right off. I bought some leather “balm“, expecting that it would be a conditioner with some tint to it, and was a little bummed at the intensity of the color. But it was 25 bucks, and I had already opened the jar, so on it went! I will still work on the finish, trying to get a little more of its former charm and character back, but the balm really did a great job at covering the old scuffs and damage. Sadly, the sofa was robbed of its beautiful aged leather patina, something that can only be granted to the best little loveseats by the ancient patina fairy.

Before:

After:

Try to look past the patches of sunlight. It photographs a little better than it looks in real life, but I hope to get a visit from that patina fairy sometime soon as I work on it.

We will be tackling the floor this week. Wish us luck!

The cabin, when we first saw the house:

July of this year, patching and painting:

Leveling and patching the floor

More challenging with furniture in it!!!

Love the color! 

More to come!