Please, pull up a bench, stool, chair, crate, carpet mat, flipped bucket....whatever you have available. I would like to share with you a bit of the history of Lilac Shack Furniture, and while I will try to be concise, I tend to be long-winded. But there is just so much to say, and I hate to neglect important aspects.
I refinished my first pieces of furniture about twenty-five years ago. It was my grandmother's dresser and chest set. She was moving and didn't want them anymore. No one did. They were murky with tobacco sludge and odor and looked as though the swamp thing was missing his bedroom furniture. I saw potential.
There was nice roll-striped trim from top to foot on all the pieces. There is probably some fancy technical furniture term for them, but I haven't a clue so I call them rolled stripes. Anyway, the structure of the pieces was solid. They had deep drawers and understated simplicity to the body of them. They were also maple, though on first sight you would have guessed them to be some wretched brown slabs of gunk with broken knobs jutting from them.
Armed with thick gloves and a scraper, denatured alcohol and I launched our attack on the tobacco gooped finish. A few battles in and the muck surrendered. Things were looking much better already, and I knew it was the right idea to save this set. Next, I took my square hand sander and let it rip across the top. My original idea was to sand and paint, but when I saw a glimpse of the pale golden color submerged beneath the crud, I decided to go au naturale.
I just couldn't bring myself to smother the wood since the poor things just got their first gasp of fresh air after countless years. Anyway, I stripped all the pieces bare and coated them under a few layers of polyurethane. Gorgeous. I was hooked. To this very day, these pieces are in my bedroom. They have stuck by me through move after move, decor change after change, kid after kid and season after season of jamming them full. They are just a part of my history, and will stick with me into my future. Maybe someday they will rest somewhere else, but I'm not kicking them out any time soon.
I was not only hooked on the furniture, but enamored with facilitating the transformation. My passion to restore, redo, repaint, and refinish bloomed. I have enjoyed many ventures in furniture fixing since that time, and love to change pieces I bring into my home to suit my taste. I have worked with many products and am excited to try more as the market keeps expanding with great stuff.
Jump to today. I am a flea market, antique store, tag/estate sale junkie who decided to begin creating pieces for others to love and showcase products which anyone is capable of using. My desire is to bring precious, even maybe heirloom, furniture into everyone's homes. I agonized over what to call my endeavor. Lilac Shack Furniture won as a last minute brainstorm.
Why lilac? Because I love them. They are one of my ultimate favorite flowers. I used to have several bushes in my yard until I moved and would inspect constantly starting early April for those itt-bitty buds to appear. I would watch for the delicate teeny blossoms to multiply into a bounty of lavender and white bunches. Then, I would rest one of those lovely cones in my hand and inhale the delicate aroma. They are so tender yet strong (hard to snip for a bouquet too). The full trees, full blooms and full fragrance are heartwarming, charming and classic. They grace spring with their scent and beauty. Simple yet lavish.
Why shack? Because I get a kick out of these little shanties, and think they are wonderfully fun and interesting. They are real and unpretentious. They tell a story, and can be just as homey as a fine colonial on a cul-de-sac. I do not view down-trodden, curb-tossed, run-down, dilapidated stuff as useless. I see it as an opportunity to perk them up with a touch of TLC (and probably some TSP first). Shacks represent my ideology.
I don't believe a house has to be new, perfect, huge or pristine in order to be a home. The word shack carries the connotation of being a grungy, dysfunctional, safety and health hazard type of dwelling. Some may be. Certainly, I do not see or think of them all like that. I am the type that chooses the runt, the ugly-bugly and the underdog. I believe everything has potential, and if one person doesn't see it, then another may: imperfectly perfect with luscious character, badges of service and time-worn quirks from generations of serving its purpose with loyalty. Some may require a bit of effort and diligent work, but there is always potential and purpose to be uncovered no matter the old wood, thick layers or busted parts. I kind of see furniture like people, no two the same, all deserve a chance, neither perfect nor pointless, always an investment of the heart, beautifully bedraggled, and never ever ever worthless.
Lilac Shack is not a reflection of decrepit impoverished neglect, as the sad stereotype for "shack" would suggest. It is a reflection of a blooming vision being constructed by a hopeful heart. A shack is really as rich or poor as the hearts that dwell there. I want Lilac Shack Furniture to be a fun, interesting, unique, unpretentious, inviting, happy and cozy place to spend time and find precious things. It is my little diamond in the rough, and I hope it sparkles in your eyes as it does in mine.
And why furniture? Well, just because that's what its all about, and identity is key to being found by seekers. I also want to incorporate more decor so you may see that tag attached at some point.
There you have it. A very chopped up synopsis of Lilac Shack Furniture's history and mission. I would keep you here chatting with me all day, but I'm sure you have other things to tend to so I'll let you get to them. That is unless you'd like to stay a while longer, of course.
