How it All started
A little more about how MRC got started…
My husband and I found ourselves as the depot for all family heirlooms – mostly by circumstance. As much as it is wonderful to inherit old pieces, we inherited a lot of tired old stuff. One piece was an old mahogany veneered buffet that was once owned by my grandmother where it lived in southwestern PA for decades. When she passed, it moved into my childhood home. The piece traveled a bit over the years and at one point displayed my mother’s plant collection near a large sunny dining room window. Tired and worn, the buffet made its way back to Pittsburgh, where we used it as a storage/television stand for many years.
After acquiring a more suitable (and in better shape) TV stand my from daughter, I found myself needing a buffet for a newly renovated dining area. The top of grandma’s veneered buffet showed the large plant container watermarks. With extreme care using a rotary sander, I removed the marks and surface stain. The top was re-stained a bit lighter to show off the amazing wood grain and painted the bottom portion black to cover the many years of nicks and wear. The bottom two center drawers were removed to house a stereo receiver and a home for serving trays. With hardware upgraded, the piece is now clean, current, and usable with a fond memory of grandma.
Maybe it was the nostalgia of refinishing furniture with my Dad, but this project lead to refurbishing other pieces for my daughters’ apartments, refacing kitchen cabinets in a small mountain cabin, and reworking older furniture freebees that came my way.
Weekend estate sales became my routine to find old picture frames for upcycling and quality furniture pieces for refinishing projects. Along the way, I also noticed home décor items very similar to current items in home magazines, and home stores. We teach our children to recycle and be environmentally conscious, so why aren’t we reusing these items? I started collecting and thought I need to start a business!
I hope you are inspired to want to reuse old things, refinished or in their current state. Stop the car the next time you see that estate/garage sale, flea market, or resale/vintage shop. You never know what you might find…
Best,
Donna
