Pretty as Pie

I have one single piece of furniture that I've had for years.  I don't think I could ever get rid of it.  It is the work horse of my home!

This piece of furniture holds photo albums, boxes and boxes of pictures, Doodle's art work for the first five years of her life, cards we've received for years, cookbooks, candles, user manuals for everything we own...even my U.S. Navy re-enlistment flag (which reminds me...I really should do something special - and more respectful - of that)!!  (Yes, I was enlisted in the Navy for 8 years.)  Basically every memory imagineable!  It used to hold gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbon, and tissue paper...as well as all that other stuff. 

It hides so much...um, dare I say it...clutter!

It's my pie safe.

At the risk of losing your admiration (ok, maybe loyal readership is more like it, LOL)...I'm going to show you the inside of my pie safe.

It even has a drawer for more junk important items! 

Do you see why I can't get rid of my pie safe?  Ever? 

It just holds so much, in one place.  And I don't have to look at any of it!!  Which is even better. :)

But it didn't always look like this. 

When I bought it, it looked like this....

When I started redecorating last year and moved the pie safe into the living room.  It just looked dated next to my new more updated asthetic. 

Its not an antique piece.  It's a Broyhill piece that my ex husband and I bought on clearance (because the back leg is dinged up...but really....who looks at the back leg) for $100, probably 10 years ago.

But I love the wood tone, so I knew I didn't want to paint it.

But I wanted to do something about the punched tin.  Punched tin isn't really my thing anymore. 

I considered putting frosted glass into it.  But that could get pricey...and broken. 

Also, I didn't really want to permanently alter the pie safe.  I mean, what if punched tin comes back!!  Stop laughing...you never know. ;)

Then one day I was in Bed, Bath and Beyond and saw bamboo-ish looking placemats for $2 each!!  I bought six of them, brought them home and cut them down to just slightly larger than each panel in the pie safe.  I glued the edges so they didn't come apart.  And I wedged them in front of the punched tin panels.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of this process because it was done about six months ago, before blogging was even a consideration.

But it instantly updated my adored pie safe!!!!

What about you.  Do you have a piece of furniture that acts as a work horse in your house?  Or something there is no way you could part with?

Until next time....