Change of Plans

I picked up these two pieces a month ago from a 1920s home in inner SE Portland. The new owners found these when they moved in. They absolutely didn't go with the style of the house and the BEAUTIFUL grey pickled woodwork. They were on the top floor and these lovely people helped me and Mr.Dickey carry them down three flights of stairs to our truck that waited on a major street. They must of really wanted them out of there because they were FREE.

They are in fantastic condition and are matching in style, but one has glass the other does not. The shelves are all glass allowing them to illuminate whatever is displayed on them. They aren't all wood, but a mix of laminate and wood. They sat in my driveway under our overhang for three weeks before we finally cleared enough room in the garage for me to actually work on them. Originally, I planned to paint them and sell them. I figured I could get $100 for the glass one (with a good paint job) and maybe $75 for the other. Then, I realized I needed something like this to display Mr.Dickey's collectibles. DUH. I decided to paint them black. I also decided to leave a hint of the wood showing around the glass doors in case the paint was scratched or scuffed over the years. I was also being lazy and didn't want to tape. I am sure they will become shabby chic after a year or two in our basement so this is a good solution. Mr. Dickey had other ideas. At first, he was totally on board with moving them into the basement, but upon actually moving them he pointed out something, "When you paint things for other people you take your time. When you do things for us you don't. These aren't finished." What ensued was a pretty epic argument. I admit he was right. I hadn't done a great job painting these two pieces. In the end we he decided not to use them in the basement.
With that being said I had to go back and do some more work on these babies. I hate it when I'm wrong.

 Here is where taking pictures really shows why my husband was right. Dang that is proof. Good thing he rarely reads this. I did go back and paint the top and put another coat on the back.

The paint is Sherwin Williams Duration in Caviar with a little doctoring up. These suckers are heavy. I'm talking H.E.A.V.Y. I think they look great and would work well in a variety of spaces. The glass shelves and lights are an added bonus. I am sure they will look nice in someone's house (but not mine).