Rick's Secretary Desk

Here are a couple pictures of Rick's secretary desk. It belonged to his grandmother and Rick's parents stuck it in their basement; that's where it's been for decades. When we started cleaning his parents' house, Rick decided that he really wanted the desk. We took it out of the basement in pieces as it was in that bad a shape. The finish was completely shot at that point. The drop-down door to the desk was broken off. The mirror was cracked. It was just in horrible shape. We took it up to an Amish man who specializes in refinishing furniture. It took him a while to clean it up, repair everything, and then re-finish it. I paid for the work as part of Rick's Christmas present in 2016. We think it's just gorgeous now.

The glass is still original; the mirror is not. The pull-down door is not original, but the lock on the door is.


With the door pulled down. All the little nooks and crannies inside. He's gradually filling them with pens, paper, etc. 

The Niagara Falls light also came from his parents. Rick wanted to keep it, so we put it on the desk. It still works! Every once in a while, he'll plug it in.....just because, I guess.

The cats were my mother's and they're as old as the hills. My parents bought a piano when I was four years old and I started playing at that time. Those cats were on the piano forever. I'm now 62, so those cats are at least 58 years old. (And the piano? Well, that's on the other side of our living room; yeah, I still have it.)


And while I'm at it, this braided rug was hand-made by my great-grandmother. She was famous for her braided rugs. I used to sit with her and we'd pick out materials for her rugs. She tried to teach me how to make them, but I was a kid and not interested. They were beautiful. I'm not sure, but this might be the only one left by now. It's on my side of the bed on the floor, next to the kitty-steps. Muffin likes to lie on it. As old as it is, I should probably figure out a way to hang it on the wall, instead of having it on the floor. Grandma died in the mid-70s at the age of 96 (or 98, I always forget). I loved my grandmother dearly.


Thank you for looking!

That is a beautiful piece of furniture. The guy who did the refinishing is quite talented.  I also like all the "extras" 

Well worth whatever was spent on it to make it look like new again!

That is a beautiful piece of furniture that can be passed down for who knows how many generations.  The Amish are so talented with woodworking.  They take the time to make sure something is done right.

Love the bit of history. Thank you for showing us! The braided rug is cool too! I am always buying them at yard sales. I just like the way they look. Honeybee loves rolling on them and beating them up- Don't ask why!   My parents had a secretary desk without the side part-I think it's dad's parents- I used to love opening that flap and seeing all the cubey holes inside. And the thin wood was so smooth. I can still smell the wood in my memory..you know some things always stay with you. My parents had this heavy duty hutch from ?? It's at my sisters now. I will have to find out what kind of wood it is-the color is a honey warm wood color and smooth slick to the touch. It has drawers down below then the big part that sits on top of the burea type thingy. It's a monster but they always had it growing up. My parents used to sell antiques at Broomfield big antique show they do somewhere in Massachusetts twice a year. I never have been but I heard it's huge-I bet these type of things could be found there if anyone is looking.

That is beautiful! You just can't match the character in those antique pieces of furniture! We are looking for a bedroom set for DS and I'm completely unimpressed with these "man made" wood pieces. The finish on the desk is just gorgeous!

The rug is beautiful too. Especially with the sentimental factor. Since we lost Gram 2 years ago and sold their house last year; I cherish everything that belonged to her and Grandpa (who is still with us). Now I'm wondering who got the wall secretary they always had up! :lol3: I loved checking out all the cubbies inside.

Thank you everyone. We think it's gorgeous. The man did a great job. It takes him a while to get things finished because he has another job, plus they have a huge farm and garden. But we thought it was well worth the wait. I'd recommend him to anyone.

I have an old (very old) desk back at the end of the hallway. It was my mother's and my grandmother gave it to her as her adoption present when Mom was seven years old. Long story, suffice to say that Grandma was really my great-grandmother, although legally, she was my grandmother. Anyway, the desk was to be given to me because Grandma was afraid that if Mom got it, she would sell it (and yeah, chances are she would have, first chance she got) So it stayed with Grandma until I got old enough, then it came to me. (And yes, I took it and I heard about it every time I saw my mother for about 10 years after.) There was an old, old mirror on the wall behind the desk, and the two had been together for so long, that she gave me the mirror with the desk. The desk has a pull down door, like Rick's secretary's desk, with lots of little cubby holes and I used to have a grand time snooping around in all the cubby holes, looking for all kinds of things.    The door is broken now (thank you, cats!) and the top of the desk is all scratched-up (again, thank you, cats!) and I need to get it repaired. We've thought about taking it to the Amish man who did Rick's desk because he does such good work.

