Aggie Belle and the Cedar Chest

When I was a toddler, my parents invested in a cedar chest from Lane Furniture to store all of the sentimental baby items they thought my brother and I might like to keep.  Two years ago, Isaac and I inherited the cedar chest when my parents downsized.  I love having the chest; the bench seat needs recovering and the hardware is a bit outdated, but that piece of furniture has remained unchanged through countless moves and it's location at the foot of my parent's bed (and now ours) is a representation of home. 

Enter Aggie Belle.  She's cute, she's cuddly, and she's hyper.  Oh, our 7 month old puppy is incredibly well trained, but she's still a puppy.  Her mommy tried to tell her daddy she needs more exercise in the mornings because she gets bored by mid-day.  Her mommy tried to tell her daddy that she isn't ready to be left out of her kennel in the afternoons after he feeds them at lunch.  I think her brother tried to tell her daddy this too.  Daddy wants to think is little Princess is just perfect though, and after a few successful afternoons, determined she was grown up and no longer a threat to our house.  "I told you so" is rather appropriate at the moment.

Last week Aggie Belle chewed the bottom left corner on the cedar chest.  I was proud of myself for not yelling or crying or threatening to send Aggie Belle back to the rescue group.  I did plop on the floor and just stare, but I stayed calm.  Isaac thought he fixed the problem by spraying the bottom with an organic sour stuff that dogs don't like to taste, but he didn't think to spray the top.  A few days later, the top corner was chewed too.  Sigh.  Apparently the humans and canines in our house learn lessons the hard way.

Since I married a jack of all trades, Isaac has begun sanding and dismantling the trim work on the chest.  He bought a drill that shapes trim (forgive my lack of technical terminology), and is in the process of striping the stain so the whole chest can be redone.  Yes, I'm excited I get new fabric to recover the bench and new hardware, but really?  All this work!  Every time Aggie Belle walks into our study where the cedar chest renovations are occurring, Isaac asks her, "Who made this mess, Aggie Belle?"  It's pretty funny to see her cower because she knows she did it. 

Here's the 'old' cedar chest.  Check back in a few weeks to see the 'new' one!

Isaac had already taken off a handle before a picture managed to be snapped, but you get the idea!