Chair Love On The Main Line, and an Estate Sale Find

If you read yesterday's post about the estate sale at the 1806 house -- the one being demolished -- you know we didn't get the plates I'd gone back for, but ... we did get this:

An actual period an-tee-cue!  A cherry stand, with tiger maple drawer front.
Lovely wood, handcut dovetail joints, nice light Sheraton style turnings.  Love.
And a good buy in the last hour of the sale!

Not cleaned up yet.  And yes, it's got a few issues. 

I don't know why, but I like burn marks on antiques.

Makes me wonder about the husband who got scolded for it!  :-)

Miss Gilda Von Tease says, Excuse me, but why are you photographing

some old table, when I am right here, posing?

ī

At another estate sale, we picked up a lovely matelasse bed coverlet, with two shams,

and a bedskirt, for ten bucks.  I'd show you, but it's downstairs in the laundry area.

Also known as The Dungeon.  I don't do The Dungeon unless I have to.

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On Monday, S-I-L Phyllis and I ventured to Philadelphia's swanky

Main Line neighborhood, to take a look at some Craigslist chairs.

Not surprisingly, they came home with us.

Two of these:

Oh I do love these chairs.

They look like chubby little ladies, don't they?

Spaniel approved.

Then, there were these two, and they also came home with us.

Nice carvings.  On all 4 chairs.

They are clustered around the sunroom table now,

but they can easily pinch-hit in the dining room.  Useful.

One fly in the ointment -- I had to take a table along

with the four chairs.  It's a square tile-topped table,

and Dylan DiPoochy says if you can look past his gloriousness,

you can see it leaning up against the walnut cupboard in our kitchen.

Sometimes when you do Craigslist or eBay or

do other thrifting, you end up with excess stuff.

This is a perfectly fine table, but we don't need it.

I stopped at Goodwill to donate it, on the way hone,

but Goodwill's reception center was not open.

Turns out, that was okay.

Howard says he can use it in The Dungeon.  Works for me.

As long as I don't have to go downstairs and visit it ...  Cass

Link Party!

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Help Me Paint A Thrifty Craigslist Table

Howard and I are Sunday-driving to a
charming lakeside village, where we're going
to take a gander at this table, below.

And I think it's a pretty safe bet that this table, below,

will be coming home to That Old House in the back of the minivan.

For the past month, I've been assiduously cruising Craigslist

for a cheap bargain coffee table, big and sturdy, for our study.

Which has been without coffee table convenience

since Anne moved out, and took hers with her.

Anne's architect chest, AKA coffee table.

No luck with the coffee table search until Friday, when lightning struck, and that

cute, cottage-y, kitschy, scallop-y, chunky coffee table stood up and said, "Pick me!"

So we did.

 Now, what color should we paint it? 

The sturdy study upholstery is a very printed cotton tapestry,

furniture we bought in 2001 for its dog-and-teenager-proof qualities.

And it has stood up to dogs, kids, and grownups very well over the years.

Loads of colors.  Gold, brown, black, red, other red, rust,

pale green, dark green, weird blue, and a bit of a purplish color,

but I don't know what you'd call it.

Then there's the rug.  Similar colors, only paler.

"Stop looking at me!

You think I want to wear this stupid dress?"

I initially was thinking dark red (mostly because I

already have some dark red paint), but then I thought,

No, let's make it green to blend in 

with the room, which also has green walls.

And I already have green paint.

Howard, in the study in his favorite spot ... and I have leftover wall paint in a Sherwin Williams
green that I cannot remember the name of and will have to find the can and hope the label is still
legible ... because the wall color may make a nice table color, too, with a poly finish over it.

So, whatcha think?

Green?  Red?  Gold?  Plaid?

No, seriously -- what do you think would be a good color for this table?

(It's kind of a dark room.)

And ... should I decoupage the top because -- yes -- I already have some Mod Podge?

Have a gorgeous Sunday, my friends.

It is crazy, crazy windy here, and a few loose shutters keep

scaring the life out of me by banging on the house.

I'm glad it's not Halloween tonight!

The leaves are flying off the trees.  Goodbye, chlorophyll!

-- Cass

Valentine's Day -- Snow, An Orchid, Spaniels, and ... More Snow

February 14th: Saint Valentine's Day.

Thank you, dear Howard, for the orchid.  It's warming up in the sunroom.
The Fed Ex man braved our snowy landscape to deliver it on time.  :-)

I haven't seen my husband since Wednesday morning, 

when he left for work in New York City, ahead of the big snowstorm.  

It was a stay-in-the-city type of storm, and so he did.  

He'll be home tonight.  

How fitting . . . home for Valentine's Day.  :-)  Or, night.

Nothing says Love like cardboard cut-outs and

a chain of flocked hearts, from Dollar Tree.

I win the cheesy holiday decorating award!

I spent a total of $4 for my decor.

How romantic is that?  For most husbands . . . very.

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So, we have some snow.

You probably do,too.

If you live in the Northeast USA.

Or parts of the South!

The morning was glorious, with ice-coated trees just glistening

in the sunshine.  Those sparkly hills in the distance, below,

are several miles away; I could not stop looking at them!

Glitter! 

And then, there are our dogs, Dylan and Gilda.

Life has become rather restricted for them since the snow!

(If you follow on email, and no video shows up in this space,
you can go to the blog itself for our dogs frolicking in fresh snow.)

If you, like we, have more than two feet of snow from

two weeks' worth of snowfall . . . good luck and stay warm!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Eat some chocolate.  -- Cass

Those Crazy Cut-Ups: Mother Nature and Father Christmas!

A Happy New Year to all!

I'm sure things have been hopping at your home, too,

as time slid into the New Year, and then the 12 days

of Christmas ushered in the season of Epiphany on January 6th.

