The Secret of the Old Clock

My new house is full of funny angles–weird for a new-ish build, but it’s a feature I find quite charming. When I saw this skinny old bookcase, I knew it would fit perfectly into a crevice in my living room.

Only $10!

After a successful, car-filling day of garage saling, I posted my finds on Facebook, where my niece in England commented: “I think it used to be a clock.” Doh! Of course it was. I’d never noticed a grandfather-type clock with shelves before, but having subsequently googled it, yes, indeedy. That explains why the top shelf is missing, and the space behind the glass is empty.

Now what to do with it. You can’t tell from the picture, but the wood was exceedingly dry–it had turned a light grey colour with a lot of black that was probably dirt.

I decided not to paint it. Or at least, not all of it. I find many dark curio/display cabnents end up hiding your collectibles instead of showcasing them, so I removed the back, sanded and prepped it, and painted it light grey. The grey matched the wall colour where I intended to place it so it would look like there was no back.

Then I sanded the rest of it, leaving a lot of the black in the creases and corners. I drove to Redefined Finds in Stouffville and purchased some Fusion Hemp Oil. You just slam this stuff on with a brush or a rag and voila! It looked awesome.

It did, indeed, fit perfectly into the little corner I had in mind.

Here it is, displaying my best tea-related possessions, plus a few other curios.

An encaustic by my artist friend Lynn Spencer fits in the clock-part like it was made for it.

You can see one of the office chairs I recovered, and the gong my father used to open each set before he performed at Lichee Gardens in Toronto. My mother, the original upcycler, re-purposed a bird cage stand to hang the gong from. The red leather magazine holder is a curbside find.

I love it! Don’t you?