Hélène: Wooden Trunk Cabinet

Are you a Georges Brassens fan like me? If so, you surely know about 'la pauvre Hélène', a peasant girl that underneath her ragged clothes had the body and heart of a queen... something similar goes on with this unique cabinet: rough, 'calm' and rustic in the outside, and lavish, bright and smooth on the inside!

It is made out of a wooden trunk from the beginning of the 20th Century, with a lovely pair of flap-doors that can be opened completely and fastened to the sides, painted with an off-white, rough finish and mounted on four salvaged legs from a 19th Century stool, in French style and with their chipped paint showing several layers of paint, from gold leaf to green and burgundy. Other parts of the trimming of the same stool decorate the top and the inside, where there is some shelving made out of recovered boards from an old wardrobe, a vintage drawer with its front and bottom painted in the same ruby colour as the legs, a mirror, the back and side walls covered with a deep green gorgeous paper handmade in India.. and two sets of LED lights that can be lit separately and don't need to be plugged in: Perfect to be used as a bar cabinet!

The Hélène Cabinet measures 58x 47cm, 120cm high

Now, a handful of detail pictures -showing the outside 'rough' finish, the original iron clasp, the bronze handles (both for the doors and the drawer in an Art Nouveau Style), the lavish design for the paper inside, the legs and trimming salvaged from the old stool...

 THE MAKING OF:

The parts, before their transformation: the wooden trunk was in good general condition, but the 'upholstery' of brown paper in the inside had to go. It was tattered and bumpy.. and fastened with thousands of rusty nails that had to be removed one by one!
Taking the legs and trimming off the old stool without damaging them was not easy either. I also had to treat them against wood worms.
A surprise came while ripping the layers of paper off: some parts of old labels were still stuck in the inner side! They dated back to the early 30s, and sported the delivery company's name in bold Art Deco letters -obviously, the makers had recycled some used brown paper from other parcels. I love this kind of things: it's rather exciting to be face to face with the past!

When the ripping and de-nailing was over, it came the sanding -loads of sanding! Despite the rough look that I wanted to keep, some smoothing was needed -plus cleaning and preparing the wood for its treatment. Then, I cut the old boards to build the drawer box and shelving,

tinted some parts in the inside and dry-painted the outside surface (I also treated and painted the drawer, not shown in the pictures). Afterwards I glued the paper, mounted the inside -drawer box, shelving and mirror-, the legs and top moulding, and protected all the wooden parts with clear varnish, satin on the boards and shiny for the legs and trimming. Polishing it all was almost the final part! I only needed to add the lights and the wooden trim that covers them.

Finding a discrete row of LED lights that didn't need to be connected to the power line turned to be more difficult that expected -this brand new model with batteries saved the day! Sleek and practical, with the right size and the warmer kind of light you can get from the tiny LEDs... I just didn't like the holder, and replaced it by a couple of small hooks, that allow the tube to turn and even to be removed with a simple click: Ta-daa! Old meets new technology and get along well, heh heh.


By the way, the Hélène Cabinet can be used for purposes other than a bar -like a book shelf or even a vanity! In any case, it will surely make a bold statement wherever it's placed.

Oh, and... GEORGES BRASSENS - Les Sabots D'Helene Enjoy!