One of My Favorite Things

I went to an estate sale this weekend and saw some of the ugliest, most expensive pink French Provincial futurniture to ever exist on this planet.

I started thinking about our furniture. The first time I was in a furniture store, I was 27 years old and buying a mattress. In my family, if you needed furniture, you called my grandmother, Nanny. Beds, dressers, desks, portable dishwashers, whatever. You asked there first. I've written about my grandfather, Pop, before and this is another story.

In college, I needed a bookcase. I called Nanny and she had me tell Pop what I needed. He said he would think on it. About two months later he had me come to his basement workshop. He showed me their old console television. It was about 4-1/2 feet wide and about 2 feet deep on 6 inch legs with a decorative scallop on the bottom.

Hmm. Nice. Then he said, "Sam, this is your new bookcase."
Oh-kay. "How's that gonna work, Pop?"
"Well, I'll...blah, blah, Ginger, blah, blah..."

Oh-kay. But, I had to wait my turn. He was finishing something for Nanny and then had to finish a chest of drawers for my cousin and then it would be my turn.

Pop started in bits and pieces. First, all the wiring, tubes, screen etc., were removed. Then after a bit, the decorative piece and the legs. Then, he sawed the console in half, lengthwise. He stacked the front on top of the back, glued, nailed and clamped it. Finally, he cut paneling and white board to fit the back of the "new" frame.

With that part done, he started to work on the doors. He had some trim pieces that he had salvaged from Nanny's childhood home and he always tried to incorporate them into things he did for the grandkids, if it made sense. So, the doors were made out of the trim and varnished to match the television. He made each door two panel and each panel was a pane of glass. He did this so that the doors would have a trim piece that went across the length of the front of the cabinet to hide where the two parts of the television were put together. That way, no one looking at it with the doors closed would see that thick shelf.

Next, he sanded and varnished walnut shelves that were left over from some other project and put in some adjustable holders so that I could make the shelves the size I needed. He attached the legs to the bottom, took the decorative scallop, flipped it so the scalloping went up rather than down and attached it to back of the top of the bookcase. He put on the doors, put in the shelves and Voila! from 1972 console television to glass fronted bookcase.

I have the cabinet in my living room. I make people guess what it started out life as, but no one has ever gotten it right. Now, it is full of dishes and knick knacks rather than books. I see it everyday and marvel that this man could look at an old television and envision my beautiful bookcase. I know how much work and love Pop put into for me and that makes it even more special. I love to share this story about my bookcase and my Pop.