Moving Adventure

Time has flown since my last post.   I haven't had the heart to post giving everything that has happened in our lives.   It all started when someone knocked on our front door, wanting to buy our house.   After 30 years of rain, we want to move someplace with more sun.  I wasn't quite ready to move, wanting to wait 2 more years, but then I thought, why go through the hassle of listing the house and have people walking through it.   I'm pretty tidy, but I don't like the idea.   So, we said ok.  SOLD.

Will I miss my 40' long room with the fantastic view of the Columbia River?

 Will I miss the ever-changing views of the Columbia River?

 The mist coming off the river, covering the airport in fog.

 An early morning sunrise enshrouding the river in light.

The colorful sunsets when there is a break in the clouds.

The night light of the city, watching the planes take off.

The house has always been an oasis for us.  Moving wasn't easy for me, even though I am tired of taking care of a 73 year old house that required constant attention to stay in good shape.

Or will I miss all the remodeling we have done for our own comfort and pleasure.  The master bath.

 I miss the Perrin and Rowe faucets.

I will definitely miss the heated marble floor and the heated towel rack.

 

Below is a photo of my daughter's room as a small child.   It was done in a Colonial Williamsburg wallpaper, from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller collection.  The blue stripe was a copy of a ribbon.

 Upstairs, a bedroom had Mario Buatta wallpaper in it.  My daughter picked it out when she was about 6.  I know I needed to redo the rooms with wallpaper, but I just didn't have the heart to do it.

I didn't think that the wallpaper below looks dated.  Hurrah for toile!  I had taken out a fabulous antique mirror and moved it, but I think the mirror below looks ok.  The tile floor is some $.99/foot tile that we laid 20 years ago when we were broke.  It was white sheets, but I popped out the tiles to make a pattern in the floor.   There's one black tile put in the wrong place.  Try and find it.   I didn't notice it for a few years! (ok it is behind the door)

I loved my walnut counter in the laundry room.   I always giggle when I think about this--it was walnut flooring that we brought home in the Mercedes--  it was the days before my husband would let me have a mini van (he says mini vans make me armed and dangerous--and that a Mercedes was cheaper -- oh the things I could bring home!).   The guys on the loading dock laughed at us as we stuck the flooring through the sunroof for the drive home.  (Yea, it was Portland, and yes, it did sprinkle on us a bit)

Below is the kitchen which has cabinets made by my dad, who is now 86.   So sad to leave those.  I will miss my sub-zero refrigerator.   I loved the way it kept temperature.

I was asked to leave the antique runner, which I obliged.

I also left these fabulous antique planters. I miss them too.

While I had about 30 days from signing to move out, it got very complicated.   My 82 year old  mother was rushed to the hospital with pneumonia and a serious infection.  It was terribly sad to see her struggle.   She passed away on my birthday.

She was a wonderful person who raised 7 kids.  Growing up in Germany, she was babysitting her younger siblings all day at age 4 1/2.   She had to go through so many hard times growing up and we tried our hardest to make her life easy as we became adults. I love the picture of her below--reminds me of that invincible spirit she had.

I will always be sad that she never got to move into the casita we built for her, but I know the anticipation and excitement about the move was something to look forward to.  She enjoyed being a mother, a grandmother and travelling.  She will be forever missed.

Doves released graveside.

As for the house we left, I guess it was time to pass it on to someone else who can make it a wonderful family home.  The first thing they did was open up the staircase to the living room.  I always wanted to do that, just ran out of steam.  I understand that our home is wherever we are.  I'd just like to make that place as special as the last one.

My husband and I packed over 160 boxes in 3 days.  We used uniform size boxes to make it easy to load the moving truck.  (They moved everything out in 2 hours).   Everything safely arrived, I am only missing one remote control.  The fragile stuff we moved ourselves in a mini van.

We are living in an apartment and having a house built.   I have lots of decisions to make, and will be asking for opinions.  I appreciate those of you who have hung in there even though I have been absent.  The foundation has been poured, so it's full speed ahead, with a move-in date this summer.   

I didn't do any sorting on my move.  I have spent the last month going through all of the boxes, sorting and tossing.   Tough for a collector like me.  I have a lifetime of projects.  In fact, I even turned down going to an antique show, I feel like I have TOO MUCH STUFF!

Best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014.

Breakfast Room Toile Makeover

A couple of weeks ago I decided that it was time for the paper shades in my breakfast room to go.   It's been 4 years since we moved in, and Thanksgiving is at our house this year.  Below is the "before" shot.

These windows are only 16" wide.  I have a curved wall to deal with,, so it seems tough.  I went to houzz.com and looked for window treatment ideas.   

The most common choice was no treatment at all.  I would go for that, except the sun is so hot there are times when you need light control.

 The treatment below of a valance was another choice.

 The shades below gives you some light control, but I'm not sure I like the windows above not covered.

The treatment below is way too formal for me.

 I do like the woven blinds, but I don't have enough time to order anything before thanksgiving.

I love the curved rod below, but I don't have enough clearance behind my table or a place to stack the drapes on the wall.

I did notice that alot of the rooms that are curved -- are like mine, a table in them.

I have some drapes here that match the family room nearby, but I don't really like them with my painting.

You can see my solution laying on the dining room table in the next room.

I went for some toile fabric, a yellow, green, and tan.  The chicken theme may be overdone to some, but I'm sorry, I still love it!  After all, we're out in the country and much of the house is formal, so this makes the room more cozy.

The colors go so well with my painting.  The frame gold is really picked up with the colors in the drapes, and my little girl with the broken arm from 100 years ago is wearing a green dress.  It's picked up in the fabric and looks wonderful!  

Yes, that is a topiary rooster in the right window.  

I made the drapes and the shades.  I made the drapes first, and then managed to line up the design in the shades.

The shades and drapes are both interlined with flannel and blackout lining.  I normally use the cheap blackout lining, but it is so stiff I used a more expensive lining that isn't as stiff.  I am happy that the folds worked out beautifully.  

I love the shade hardware that I got at Fabric Depot in Portland, Oregon.  I can stop the shades at the exact same level on each window.  I thought about making balloon shades, but decided a simple roman shade would be less fussy-- there is so much fabric in this house, less is better here.

I finished just in time.  31 people are coming to dinner.  I am gathering chairs from all over.    I will share a photo later of the table.

ok, I am off to cleaning.   Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Thanksgiving Placecards - Antique Style

Thanksgiving is bringing 31 people together at my house.  That's  a lot of china, silver, and chairs.  I decided to use placecards to make it easy on deciding where to sit.

I found some antique trade cards  from the late 1700's and used them for my base format.

As usual, I couldn't decide what print to use, so I used a bunch:

I stuck with harvest and farming themes, with some thrown in because of the period dress.

The chef, who has a huge garden and grows oranges, will get the orange grower business card.

I had to play with the sizing.  once I get the size figured out, I print them out on cardstock.

It's not the typical pilgrim/ fall leaf// pumpkin placecard you usually see for Thankgiving.  So that makes it perfect for my table.

I'm linked up to Marty's "Inspire Me Tuesdays" at A Stroll Thru Life.

Antique Finds: A Silhouette & Show Towel

I have been swamped with personal stuff, but I still keep antiquing every moment I get.   One unexpected item I found recently is  a black and white silhouette.

Normally they are just  heads and really don't appeal to me.  I thought it looked very Victorian with the parrot, don't you think?  The very period looking lemon yellow gilt frame adds to the charm.  I think it was $8 or $12, (they get cheaper the longer I tell the story, according to my husband!)

I have it parked on my mantel until I figure out what to do with it.

I love my gray jasperware pitcher parked next to it.

Another item I just finished untangling is a show towel.  They are known for their luxurious fringes--and you can often find them unused.  They were so special they were often just displayed--thank goodness.

Unfortunately the one below was tangled up, so I spent the past couple of evenings untangling it while I watched movies on TV.

I tried to find out if there were tricks to untangling the fringe on the internet--but no luck.  They do say to launder, tie the bottom together to keep them from tangling, but I think I have a better idea.  I will just baste the fringe to another piece of fabric to keep them all in place.   I can do that now that they are untangled.  The threads look all smooth here now that they are ironed, but the linen is really nubby and the fringe really sticks to each other, so I literally untangled them with a needle.

OK, back to my housecleaning.... company is coming!  I hope you enjoyed my antique fix this week!

Unusual Chairs - Antique Italian Aesthetic Movement

I am thinking about these chairs.   I love chairs, have way too many.  But these are different.

Are they too different?

I am not sure that I like the angular look to the chair, it is somehow unsettling to me.  They are so unusual I have to consider them.

What do you think?  Too much?  I think maybe the griffons on the chair don't help me.  A little creepy.   I shall decide tomorrow.

Memorial Paintings and Needlepoint Samplers

A wonderful form of folk art, memorial pictures definitely assure that a loved one will be remembered.   Starting in the 1700's and continuing into the 1800's, memorial pictures tend to show grieving family around a tombstone underneath a weeping willow tree.   Most common are needlepoint samplers and watercolors.

Below are some examples.  I know once you see these you will recognize that you have seen them in antique shops and shows.

Of course there is a reason I am sharing this with you.  I recently found a watercolor commemorating a little 6 year old.  I believe she died in 1818 in a fire,as in the background you see part of a city burning (on the left).  It is actually a watercolor on silk, not paper.  It looks much better in person, but I wanted to share this with you anyway.   I am hunting for a spot to hang it, to be shared later.  

This picture has a mournful willow tree, which actually represents resurrection and rebirth.

Some people may think that these pictures are morbid, but at the time, they were considered an appropriate expression of a family's grief.  They were often done by schoolgirls and considered quite an achievement by the family.  However I have never been interested in things that include a person's hair, which was common in Victorian time.    I know many of you collect samplers.  Check to see which ones are actually commemorative samplers.