In 2012 we experienced a house fire. Though much of the downstairs portion of the house was merely water damaged, much of the upstairs portion was destroyed. In it there were a few items we tried to recover due to sentimental value. My middle son’s room was beyond recognition and very little remained. There was a cedar chest which had been acquired by my wife in a garage sale many years earlier. It contained pictures and mementos. We were able to recover it, but it was badly singed.
As I began to look for things to occupy my free time I decided to pull the chest out of the corner of the garage, where it had been since we moved into the new house. (BTW the outlet you see in the background isn’t wired in yet. The garage is also a work in progress, but I’ve put in a lot of work since these pictures were taken. Maybe I’ll give you an update later).
I disassembled portions of the box, removing the bottom, the top, and the hinges. It wasn’t a hard project, but much sanding.
In addition to the cedar chest, which my daughter immediately nabbed for her college apartment, I refinished and upholstered a bench for my wife. This belonged to her mother.