I am sincerely joyful and grateful that you stayed all the way to the end of my story. I hope that means you'll be sticking around and hanging out with me at the Shack. Thank you so much, and God bless.
I refinished my first pieces of furniture about twenty-five years ago. It was my grandmother's dresser and chest set. She was moving and didn't want them anymore. No one did. They were murky with tobacco sludge and odor and looked as though the swamp thing was missing his bedroom furniture. I saw potential.
There was nice roll-striped trim from top to foot on all the pieces. There is probably some fancy technical furniture term for them, but I haven't a clue so I call them rolled stripes. Anyway, the structure of the pieces was solid. They had deep drawers and understated simplicity to the body of them. They were also maple, though on first sight you would have guessed them to be some wretched brown slabs of gunk with broken knobs jutting from them.
Armed with thick gloves and a scraper, denatured alcohol and I launched our attack on the tobacco gooped finish. A few battles in and the muck surrendered. Things were looking much better already, and I knew it was the right idea to save this set. Next, I took my square hand sander and let it rip across the top. My original idea was to sand and paint, but when I saw a glimpse of the pale golden color submerged beneath the crud, I decided to go au naturale.
I just couldn't bring myself to smother the wood since the poor things just got their first gasp of fresh air after countless years. Anyway, I stripped all the pieces bare and coated them under a few layers of polyurethane. Gorgeous. I was hooked. To this very day, these pieces are in my bedroom. They have stuck by me through move after move, decor change after change, kid after kid and season after season of jamming them full. They are just a part of my history, and will stick with me into my future. Maybe someday they will rest somewhere else, but I'm not kicking them out any time soon.
I was not only hooked on the furniture, but enamored with facilitating the transformation. My passion to restore, redo, repaint, and refinish bloomed. I have enjoyed many ventures in furniture fixing since that time, and love to change pieces I bring into my home to suit my taste. I have worked with many products and am excited to try more as the market keeps expanding with great stuff.
Jump to today. I am a flea market, antique store, tag/estate sale junkie who decided to begin creating pieces for others to love and showcase products which anyone is capable of using. My desire is to bring precious, even maybe heirloom, furniture into everyone's homes. I agonized over what to call my endeavor. Lilac Shack Furniture won as a last minute brainstorm.
Why lilac? Because I love them. They are one of my ultimate favorite flowers. I used to have several bushes in my yard until I moved and would inspect constantly starting early April for those itt-bitty buds to appear. I would watch for the delicate teeny blossoms to multiply into a bounty of lavender and white bunches. Then, I would rest one of those lovely cones in my hand and inhale the delicate aroma. They are so tender yet strong (hard to snip for a bouquet too). The full trees, full blooms and full fragrance are heartwarming, charming and classic. They grace spring with their scent and beauty. Simple yet lavish.
Why shack? Because I get a kick out of these little shanties, and think they are wonderfully fun and interesting. They are real and unpretentious. They tell a story, and can be just as homey as a fine colonial on a cul-de-sac. I do not view down-trodden, curb-tossed, run-down, dilapidated stuff as useless. I see it as an opportunity to perk them up with a touch of TLC (and probably some TSP first). Shacks represent my ideology.
I don't believe a house has to be new, perfect, huge or pristine in order to be a home. The word shack carries the connotation of being a grungy, dysfunctional, safety and health hazard type of dwelling. Some may be. Certainly, I do not see or think of them all like that. I am the type that chooses the runt, the ugly-bugly and the underdog. I believe everything has potential, and if one person doesn't see it, then another may: imperfectly perfect with luscious character, badges of service and time-worn quirks from generations of serving its purpose with loyalty. Some may require a bit of effort and diligent work, but there is always potential and purpose to be uncovered no matter the old wood, thick layers or busted parts. I kind of see furniture like people, no two the same, all deserve a chance, neither perfect nor pointless, always an investment of the heart, beautifully bedraggled, and never ever ever worthless.
Lilac Shack is not a reflection of decrepit impoverished neglect, as the sad stereotype for "shack" would suggest. It is a reflection of a blooming vision being constructed by a hopeful heart. A shack is really as rich or poor as the hearts that dwell there. I want Lilac Shack Furniture to be a fun, interesting, unique, unpretentious, inviting, happy and cozy place to spend time and find precious things. It is my little diamond in the rough, and I hope it sparkles in your eyes as it does in mine.
And why furniture? Well, just because that's what its all about, and identity is key to being found by seekers. I also want to incorporate more decor so you may see that tag attached at some point.
There you have it. A very chopped up synopsis of Lilac Shack Furniture's history and mission. I would keep you here chatting with me all day, but I'm sure you have other things to tend to so I'll let you get to them. That is unless you'd like to stay a while longer, of course.
I am sincerely joyful and grateful that you stayed all the way to the end of my story. I hope that means you'll be sticking around and hanging out with me at the Shack. Thank you so much, and God bless.