House in Progress: My Grandmother's Dresser

After my grandmother passed away last year, this petite chest of drawers was the only piece of furniture I took from her house (my mom, aunts, and cousins, of course, divvied up the rest). It had sat in her entryway for as long as I can remember, and of everything she had, it somehow symbolized her home -- where I'd always felt loved and welcomed -- the most for me.

The little dresser dates from 1939, not long after my grandma and my long-deceased grandfather were married, and it followed her through their many turbulent years together and their many cross-country moves -- from Chicago to New Jersey to Boston to Pittsburgh, back to Chicago, then to sunny post-war Los Angeles, and finally, to the Bay Area. It's not a particularly fine piece, but it's solid and useful, has a bit of 1930s-'40s flair with its chunky Asian-style brass pulls, and just reminds me of my grandmother in a fond way.

Its olive-green paint job had seen better days, though, and I wanted to update the chest with a splashy new color. I totally could have stripped, sanded, and repainted the thing myself, but I knew it would take me five years to get around to it and, truth be told, I'm just not all that meticulous about these sorts of projects. This is a special piece for me, and I didn't want to mess it up. So when I heard that Johnelle Mancha, the proprietress of Old Oakland's Mignonne, was offering a new furniture-refinishing service, I was all over it.

After consulting with me about the look I was after, Johnelle carefully stripped and refinished the dresser in a happy, glossy apple green that's a nod to the original hue but that gives the piece a more modern and surprising feel. (We literally matched the paint to a Granny Smith apple I'd brought from home.) I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

The cheerful chest now sits in my own entryway, where I've topped it was some of my favorite little treasures (like a vintage globe and wooden spool from eBay, a porcelain skeleton key from the Curiosity Shoppe, a ceramic-and-wooden apple from Relish at Home, and an Aida Dirse candy bowl from Rare Device), and where it reminds me of my beloved and dearly missed grandma every time I pass by. Thanks so much, Johnelle!

Cool Stuff: Aida Dirse Ceramic Bowls

So yesterday was my birthday. (And no, I'm not going to tell you which one. OK, fine: 29. ;-)

I told my mother not to get me anything, because she was taking us all out to a nice dinner (here, for any of you locals reading). She's an inveterate shopper, though, and I secretly knew there was really no stopping her. But what kills me is that she drove an hour into San Francisco to go to a little shop I'd once mentioned in passing that I liked, and picked up something there that I'd been pining over for months but probably never would have splurged on for myself.

This petite bowl, hand-built in Lithuania by ceramic artist Aida Dirse, is just exquisite. I adore its texture and imperfection and its cheerful pattern. But most of all, I love that it's now mine. Thank you, Mom!

(If you're tempted to get one of your own, they're $72 to $87 from Rare Device.)