Our last house (and the house we owned before that) was one of those suburban cookie-cutter subdivision homes. You couldn’t throw a stone without hitting another house with a nearly identical exterior and layout. Somehow, we owned two houses like this, even though it was never the type of home I dreamed of owning. (I love older homes with character … Craftsman, Tudor-style, etc.)

That’s not really the point of my post. But that’s the ambience we were dealing with when we acquired some antique furniture. And antiques didn’t really go in a house like that.

I acquired a chest that was built by my 3-times (I think?) great grandfather sometime around the Civil War. It’s been through some things. It’s really beat up and missing some parts. But I cherish it because of its history. And it’s still functional for storage, too.

My husband acquired a secretary that his great grandparents purchased and has been passed down through the family. By the time we brought it home in 2017, it had some significant wear and tear.

The secretary sat in a corner, where the living room transitioned into the dining room. It was largely unusable, since the back wasn’t stable enough to put the shelves in the cabinet and use it. It was like this until we moved to our current house.

So now we actually live in an older home (about 50 years old) that has some character. And antiques do look and feel right in this space. It was time to get this secretary fixed. We loaded it in the truck and dropped it off at Woodmasters of Greater Columbus in February.

We agreed that they would replace the back and remove the stains. They stripped and restained it, too. (The mirror and cabinet glass are still original.) We waited five months, but we were able to pick it up yesterday. And it’s so beautiful.

I just can’t stop looking at this gorgeous piece! And it looks great in our front room. It has a prominent spot near the front door, so it’s the first thing you see when you come in.

I wonder what they could do with that old storage chest, should I be inclined to restore it.