Vintage Find // Farmhouse Office Cabinet

THE FARMHOUSE The largest piece of furniture at the Farmhouse is the cabinet that sits just inside the office.  It's 5.5-feet wide and 8-feet tall and built so solidly that it took 3 men to move it from the antique store where I found it.

But before I delve into the cabinet, I wanted to tell you the story behind it.  It's a tale of serendipity - the stuff of old home lover's dreams.  And it has made me fall in love with our little hometown even more, because this is the kind of thing that could only happen in a small town.

But back to the cabinet.  The moment I saw it, I had to have it.  Not only was it beautiful (SO beautiful!), but the fir wood looked like it would match perfectly with the Farmhouse's fir woodwork.  Actually the entire piece - from the crown molding down to the old latches - looked as if it would fit perfectly at our Farmhouse.  So much so, that I had the fleeting feeling that the piece had been made for our Farmhouse.

But at $1,400 and no immediate need for a pantry cabinet, I couldn't justify the purchase.  So I sulked away empty handed.

Fast forward two months to our mailbox.  I found a hand-addressed letter there, which turned out to be from a previous resident of the Farmhouse.  She had written to inform us that there was a large cabinet at the local antique store that had originally belonged in our Farmhouse.  Quite obviously, my interest was piqued.  Even if it wasn't the pantry cabinet that I had fallen in love with, I had to bring whatever piece of furniture she was talking about home.

The former resident went on to explain that the cabinet had originally been in the kitchen and then later moved to a closet.  It had been painted and then stripped.  And in recent years an owner removed the cabinet from the Farmhouse, and placed it on the 3rd story of a local victorian home.  Finally it had been brought in to the antique store to be sold.  And there it sat.

I later found out that the cabinet had been bought while our letter sat in the mail, but thankfully it was returned before they got it out of the store (it turned out to be too big for the buyer's space).  And there were other interested buyers too.  But serendipity was on my side.  When I went back to the antique store, the store's owner was delighted to find out that I was the new owner of the Farmhouse - she was familiar with the history of the cabinet - and walked me over to the piece in question.  It was, of course, the pantry cabinet I had fallen in love with all those months ago.  Happy to reunite the cabinet with it's original home, the store's owner offered me a discount and I happily brought the cabinet home.

Sweet, sweet serendipity!

To say this piece is solid, is selling it short.  It's built like no cabinet I've ever seen.  The backing is 3/4" tongue and groove flooring strips (no doubt the same material that still graces our floors) and the sides are at least double that thick.  Even the cabinet doors are an inch thick.  Garrett and his dad had to separate the cabinet's top from it's base to get it from the truckin to the Farmhouse and even then, they needed a hand cart.

After a little research, I believe this piece should actually be called a stepback cupboard.  But since I plan to return it to the kitchen where it originally sat (someday....years in the future when we remodel the kitchen), I'm going to keep calling it our pantry cabinet.  In the meantime, I love having it in our office.  It looks and functions great as storage and makes my heart swell every time I see it.

Well that's the story behind our beautiful pantry cabinet turned office storage.  I'm so happy to have it back home!  Next week I'll give you a progress update on the rest of the office including all the sources from this post.  Until then, I hope you have a great week!

xoxo

-Cathy

p.s. a vintage spool bed.