photo LFD-header_zpsrtqgwepm.png
 photo home_zpsbeyvjzpc.png  photo story_zpsryll93pv.png  photo church_zpsutjg0pcs.png  photo vintage_zpsrnxzz1s4.png  photo mosaics_zpslhx9tjaj.png  photo gallery_zpsrtj0zvcz.png

Monday, May 21, 2007

Feeling better, thanks.

I have deep, strange and psychological connections to my furniture. I don't know if other people experience this, but I suspect they do...I seem to recall an episode of The Cosby Show when Cliff said goodbye to his old couch...

Anyway, like most things I have, our furniture is "pre-owned." I'm not sure why, but the concept of walking into a furniture store and buying something new is just pretty much beyond me. I feel pretty sure that if I paid full price for it, I wouldn't be able to use it, but rather, would set up a shrine around it, light some candles and hold 24 hour vigils to make sure the dog didn't sneak up on it to sleep on it in the dead of night...

So.... my brother generously gave us three beautiful items that would not fit into his new place...And I'm talking really nice, nearly new, name-brand things here...and at my favorite price...FREE.

But when we hauled these items in, something down-right deflating happened...they made my stuff...my comfortable, pre-owned, inexpensive but sturdy stuff, look positively...pathetic.

For one, this was some pretty masculine stuff. I throw Robb a bone every once in a while and show up with something faintly man-like, but for the most part, the stuff I bring in this house is pretty girly.

And for another, it is usually stuff I can carry myself, which means...small. So a Pottery Barn computer cabinet, two leather bar-stools, and an overstuffed leather chair and ottoman...well, they dwarfed my "Baby Bear" collection.

Now, to a normal person, this would be no big deal, but for some reason, I began to see things through that critical and evil eye of someone who does not share my decorating aesthetic. That critical and evil eye saw a girl who buys cheap, dirty junk because she is a poor, tacky, trailer-dwelling, beer-swilling, fat and unkempt, furniture-whore.

I avoided the house for three days but when Hubby asked if I was all-right on Saturday night, I quickly disolved into a bucket of mush, crying hysterically, sobbing out bits of communication that included something about being fat and hating myself.

Now to most of my female readers, the jump from the furniture not quite fitting to being fat is fairly obvious, but for that one masculine reader, it has something to do with a book title I heard of recently..."Men are like Waffles and Women are like Spaghetti." ie....Men can compartmentalize, but women's issues are all connected to one another.

I felt bad about the house, so I kept stuffing M&Ms in my face to alleviate my pain.

I don't know where the line is between the women in magazines who are featured for their brilliant use of flea-market-finds and the women who are tacky and cheap. I suspect it might have something to do with hormones.

Hubby rose to the occasion. After an extremely busy weekend at church, he turned his full attention to making me happy. And what made me happy was born of a casual conversation about piano lessons...

For three days, I had simply stared at it all...without a single idea of how to make it work. Decorating magazines only made it worse. I was paralyzed.

Went to church Sunday morning, just glad to escape the mess. Had a little chat with friend Kim about her daughter's piano recital and their lessons. Somewhere in my brain, something clicked.

So after lunch, we moved the old, sagging bookshelves into the garage and moved the piano in. We moved the giant oak desk out and the put the computer in the computer cabinet. We loaded the car with thrift-store-bound extras. And by 9:00 pm, we had achieved a living space that we both actually liked. Somehow, we married the old and the new and have forged something that might actually even make our lives better. We are seeking to make changes...less tv, more exercise and creative time, better eating habits, and more human interaction and less plugged-in time...and I think the furniture arrangement is going to support some of that. We have an insanely comfortable chair and ottoman in our bedroom now to read and dream in. And I can play my piano again...something I find incredibly soothing. And ALL of the Vintage Fellowship stuff is going into one cupboard now, so we might actually be organized and ready instead of making repeat trips home to fetch the sixteen things we forgot.

So, when I get off my duff and get it all perfect, I'll take a pic... but for now enjoy this...my very first tea-rose.

5 comments:

Amy said...

You know so much about subjects I'd like to know.

I have some roses that I trimmed this weekend. Should I have? They have buds but haven't bloomed. I think they are Vining Roses but I'm not sure. HELP! I don't even know where to start.

Unlike you, I haven't showered. All I accomplished today was eating a can of Asparagus.

Sometimes, it's better to just say, "Ditto."

klasieprof said...

Good going wench!! I'm proud of ya!!

Vanessa said...

Hey Amy,

I wish I did know more about roses, but after killing several, I have figured out a few things...

I think you can prune them before blooming and it is supposed to help all the nutrients into the blooms. I've also heard you can start new plants with the cuttings by putting the piece you cut in rooting hormone and then putting them in sand under a glass. (and keep watering it).

Really...a can of asparagus. Intesting choice.

....pics to come....

Vanessa said...

oh and ...

I think the information you are looking for on roses is found here:

GOOGLE...aka...my other best friend.

Amber said...

Okay, you seriously have to change the way you think about yourself!

You are so stylish and chic with all of your thrift store, yard sell, estate sale finds. It doesn't look like white trash clutter. Seriously. Your style is awesome! And I absolutely LOVE the new decor!

You go, girl!

Blogging tips