Our fresh Sunroom tree, back on December 18th, freshly decorated.
You can still see ornament boxes stacked in the lower right corner!
This tree is a Canaan Fir, and took 4 Rubbermaid bins of ornaments,
1,800 colored lights, and one strand of white lights around the trunk.
Howard is a lighting wizard.

*********************************

How was your Christmas?

Ours was lovely,

with both of our daughters and our son-in-law under our roof.  

We had a big party on December 21st, but I took no pictures.

Too busy!

Christmas morning at That Old House: 

Josh and Alida made Monkey Bread for breakfast,

a tradition borrowed from his family.

So good, your brains could fall out!

Anne made her lighter-than-air waffles,

this year gluten-free!

Waffles, real maple syrup, and breakfast sausages.
We don't skimp on Christmas feasting!

 And then, it got cold. 

Really, really cold.

Brass Monkey alert cold.

Our fence, this week, with the Christmas lights still
festooning it, and the thermometer crying "Uncle!"

Our resident red-headed bombshell, Gilda,

is not bothered by the cold at all.

She wears a nice, thick fur coat.

All the time. 

 Dylan DiPoochy, whose coat is rather thin

in comparison, is less happy with the frigid outdoors.

We fenced in a play yard for the dogs; here's part of it,

as seen from the dining room windows:

 They haven't spent much time playing in it.

Gee, I wonder why?

Meanwhile, in the house, Christmas still holds sway

. . . in the front hall: 

. . . in the Parlor: 

. . . and in the Sunroom, where the Canaan Fir

still stands, still in good shape.

I really hate to take down a Christmas tree! 

Sunroom tree, on Tuesday morning, 1/7/14.

Gilda has started to yank ornaments off the tree

and put them on the floor.

I think perhaps she's pushing me into restoring

the house to a more normal state.  Gilda is a very opinionated lady.

She likes to sleep on pillows,

and often tips one over to make a bed for herself.

The other day she used her nose to push a pillow off a club chair

and into a basket of clean folded laundry.

Nice little nest, isn't it?

Happy Epiphany to all!

This season of the church year brings us to Lent, to Ash Wednesday.

How 'bout that?  Before we know it, we will be looking at Spring.

I promise.  -- Cass

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Auction Chicken-Out, Craigslist Treasure, and a Cuddle of Cavaliers

We set off on Saturday morning, with all good
intentions of bidding ourselves cuckoo
at an auction 'way out in the Jersey boondocks.

We drove through beautiful countryside, 

 passing farms, horses, cattle, mansions . . . .

 and barns!

and finally got to the auction location.
(Full disclosure: it was only a 45 minute ride from That Old House.)

But then, we left.

It was very crowded.  The odds of getting really excellent

bargains at a heavily-attended auction are slim.

I need bargains, because I re-sell them.

So, home we toddled.  And instead, cleaned out closets in our bedroom.

Bonus: several big bags of clothing to donate!

*************************

There's always Craigslist.

My almost-never-fail source.

Last week, a small French chest of drawers caught my eye;

I contacted the seller, and bought it for $44.

(Yes, an odd number; don't ask.)

It's veneered in what may be satinwood, but I'm no wood expert.

It is old, with handcut dovetails and thicker veneers than modern furniture.

Plus, it speaks to me of being old.  I feel it.

 (No jokes about "it takes one to know one," okay?)

It has issues.  Lots of missing bits of veneer.

I kinda fell in love with it.

These are before pictures:

Before: Chipped veneer, scratches, blobs of old candle wax . . . isn't it gorgeous?
Even its dirt has character.  :-)

Before: Well, maybe not all of it is gorgeous!

So this brings us to yesterday.

Before: Great lines!  And the brasses, and the original locks, still in place.
I love the cockbeading (I am not being rude),
which is secured around the drawers with teeny tiny nails.

As I have neither the skills nor the patience to

do real repairs to her, it was a lick-and-a-promise job.

See any difference?

This is an after:

I got rid of the dust, cobwebs, and (thankfully dead) spiders, and carefully

scraped off the candle wax lumps with my poor fingernails.

After cleaning her with a mild furniture cleaner and soft rag,

I massaged the old gal with Old English Scratch Cover,

which is pure magic for disguising, well, scratches.

Looking better, don't you think?

Still "boo-boos" on the top of the piece, but it was in such rough shape up there
that I'm okay with what is there now.  I'll settle.
(The cloudy stuff is sun glare through the big sunroom windows.)

I didn't take the brasses off, but just rubbed them clean(er).

I'll do a better spiffing up, someday.  Stop laughing.

I think Fifi LeChest is pleased that she no longer looks

like something that the cat drug in.

She's a long way from perfect, and that's just fine.

Today I'll wax her, being very careful not to 

yank off more veneer by mistake.  Ouch.

She's staying right here at That Old House,

no sales tag for her.

**********************************

Speaking of perfect . . . Mr. Dylan DiPoochy has a new ritual:
morning snuggles with Gilda The Red. 

 Our sunroom is blindingly bright in the mornings, and warm, and

Gilda loves to tuck herself into a corner of this loveseat for a good snooze.

Now, most mornings, she has company.

Since Dylan usually loves to tease his "big sister," this is A Good Thing.

In the old days, he'd have jumped on top of

her - several times - just to be a brat.  Yay for change.  :-)  -- Cass

Link Parties!

Linda's Coastal Charm is the place to be for Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays.  Click here!

Marty at A Stroll Through Life hosts Inspire Me Tuesday.  Click here.

And I'm a bit late, but I'm hopping onto Susan's Metamorphosis Monday,

at Between Naps On The Porch.  Click here!
And a new, to me anyway, Link Party:
We Call It "Olde" at the We Call It Junkin' blog.  Click here!