Antiques require an open mind and a desire to get your hands dirty
One of my favorite antique pieces in our house is a pie hutch that was about to be hauled to the dump. But when I saw it, I fell instantly in love with its potential.
My husband and I were helping a friend clean out her father's old row house in Baltimore, and in the basement loaded with his tools and layers of grease and filth, I found this hidden treasure.
The metal tray pulls out to almost double your workspace, there is a cutting board that comes out too that's still in it! It has little teacup hooks and it's simply my favorite treasure. But when I found it, my husband wasn't at all happy about taking this smelly filthy monster home in our minivan!
For a week, I went out in the snow and chilly weather to hand wash it down, and gently blow dry it so it wouldn't warp. Under the gunk was an art deco star, who would live with us and travel back and forth to Seattle, upstairs and down, and become one of my most talked about pieces of furniture in my home.