An Old Secretary Desk with Hutch

I've been spending a few minutes here and there over the past week arranging things in the new addition to the upstairs hall - a vintage secretary desk with hutch made by The National Table Company, a furniture company that used to exist in Owen Sound. It was given to us by Mike's aunt, although it originally belonged to...I think Mike's great Grandma? Someone in the family will read this and correct me if I'm wrong...

When we first got the secretary, it lived in the spare bedroom (you can sort of see it here), but it was totally under utilized, and I didn't like that one of my most favourite pieces of furniture wasn't being showcased as it should be. Moving it into the hall by myself was a bit of a challenge, especially since I didn't realize at first that it was too tall to fit through the doorway. I managed to block myself into the spare bedroom, but thankfully there was a screw driver kicking around in there so that I could remove the hutch portion.

Once I had it into the hall and back together, Meowzer took it upon herself to immediately investigate.


Trying to take decent pictures in the upstairs hall is nothing short of infuriating even though I'm starting to grasp the basics of the manual setting; one of these days I'll have to get up early in the morning to shoot with all of the bedroom doors wide open to try and get as much natural light as possible (the wood of the secretary is looking quite orange here, but in person it's a nice medium dark walnut colour).


In the spare bedroom, the hutch was full of books. While useful, it didn't look very attractive. I love this piece of furniture, so I thought it would be best to jam it full of other things I love that hadn't found a home yet. That's not to say that I don't love books, of course! They'll just find another home. Before loading it up, I cut some pieces of foam board to size, and covered them in some discontinued fabric I found at Fabricland. I first saw this fabric over on Rambling Renovators and immediately fell in love. I had plans to hit Fabricland after work the same day and what do you know...there it was. The hutch was looking a little bit like a black hole before, but I think the fabric did a good job of brightening it up, while still looking traditional enough to fit in.



I'll get around to a rundown of what I've got goin' on up in there when/if I ever get better pictures.

So tell me, is there any display creating going on in your life?

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It's Just Not My Style

I can't do it.

And I feel like a bit of a flake.

But the dark and dramatic upstairs hall?

Not happening.

Normally when I'm excited about a project, I'll buy all of my supplies with the intent to jump right in (and then they all sit around for an indeterminate amount of time, but that's not the point). This time, I couldn't seem to get myself to buy the blue paint needed for the one wall. Until last night. And I had plans to paint that wall last night. But then...I discovered that I really really really like how bright the hall looks with those three light grey walls. So I left the hall with three painted walls and one not painted wall. And then I wallowed. I bought the paint, so I had to do it, right? But the more I thought about it, the more I really didn't want to do it.

Despite my attempt to fight it, the inspiration photos that draw me in fall firmly into the cottage/country category. Sifting through the evidence on my Pinterest boards, I really can't deny it. And in doing so, I've decided to embrace it.

So don't expect a dramatic makeover for the upstairs hall. It'll be light and cozy, and probably a little boring, but that's okay.

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Every Girl's Crazy 'Bout A Sharped Dressed Man

I adore Mike - there's no doubt about that. But I do not adore his love for stuff. He has a real problem with getting rid of things, and that includes clothes. So while he was away this past weekend playing in a fastball tournament, I decided to tackle his closet. I do the laundry, and I was starting to go a little nuts trying to put his clothes away. The guy could honestly probably go a month or so without having to turn on the washing machine (and this is why we can't share a closet - there's NO room for my stuff!). That being said, I didn't throw anything away - it's not my stuff to get rid of, especially when he's not here to voice his opinion. Instead, anything that was worn out, faded, or just generally ugly got rolled up and put into a separate basket and tucked away on a high shelf.

But on to the pictures! Apologies to those who might be expecting a grand makeover - you might as well click away now because let's be honest...it's just a guy's closet.


That's where it started. Stuff everywhere and really ugly vintage floral wallpaper. The first thing I did was take everything out. I then painted over the wallpaper with Para Paint's Empire Grey; the same colour I plan on using in the hallway (which means...I might actually get around to starting the hallway soon! But don't hold your breath or anything).

Once the paint was dry, it was time to load everything back in, but this time in a thought out way.


On the bookshelf are (is? I don't know, I hate grammar) sweaters, t-shirts, jeans, hoodies, pajama pants, and sweat pants. As much as it kills me, I labeled everything. I always used to scoff when I saw the most obvious and seemingly unnecessary things labeled. Well, I'm hoping this will help keep things from turning into a disaster zone again. Ignore the pile of clothes to the right of the bookshelf - I took this picture when I wasn't quite finished.



I ended up needing to buy a new closet bar. I wanted to switch the direction, and the current one was too big to work. I also bought three bins from Home Outfitters - one for baseball hats, touques, and scarves, one for his baseball gear like pants, socks, and jerseys, and a small one for ties, his watch, and cufflinks. I thought the guy only had two ties. Turns out he has nine.


His pants rack is actually usable now, and he can easily get to his work gear when he needs to. The stool is for me; I have some rogue laundry still needing to be put away and I'm sure I'll find more things to add to the "do not wear" bins on the high shelf.


These cheap-o bins are labeled too. Boxers, socks, dress socks, shorts. All of the labels I used are by Martha Stewart/Avery. They really are the best!

So that's what I did this weekend, along with a whole bunch of lazing on the couch, watching the Olympics, and oh yeah, chasing bats out of the house. More on that catastrophe soon...

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Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

Changes! Everywhere! But they're small. And non-earth shattering.

Change #1.

Remember this tool chest, which I blogged about awhile ago?

It's now over here...

Yeah, we're not those people that keep our fridge empty. Eventually the tool chest will have a more permanent home in the basement, but that's not likely to happen until we have a pegboard on the side of the basement stairs for frequently used tools like screwdrivers, hammers, and tape measures. Moving the tool chest to the side of the fridge left this space between the fridge and the buffet empty...

for a DISHWASHER!

Friends of Mike's parents are renovating their kitchen, and are giving us their portable dishwasher because they're getting a new one. We get to go and grab it this weekend and I can't wait! The butcher block type counter on it will be way better for the toaster oven than it's previous spot of balancing precariously on top of the tool chest.

Change #2.

This dresser, from the spare bedroom?

Is now here!

This dresser (which I snagged for free when I first moved off campus after university) houses our spare blankets, bedsheets, and pillow cases, and having them in the hall is more convenient than in the spare bedroom. Moving it also gets me one (small) step closer to revamping that bedroom into a super multi-purpose room of closet/office/craft room/guest room.

Mike picked up the globe from an auction he went to last summer. The wood box and the old books were given to me by my mom when I was home over Christmas. I love the designs on the book covers! The oil lamp was given to me by a co-worker. It did have a chimney, but it fell crashing to the floor one day, and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.

Change #3.

Where the dresser is now, there used to be this guy...

Total junk collector. Don't ask me why we had a jug of maple syrup upstairs? After clearing everything off and putting it in it's proper place, I thought I would take the shelf apart and send it off to Goodwill, but this space...

...could really use some contained storage.

Don't mind the door leaning against the other door - that will eventually be put back on the office (we found the door in the shack). And I need better boxes or baskets. The giant baskets on the bottom shelf are just place holders! Of course, everything I did was a temporary change. Eventually we'll overhaul the entrance way and have some sort of built in storage (I have big plans for this little space!). One day I would love to replace the cheap white dresser upstairs with a well built vintage or antique piece. The dishwasher is a little more permanent, since we're not redoing the kitchen until the next life time or so (at least that's what it feels like).

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Whether you're making changes around your own home or just taking it easy and watching the Super Bowl!