Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Coffee Table to Remember

Behold – a coffee table to remember.
coffee table
Now imagine searching for a door for your office in a barn loft in the midst of massive piles of junk, heaps of raccoon poop and lots and lots of bird droppings.  And also hoping to avoid ANY encounter with a live animal whether furry or scaly.  That would be me a little over a month ago.  Then I stumbled upon something almost as shocking as the aforementioned.  A diamond in the rough.  It took us a week to figure out how to get this beast onto dry ground.  Well, onto the ground at least.  I didn’t do anything to move it but the vision I saw moved me.
DSC_0316.jpg

Here it is all covered in bird poop.


DSC_0314.jpg
But still quite stunning none the less.
DSC_0311.jpg
What is it?  Glad you asked.  It’s an antique freezer door from the honeymoon cottage of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (Baltimore, Maryland, 6 February 1785 - Baltimore, Maryland, 4 April 1879), known as "Betsy", was the daughter of a Baltimore, Maryland merchant, and was the first wife of Jérôme Bonaparte, and sister-in-law of Emperor Napoleon I of France (Wikipedia).  Now this freezer door was installed after the ownership of the Bonapartes, but is from a national historic house which originally was theirs. 
coffeetable1
It is not only vintage, it’s art and now it’s a piece of furniture.
coffeetable2
The underside is almost as beautiful as the top.
It took a lot of elbow grease from Stacey and me to clean this puppy up.  Johnny put the wheels on and was the muscle of the group.
coffeetable3
Now, that’s a coffee table to remember.  And it’s for sale!
Linking up here:
Miss Mustard Seed's Creative Blog
The Shabby Nest
grabtt
Current Link Party!


PhotobucketMaking Monday Marvelous Linky Partyand then, she {snapped}HookingupwithHoHPhotobucket border=

29 comments:

Cassie Bustamante said...

that is too cool! LOVE it! so original and so stylish too!

Katie @ minivan diva said...

Super impressed! I love it.

Unknown said...

i could hardly believe my eyes! what ingenuity!...xo, b.j.

Courtney said...

Wonderful idea, love it!! wheels just make everything so much more practical!

EMily said...

Wow... that's really nice and pretty neat!

Tammy @ Type A said...

so cool, looks beautiful. i love the history too! thanks for sharing this at my party!

Emily said...

Love it! What an inspired idea.

Anonymous said...

Truly gorgeous. What a find!

Dana
craftedniche.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

That is absolutely gorgeous!

Blissful Blooms said...

Absolutely LOVE this! I'll be adding 'old freezer door' to my junkin' list. Beautiful job!!

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh this is so beautiful! Very unique & a conversation piece for sure!

Stephanie McDonnell said...

Oh my word ... There are no words! I am slightly green with envy at the moment. Is it silly a historical table would make my die to follow you? Oh well. I am!

www.luxeboulevard.blogspot.com

Becky@Beyond The Picket Fence said...

Oh my goodness, love it, it is fantastic! Thanks for sharing at Beyond the Picket Fence!

May said...

How great is that?!

Anonymous said...

I'm speechless. It's absolutely amazing. And, the history behind it is wonderful.

Visiting from French Country Cottage. Following you now. :)

Unknown said...

OH MY GOD what a great find...
A visit from Cookie Nut

Pamma said...

What a fantastic find and great transformation/restoration!
~Pam
pamspaintparlor.typepad.com

Renee Hanlon said...

This is so great! What a terrific find. I would love to have you share this post at my Shabby Shares link party over at Rustic Crafts ~ http://rustic-crafts.com/?p=2210
Renee @ Rustic Crafts

Ann said...

This has to be the most incredible coffee table I've ever seen! And what a story. Pinned this.

Honey at 2805 said...

How incredible! The table is amazing and must have thought it had died and gone to heaven when you gave it new life. But it history, (oh, I love history) of the freezer door is fascinating. How fortunate that you have given in a happy new home!

I would be so excited if you would share this at Potpourri Friday (in progress) and a giveaway!

Courtney ~ French Country Cottage said...

It came out fantastic~ I love this repurpose!! Thank you for linking up at Feathered Nest Friday! :)

Unknown said...

Very nice Original!

Ellen said...

What a conversation piece for sure. I luv it, and to think it has history behind it is also a plus. Hope you get a good price for it.
Hugs
Ellen

Honey at 2805 said...

You are featured today at Potpourri Friday!

Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. said...

Now that is one very cool coffee table! It was worth wading though all the nasty stuff to get to it!

Michelle said...

That is PHENOMENAL! I love the hardware.

Tablescapes By Diane said...

Hi lovely lady.
Your old door is Gorgeous for a coffee table!!!! I also love your hardware. Im your newest follower on your blog. I hope you come join me on me tablescapes. I also hope you have a great week coming up.
Diane

Unknown said...

Wow gorgeous! I love the story behind it. What a great idea to repurpose that antique piece into a coffee table! I'd love it if you'd stop by my blog and check out the giveaway I'm having for a Dremel Saw Max!

Rachel Sue said...

This is gorgeous! I would love to feature this on Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle. Feel free to stop by and grab a featured button. Thanks!