A New Kind of Play for an Old Toy Chest

Grandpas are special.  They let you eat sugary cereals and watch early morning cartoons when you’re parents are out of town.  They slip you gas money before you drive back to school.  They build things in their basement workshop and teach you all about their tools.  And sometimes they even give you the old family toy chest he built for your mom and her siblings and tells you to “have at it!”

 If you’re popping by from Apartment Therapy, welcome!  We are StyleMutt Home, a sister-in-law duo  (Chelsea & Cate) who love to mix and match a myriad of styles in the pieces we refinish and the spaces we design...

Now my husband (Chelsea's brother) and I don't have any kids of our own yet so I was challenged to rethink what else I could do with this piece of family lore.  So I got to thinking... what if it could still be used for a more grown-up sort of play...

It was a simple transformation really.  I took the lid off the toy chest and flipped it on it’s side to screw in some hairpin legs I had from a thrifted find and boom: record player stand.

Inspired by grandpa's original paint color, I refreshed the muted black paint on the exterior. of the box.

But for the interior I couldn’t bring myself to sand out the assortment of dings.  To me, they are the map of a playful childhood.  

So I just waxed the wood to at least give it back its buttery sheen.

It turns out that the chest is the perfect size for a standard LP sleeve!

For the styling, I used plumb foliage (scavenged from the parking lot no less) + DIY moon phase chalkboard art + a framed floating ghost lady (taken from Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer ).  To me, they all subtlety tip their witches' hats to Halloween without being overly ghoulish.

Adding legs gave it the height it needed to be used as a record cabinet or even a bar - either way it's ready for a more grown-up type of play.

And as much as I’d love to keep this bad boy in the family, we simply don’t have the space!  So DC Metro area: my loss is your gain.  If you are interested in this piece - pop over to our shop to get more info.  

Hairpin Legged Record Cabinet
Now Available for Sale

Hairpin Legged China Cabinet

Big news!  No like really - this is my biggest-sized flip yet.  Clocking in at 71" tall, meet my first ever china cabinet:

I found him on half price day at the thrift store hiding underneath a wooden fish and wearing some plastic flowers like a laurel.  He was so petite without any legs that I almost didn't realize he's a china cabinet.  But upon closer inspection the wood was in impeccable condition and the sliding glass doors were without chips or scratches.  So I jumped at the chance to bring him home for my signature leg-lift.

I'm such a sucker for those warm wood tones that I couldn't bring myself to paint it.  All he needed was some minor repairs and some legs to stand on.

This piece features (1) a drawer for flatware

(2) two lower cabinets

(3) two sliding glass doors to keep dust off your displayed wares.

(4) beautiful angled lines true to it's Mid Century Modern age.

Also keeping with his mid century theme, I used MCM accessories to style it.  Those chartreuse Russell Wright dishes were a gift from my Aunt & Uncle and I've been dying to show them off.

The brass martini table seemed like the perfect mad-men touch and also a fitting pedestal to show off those fun 1-2-3 glasses I found recently at a consignment store.

If our apartment were bigger, I'd have half a mind to keep this guy!  But my loss is someone's else gain - he went to a new home just this weekend before I could debut him on the blog!

Hairpin Legged China Cabinet
37.5"W x 15.5"D x 71"H
SOLD

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, please email me at cate@stylemutthome.com.

Live Edge Plant Stand || Furniture Flip Bucket List ||

Guys.  I've finished the second item on my 2017 Furniture Flip Bucket List.  And she has something she wants to say...

Hey.

I've been wanting to do a live edge piece for a while but had no idea where to get my hands on a slab.  Then, while picking through a salvage yard with my partner-in-crime Chelsea, I found a beautiful little piece of raw sycamore.

I stripped off the splintering bark and sanded the whole slab down until the edges and surface where as smooth as a baby's bottom. 

I added a tri-pod of black metal hairpin legs that make it the perfect height to rest under a window so all your plant kiddo's can get their vitamin D.

She a delicate little thing that's too dainty for coffee table or foot-of-the-bed bench.  But she's happy to host some growing greens.

Live Edge Plant Stand
Now Available for Sale
33.5"L x 11"D (at widest point) x 18.5"H
$95

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, please contact me at cate@stylemutthome.com.

Two down, five to go.  Catch up on the 2017 Furniture Flip Bucket List.