Updating the Original

Dealing with a truck full of items from the clearing of Elder and Muriel's apartment in Minnesota

has had its challenges and surprises! We ended up with the transported goods in our garage at home...

a garage that needs to be emptied so that the car has a relief from all the winter elements.

Bit by bit we have tackled boxes of papers (Wes), boxes of keepsakes, inherited boxes, boxes of books...a LOT of boxes.  Add pieces of furniture in the mix of stuff and you have even more to squeeze into our home that was pretty much filled to capacity before this! 

 We should be simplifying instead of adding more.

I am, however, happy to report that my car is now nestled safely in the garage again.

And now let's talk about the inherited "beast" which I didn't manage to photograph before it's transformation.  Elder made this large, dark cabinet with shelves on the top to house his wood carvings collection. Not only did he make it himself, he used wood planks from his parents family cabin in Beechwood, Michigan.  Quite a lot of time and history put into this project!  But not one of the four Lindahl siblings wanted this piece and it was left in the Go-to-Goodwill staging area in the apartment.. It didn't seem quite right and when we had a bit of extra room in the truck, in it went.  Stuck with it, like it or not!

In one of the boxes I found a book, SUPERBLY SWEDISH - RECIPES AND TRADITIONS edited by Martha Wiberg Thompson with the inspiration for the "beast" transformation! The photo above shows the Varmland Room at the American Swedish Institute in Mpls., MN.  See the cabinet on the right?  It's white.  Though the bottom cabinet is not there, it looks like it could have inspired Elder's work in the first place. Here's what the bottom of his cabinet looks like after some white paint (and sanding) and before another coat of paint.

The upper part of the cabinet has the same curvy ends as the cabinet in the Varmland picture. We have the spot in our family room to put this cabinet and I hope to use it as a buffet serving area. With the transformation, the beast has been tamed!

And, thanks, Carol for your co-painting!

 

 

We cleaned up fairly well, but our bodies are whining now.