This Sad, Dirty, Forlorn Shadowbox / Mirror Was Waiting For Mr. Modtomic To Rescue It At The Wentzville Flea Market Last Weekend. Status: Saved.

"Before"

When I drove out to Columbia Mo. to pick up the Drexel table and chairs last Sunday I took a few minutes to make a quick pass through the Wentzville Flea Market.  I didn't pick up much but there were a few items worth running back to the car.  This nasty, dirty display made the cut since I could see the potential.


"After"


This thing was a hot mess.  It must have either been left out in a dirt floor garage or had been

brought out to the flea market a few times on less than ideal days.  It was covered in dust, had

more than a few bird "boo boos" on it and even a little caked mud here and there.  But it

looked solid and the mirror wasn't broken or anything like that.

The wood looked seriously dry but it wasn't cracked, split or warped so it looked like it could

be saved.  I've been putting together quite the arsenal to bring wood back to life so I figured I'd

give it a go.  But first I'd need to clean the entire thing.  That meant pulling the mirror off the

back and getting out the spray bottle of Murphy Oil Soap, a stiff brush and lots of paper towels.

The above photos on the left shows the frame as found before cleaning.  It doesn't look too bad

in these pics but I assure you that it is filthy!  The pics on the right show half of the frame and all

of the shelves with a good coat of Howard's Restore-A-Finish.  After the clean up I used the

Howard's Restore-A-Finish Walnut that I used on the Slavik-Modern Danish lounge chair a

while back but it barely...just Barely darkened the wood at all.  I think that this frame had been

"limed" or waxed to look limed before and so it didn't take much of the Howard's.  But it did

take some and it did help.

Still only half done above.  See how subtle the change is?  It did seem to soak the Howard's up

but it didn't really change up the color much.  I'm fine with this and it looks lots better.  Shoot,

just cleaning off the bird dookie made it look "lots better"!