The Family Heirloom

As some of you may know, I am a bit of an antique fanatic. Generally speaking, if something has been built or manufactured after the year 1967, I 'm not interested. Vintage stereos, kitchenettes, dishes, a bar, all the lamps in the house, hell I even own a vintage aluminum Christmas tree. So, when it came time for someone in the family to pass on one of "the family heirlooms" a call was placed yours truly.

My Mom's side of the family is Polish Catholic and large, very large, not in the girth category, I mean in numbers. If they felt inclined to do so, they could start an army, first cousins, second cousins, aunts and uncles, that after 34 years even I can't keep straight. A while back, I received a phone call from one of those cousins, a cousin I had only met once, when I was four. She explained who she was and informed me that she was living in Tucson. Apparently she had called the family back in Michigan and notified them that my great grandmother's dresser she had been holding onto needed to find a new home due to lack of space. My Mom immediately told her that I was the cousin to call, so eventually plans were made for the dresser to be shipped to some family friends on the West side of L.A., and it would be my duty to pick it up.

This dresser, I would guess is about 80-90 years old with a pretty bad ass swivel mirror on top. The only problem I had with it, was that my Great Aunt Genieve painted it a heinous "shabby chic" grey. I thought, to myself "No problem, I'll just strip it down, varnish it with some nice espresso stain and shellac it". Easy, breezy, right.

Well, the years have past, to be exact, six of them and I, like my New Year's resolutions that I no longer make, had good intentions but did not follow through. I moved onto other projects (like the time I covered my entire dining room in bamboo fencing). Once, a few years ago, I actually attempted to strip it, bought all the necessary tools; sandpaper, gloves and paint thinner. I hauled the whole thing out to the front yard and started on the "easy part", the drawers. The "easy part", sucked. It was practically impossible. Not only did I have a difficult time getting the paint off, but there are a lot of grooves and curves in this thing that are really hard to get to. So, back in the bedroom it went. Right now, what we have resembles something you would see on the side of the road with a sign saying "FREE" taped to it.

My goal is to get this thing done. I know I can't paint or stain while I have "my little passenger", but I'm throwing it out there now so I have a constant reminder(apparently the dresser itself, isn't enough) of my infamous half finished job, which also happens to drive my husband nuts.

Operation Family Heirloom. Finish date, September 1, 2010. Am I woman enough, or will it get passed on to some other family member half finished with grey paint and naked drawers?