Restoration of Edward Lloyd Parry's Armoire

A few years ago, a dear, thoughtful cousin of mine heard that I had written a book on the life of Edward Lloyd Parry. She felt compelled to give me his armoire, which she had inherited years ago. My father remembers as a child the armoire sitting in his parents' bedroom. Naturally, over the years it had naturally accumulated a lot of wear and tear, and there is evidence of some alterations to the piece (i.e., coat hooks, two long bars on runners in the ceiling designed to hang suits and jackets on, missing drawer handles, and we also speculate that some of the exterior and interior colors might not be original.) Here is what the armoire looked like when my cousin gave it to me (click on each picture to enlarge):

My wife and I decided that we needed to get the armoire restored. In April of 2013 we took it to a restoration specialist in Salt Lake City, who took 18 months to restore it. Along the 18 months, we worked closely with the restorer, making numerous decisions along the way. We determined that while we wanted to preserve the yellow on the panels and drawers with its hand-painted "Mormon pine" effect, it simply wasn't feasible to retain it with all the damage and dings. We were faced with the daunting decision of whether or not to change the color of the piece. After much deliberation, we opted to alter the piece to a color that we feel still maintains the dignity of the piece and fidelity to the time it was built. We are delighted with the results! Take a look at how it turned out: