Bringing In a Little History

Every space needs a little history, whether it's an old quilt thrown over a sofa or an old chair that you got from your grandma's house. I was blessed enough to find a little history at my parents' house in this piece...

After my great grandmother (my mom's dad's mom) passed several years ago, my mom was able to bring this cabinet home. I never thought much about it; especially, since she used it to store books that I would never read; but, I always thought it was kinda cool that a part of my great grandmother was now a part of our house.

Then, a couple months after my mom passed last year, I asked my dad if I could have it to put in my own home. He, of course, had no objections, so into the backseat of my car it went. It was only after Mr. Marcus got it into the house did I see how bad of shape it was in.

The top and front have been beat up, scratched up and worn out.

And the back was completely none-existent.

There was also quite a bit of evidence of a few repair attempts.

And after a little more inspecting, I came across some pretty interesting stuff...

and thanks to the all-mighty GOOGLE, I found out that this little cabinet used to be an old broadcast radio that probably used to look like this:



And what's even more interesting is that these radios are dated from the years 1928-1933! Of course mine had been gutted of all its electrical innards, so it's probably not worth much. But I'm beyond excited to know that I have such a historical piece that was passed down from my great grandmother to my mother and now to me.

Knowing me, you already know that I had a good use in mind for this beauty. The wall space in between our dining room and living room was crying out for some function. And what better function to have than an at home bar!?! Now, by no means are the Mr. and I some undercover alcoholics. Three of the four bottles of alcohol on the bar have been with us almost as long as we've been married (almost six months!!!), so you know we're not throwing 'em back every day. But when the mood strikes, it's great to have the party juice on hand!

The white tray that I found at Target corrals everything, helping it all appear nice and neat. My TJ Maxx faux orchid brings height to the arrangement and the little bottles of mixers add to the blue scheme that's happening along that entire wall. Everytime I pass by it, I smile. It's the little things like a make-shift bar that makes my heart sing.

Now, my conundrum is...what do I do about the cabinet? It's in need of a lot of love considering how much damage it has. I know that I need to put a back on it, but beyond that, I'm torn. I'm afraid that if I sand it down in attempts to restore it, I could potentially ruin it's original look. I've considered painting it, but I love that fact that it has the same look as it did when it sat in both my great grandmother's and mother's homes. And to tell you the truth, the longer it sits here, the scratches and dings seem to disappear (to me, at least).

What do you guys think? Should I leave it alone? Should I restore it? Or should I make it my own and paint it a color of my liking? I'd really like to know what you think.