The desk is absolutely gorgeous! What a work of art. Looks brand new!

love the rug; such sentimental value.. 

Just a thought, but could you display both the desk and the rug together, in one area, as a tribute to both your families?

Winchester said:

The Niagara Falls light also came from his parents. Rick wanted to keep it, so we put it on the desk. It still works! Every once in a while, he'll plug it in.....just because, I guess.
The cats were my mother's and they're as old as the hills. My parents bought a piano when I was four years old and I started playing at that time. Those cats were on the piano forever. I'm now 62, so those cats are at least 58 years old. (And the piano? Well, that's on the other side of our living room; yeah, I still have it.)

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OMG, I want that lamp. Nothing I like better than unusual lamps. Don't tell me the water actually runs over the Falls? On my telephone table I have a small white ceramic kitty that is actually a lamp. Those kitties are 58 years old? How is their arthritis?

And while I'm at it, this braided rug was hand-made by my great-grandmother.

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I want that too. Cannot believe how much these rugs cost in the store. Pam, fabulous photos. Thanks.

foxxycat said:

My parents used to sell antiques at Broomfield big antique show they do somewhere in Massachusetts twice a year. I never have been but I heard it's huge-I bet these type of things could be found there if anyone is looking.

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BRIMFIELD, Massachusetts. [emoji]128526[/emoji]

Winchester said:

It was my mother's and my grandmother gave it to her as her adoption present when Mom was seven years old. Long story, suffice to say that Grandma was really my great-grandmother, although legally, she was my grandmother.

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Adoption present? Is there such a thing! Sounds like a good story here. [emoji]128526[/emoji]

Beautiful!

Thanks! We think he did a great job!

The Niagara Falls light has a revolving shade inside. When you turn the light on, the shades revolves and gives the appearance of water running over the Falls. I have no idea where Rick's parents ever got it, but they had it forever. I think my parents had one, too, many years ago, but Mom probably sold it. Either that or she got tired of it and threw it away. Rick had a pile of things in his parents' living room and when I saw the light, I looked at him....I have to say that I was surprised that he picked it. He said he wanted it and we figured it would look OK on the desk. And it does. It's really in good shape, which is surprising, considering how old the thing is. I'm sure it's not really worth all that much.

The cats are in pretty good shape, too, for being as old as they are. There used to be a very thin gold chain that leashed onto the mama and both kittens, but that was broken a long time ago. Still, when we were going through boxes of stuff, I found the cats and decided to keep them, simply for sentimental value.

The desk as an adoption present was always the story told to me, by both Grandma and Mom. Yeah, there is a story there.  Someday......

I'm glad you all like the desk and the rug. We don't have a lot of older stuff; what we do have we wanted because there was sentiment there. These pieces mean something to us.

Beautiful. Would you believe I have one just like it sitting in this room?

Are you serious? Now, how cool is that?! 

Artiemom said:

 
The desk is absolutely gorgeous! What a work of art. Looks brand new!

love the rug; such sentimental value.. 

Just a thought, but could you display both the desk and the rug together, in one area, as a tribute to both your families?

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The reason the rug isn't with the desk is because the desk is in the living room, which is prime "puking" territory for the cats. During mealtimes and for about an hour or so after each meal, the bedroom doors are shut; the cats can't get in the bedrooms and that cuts down on cleaning cat puke. After an hour or so, figuring that if the cat was going to puke, she would have done so by then, then we open the doors. I'd like to keep the rug in fairly good shape if I can. I know, it sounds silly, but we have puking cats.   The living room carpet has a lot of spots where they have puked. We clean it as soon as they do it, but the carpet has definitely seen better days.

That desk is gorgeous. Whoever did the refinishing on it is exceptionally skilled. I'm not surprised that he's Amish. They are incredible craftsmen. 

I want that lamp too. It's so pretty. Hurricane Sophie would destroy it in no time though. Her bouts of the zoomies are legendary. She went on a tear the other day and knocked a large picture off the wall. She then proceeded to go through my room and knock a bunch of stuff off my bookshelf before she decided to stretch out on top of it. No Christmas tree and no plants in our house. Now I know why they refer to hurricanes as cats. Cat 1, cat 2......  she's a cat 5.