Tower and Town, November 2020

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Colour Supplement: In Fife

Last March 23rd, I was not prepared. It wasn’t just toilet paper that was lacking. As the months stretched ahead, I had to think on my feet, and make do. Not least of all because I am NOT a computer whizzy dizzy. Quite the opposite. When we started lockdown I had never ordered on line. My computer was for documents and long letter-like emails. Luckily, I had just acquired a smartphone that I could hardly use. It turned out to be vital.

Today, six months later, our leaders have announced a new sort of lockdown. Not a complete shut down, but still daunting. And this time it will not be a wonderful sunny spring to set us going. Winter is coming. Time to scrabble again for ways to energize and engage, to keep buoyant. For me, that has always meant more projects.

The first time round, in March and well into April, I restored a bureau for Clara, age 6. All her older siblings and cousins had already had the Grandma bureau treatment. She was the last one waiting and she was desperate. I couldn’t trawl the junk shops looking for the perfect desk. And how would I get hold of the paint? And even if I managed to do it, how would I get it to her?

There was a bureau in the loft, deemed too lovely to be painted with monkeys eating bananas, or tractors, or butterflies and cats (see next page). I had a lot to live up to. She was convinced she could order anything and it would appear, so she didn’t hold back. She ordered the entire solar system to be painted on the lid and please, could I also paint a unicorn on the side? What is it about unicorns?

I probably ruined a solid well-crafted mahogany bureau. She got lucky, as the many cubby holes and tiny drawers will hold plenty of treasures. The lid goes up and down smoothly, and the drawers have lovely brass handles. I got lucky too because she wanted the same midnight blue colour as her older brother. I had just enough chalk paint and black wax left over. She did have to make do with photographs of the finished bureau until lockdown eased in the summer, but at least she knew it was done and it was hers. And it gave her Grandma huge pleasure.

Looking back, it’s got easier with every bureau I’ve painted. The early ones I spent days sanding before I even began to paint. Then I discovered chalk paint, which can go straight on the most black and hideous varnish and turn something heavy into something wonderful. Only the shape and solidity of the piece matters. Charity shops are still stuffed with wonderful pieces of well-crafted hardwood furniture crying out for a revamp. It remains one of the most satisfying and lasting projects out there.

Run right now to the nearest charity shop and buy something solid. Anything that takes your fancy. You’re probably way more competent than me. At the touch of a key, you’ll be able to order chalk paint and wax (or just varnish, that’s less effort) or the new mineral paints from Fusion. The paint colours available now are wonderful, and if you’re not super artistic, get busy with stencils or carbon paper, or leave it elegantly plain.

Your mission is to lighten your days!

Vera Lethbridge