About a year ago I was privileged to be asked to join a Quester’s Group. Quester’s is a national organization for people who are interested in antiques, preservation and restoration. I knew of this organization because my mom was a Quester but I didn’t know her people nor did I know how to find a group.
We meet once a month and I decided October would be a good time to have it. When asked what I would like to do for my report? Ah, I don’t know I haven’t even given it a thought. In the middle of our last DIY with a paint brush in hand I had to think quick. I thought about the research I would need to do and decided to make it easy on myself and speak from the heart. My report “The Joy of Living with Antiques”.
I actually wrote my report on my iPhone while watching paint dry in the garage! Swirling around in my head I just decided to write it down and it came pouring out of me. So I thought I would share.
The Joy of Living with Antiques
The joy of living with antiques is multi dimensional. First of all there is the hunt. Most of the time there are no specifics involved because if your looking for something special you will not find it quickly. Then there is the “Oh what’s this”? Hmm could this work for me? Then there is the thrill of the find! Maybe it was something on your wish list, maybe not, but you bring it home like a new puppy and start playing with it. Asking yourself where can I use this, or how can I make it better. Then you educate yourself. Find out as much as you can about what you are collecting.
Some things find a home right away and others become floaters. Things that get moved around because you keep experimenting and hope to find just the right sweet spot. Floaters are just as important as any core piece in a room. These are the items that keep things fresh from season to season. Thus was the case with my dad’s standing goose that he carved many years ago. When we liquidated their home the goose dubbed Mr Wadley came home with me. He has been in so many spots around the house. I kept bumping into him. A few weeks ago while cleaning up after our latest DIY project, I bumped into him yet again and I threw him up on the trunk. Well of course, this is where he wanted to be all along!
I love him up there and this is where he will stay. For now! Keep your home fluid and in motion so you and your home don’t get tired of each other. After all accessories whether new or old are just toys for grown ups. They should be admired and played with. Nothing greaves me more then walking into a clients home years later and finding everything where I placed it. Though this is a huge compliment, I want my clients to play and experience every aspect of their home. Fill your home with favorites, and don’t hang onto things that you don’t love. Sell them so someone else can have a chance to love them.
In my 20’s I started my collecting with a tin pudding mold and a yellow ware bowl. Made from yellow clay for utilitarian purposes, it became my first passion with objects like mixing bowls, pie plates, pitchers and cookie jars. Pudding molds, colanders, and chamber pots.
French confit pots and rolling pins although those two eluded me. Too expensive! I’ve sold the bulk of my collection but I have kept my favorites and they are always in circulation in my home. A rare English colander rests on the Welsh Cupboard, along with a nest of embossed bowls and a beloved and rare mocha ware bowl that was a gift from my parents for Christmas.
In my 30’s it was blue and white transferware, started with one small chipped $10 platter because I needed something for over my bed. Quickly becoming an obsession I bought anything I could afford.
Eventually bringing the collection down to the preferred 1825-1835 time period. Plates of every size and pattern, cream pitchers, sugar bowls, a sauce tureen picked up in Indiana, a bespoke platter in a very rare pattern called “Sheltered Peasants” that I picked up in Maine for 100.00 with a chip and horrible cut marks thru the glaze. This is still my favorite piece and most people would consider it a throw away. I display it proudly with the rest of my pieces. It was a well loved, and well used piece of history.
My late 40’s brought a interest in Redware Pottery that also turned into a passion. Though all my pieces are reproduction as the real deal was out of my price range and extremely hard to find, I have been selective in the pieces I have added, staying true to my period and buying pieces from artisans who specialize in the art of red ware pottery.
My 50-60’s have brought a comfortable knowledge that I now know my own taste. I needed to start being selective as to what came into our home. After years of curating just the right piece, now was the time to upgrade and bring in some unusual core pieces. Just a thought swirling around in my head with no direction I had no idea what that looked like.
One of the first large pieces I added was an 18th Century trunk with original paint and bun feet. The iron strap hinges on the inside are a wonderful hand wrought confection with a tray compartment attached to one side for smalls. This piece is a bit of a wreck but I love it and have no regrets in the purchase.
The barn vent I picked up at an antique show and just fell in love. No it’s not what one expects to see as wall art but I enjoy the original finish and the way the copper flashing shined up with just a piece of steel wool. The arched top and the shape of the louvers are a testament to the sense of pride the craftsman must have had in creating it.
There is a small dressing table in the powder room that we brought back from Denver. On the hunt for a piece of furniture, but not sure what it was, the whole vacation I considered and rejected. There was a specific antique shop I wanted to get into. Every time we stopped they were closed. I was devastated. After one last try on our last day we gave up and slogged our way thru Denver traffic to our hotel and back on the road to Omaha. Nestled into our room the husband said call them. What? Who says our vacation has to end now. I must have looked dumbfounded, he hates unfamiliar traffic. I said you’d fight your way back there again? He said sure. So I made contact and scheduled a time for the next day. Walking in the door I knew I was home. Lots of scruffy English stuff. My favorite. The husband said rather quickly how about this, could it work? Hmm, the price was right and it was English, it was 18th Century with original plum pudding finish. Was it a fine example of 18th Century craftsmenship? No, it is a country piece with a cracked top and bowed legs! It was perfect.
There is a frog spear that graces the space above the welsh cupboard. (Check the above photo) I loved the way I could feel where the users hands rested as he worked with it day after day. The artistry of the iron work appeals to me. I love the juxtaposition of the primitive with the fancy. It helps balance the scales and keeps things from becoming too precious.
These are just a few crazy things I have brought into our home. My suggestion to you is think outside the box. If I have to put some work into a piece to make it presentable , this is how I learn. Using things not for their intended purpose but giving it new life. A victorian door in diplorable condition with 12 coats of paint can be remade into a show stopper of a closet door.
An old screen door from a mansion on Nye St in Fremont bought because I loved the copper screen and the mail slot can be repurposed as a laundry room door. I couldn’t afford the mansion but hey, I can afford the screen door!
Salvaged closet doors from the Restore Store can be painted and repurposed to create a spacious storage closet.
Can an item become a statement on a wall, or can a 5$ chair become a scultural moment. Maybe not sturdy enough for a people but certainly sturdy enough for a stack of books. A stack of books can become a table, a lamp, a pedestal to help isolate an object that might get lost without the anchor and the lift. An old piece of crewel fabric pulled off a French chair and found in Natchez MS can be brought home, washed and repurposed into the best fall pillows.
Can the living room crewel drapes be changed and the fabric be used to recover cushions on the wicker chair in another room? Why yes, yes they can.
A painting picked up at an estate sale for the frame with a fist size hole in the canvas be salvaged into art once more? You bet, I stuck a piece of canvas behind it and had my way with paint. I am no artist and when I find a replacement for this piece I will do so. But for now it works.
For me the scruffier it. is the better I like it. If I know the story so much the better. Most of the time I don’t, so the story begins with me. I have sanded, waxed, refinished, rebuilt, painted, cut down, gilded, and glued trying to maintain their scruffy goodness. Everytime I handle a beloved antique it takes me back to that place, that moment, that thought, “Oh your coming home with me”! As often said I am just a steward, the keeper of a piece for now. The protector and admirer. After all everyone should have a bed warmer in their powder room or dishes in their bathroom!
The antiques have become the supporting players in this small suburban home. A scrapbook of my memories telling the story of our lives. Pulling in the driveway there is no place like home. A home full of favorites.
If your still with me I so appreciate you. I know that was a long one.
Thanks for stopping
Shelley
