Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A Piece of Victoriana

A few weeks ago, I shared with you my Victorian fern stand that I found at the flea market in Mobile.  The seller actually had two of the fern stands and I’m still kicking myself for not buying both of them!  He had traveled to the flea market from Mississippi and told me he had bought the stands from an estate sale in an old Victorian home there.

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The stand had lots of issues…the legs were badly tarnished and the cast iron top and middle section was covered in rust.  One of the legs was a little bent, so it leaned to one side instead of standing straight.  My husband suggested forgetting about trying to restore it and simply paint the stand.  Oh, the horror!  What was he thinking???  Personally, I think he was having a senior moment about that time!

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The marble was in pretty rough shape also.

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Cleaning this baby was A LOT of work!  It involved multiple cleanings and sandings to remove all the rust from the cast iron. 

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The brass was so badly tarnished in places and none of the several brass cleaners I tried would remove all of the tarnish.  Finally an antiques dealer suggested I use Bar Keepers Friend.  I’m not affiliated with this company in any way, but if you’ve never tried it, I recommend buying some of it.  This stuff works miracles!  (See how one of the legs was bent??)

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So, here it is in all its restored glory.  All the rust is gone and the brass has a beautiful glow now.  The iron pieces were probably originally painted to match the brass legs, but I’m really liking the way it looks now. 

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I placed it in my living room and I’ve been having so much fun playing around with different items sitting on it.  I started out with this…

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and then this…

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…and ended up with this for now.  I love it!  My husband was even impressed and said maybe he was wrong about painting it.  In the back of my mind a little voice is saying, “ya think so???”   

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I haven’t decided what will go on the bottom yet…still playing around with that.  I’m linking up with these parties…

Marty at a Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday (my first time joining this party!)

Bee at Beez Rental Designs for her very first Frugal Treasures Tuesday

Patti at Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

Doni at Faith, Grace, Crafts for Pearls and Lace Thursday

Sherry at No Minimalist Here for Open House Party

Alison at Stuff and Nonsense for Fridays Unfolded

Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday

Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Sherry at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

Redoux Friday Link Up Party #45

Thanks for dropping by and visiting with me today!  I hope to see you again soon!

Dreamgoddess

 

   

12 comments:

Richard Cottrell said...

Looks like your patients paid off. Most of these stands were just metal. Glad you hit the jack pot and found a nice old brass one. Good job. Richard from My Old Historic House.

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

WOW!! what an outstanding job you did and it's a real beauty..so glad to see you brought back..Just BEAUTIFUL my dear friend..Happy Tuesday to you..Hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

Barbe @ Beez Rental Designs said...

Hi what an awesome find! And you did such a great job; shows great perseverance pays off! I'm a new follower and found you via Embellishment SLR, hope you'll follow me also. I've connected through GFC and Networked Blogs. Hope you'll stop by my party: Frugal Treasures Tuesday, and share this post.
Barbe

Blessed Serendipity said...

Gorgeous transformation and such a pretty piece.

Danielle

Trisha said...

I can see why you wished you had bought the other one...so pretty and definitely worth all that hard work! Thanks for stopping by!

~Trisha

Anonymous said...

Thank you for visiting my blog & becoming a follower. I too am your newest follower!!
Love the Victorian plant stand!!
Marilyn

Linda@Coastal Charm said...

What a pretty piece and thank you for sharing it at my NTT party...it's great to have you here. I see that you live in Mobile and shop at Cotton City...I am located there...come in and take a left..second booth on the left. Montrose Marketplace is located on Hwy.98 in Montrose (Fairhope)...we will be having a soft opening this Sat. 5-9pm and will be opened for the Arts and Crafts weekend coming up in two weeks. I will have a space right as you come in. The owners are still looking for more vendors, so if you or anybody you might know, needs more info, just e-mail me at coastal.charm@yahoo.com

Blessings,
Linda

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Your stand is gorgeous! Looks like all of your hard work and patience paid off. At least your hubby just said to paint it, mine would've suggest4ed using it as firwood. I don't think cast iron and brass would burn. lol!
Hugs,
Jann
Now following you

Jewel Sauls said...

Great job DG! So glad you didn't follow hubby's advice! I love all the fun Victoriana that you have placed on this stand!!!

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

I absolutely love how this stand came out! The have a similar one with straight legs but mine had been painted prior to me buyinh it. I also have the same little round marble topped stand that is next to it in the one picture. My Hubby bought that at an Estate Sale for $3.00!
May I ask where did you buy Bar Keeper's Friend? I would love to try it on some other pieces that I have...
Hugs,
Debbie

Doni said...

Wow! You did find an awesome piece! Great job on the refurbish too! I've heard of that cleaner before....sounds like it's worth looking for! And for that piece, I think ANY thing you put on it would be gorgeous! Lovely!
Thanks so much for sharing it with us today for Pearls and Lace Thursday! Enjoy it!
Blessings, Doni

lvroftiques said...

Oh Kim it's gorgeous! I have a very similar one that I love! Why oh why didn't you take both? Then they would both be in all their restored glory! Because I don't know if many would've put the kind of work into it that you did...And boy was it worth it! I have a crystal girandole on mine but I love that figural lady epergne that you have!! Drool worthy my friend *winks* Vanna