When I was designing this home office, I was thinking about what I could put on the credenza that was going to be on the wall behind the desk.
At an auction I spied an old radio shell. I loved the arched lines and vintage speaker fabric amazingly, in fairly good condition. The knobs were missing, unfortunately, but I still thought I wanted to try and buy it and find a new purpose for this bygone piece. I was able to get the radio, and it sat in my work room for a long time. I even tried to sell it on Craigs List as is, but no one seemed to be interested.
The design of the office was eclectic in feel, with framed old portraits, some beautiful turtle shells hung on the wall and wood with iron standing bookshelves. There were old atlas books, and old cameras on the shelves, so when I remembered the old radio, I thought this would be a great addition to this office. I didn’t want just the shell of a radio sitting there, I wanted it to have more of a purpose. I looked at the back and removed the back panel of the radio….there was quite a bit of room in there, enough for a small lamp of some kind. A lamp where the light could glow out through the speaker fabric on the front of the radio…and if the light flickered, like a candle….ooo so much the nicer!!
I cleaned out the inside of the radio really well and re-stained the radio shell after a light sanding. Some of the wood veneer was chipped and missing, but most of the radio was in good shape, and that coat of stain made a wonderful difference. All I had to do was set my small little lamp inside, add the flickering light bulb I found at the Dollar Store, and plug it in….the bulb was an orangey color, so it really looked like a flame, which was really just the animated touch that warmed up that already cozy office.
I was really happy with the outcome, so glad something that was just a shell of it’s former self, now stood renewed not with a tune but with a warm glow.
