This business is across the street from the Main Branch of the Waco Public Library, so I notice it pretty often. I’m intrigued, but not enough to go in to shop. The last thing I need is more furniture in the house.
And while not exactly “rustic” (of, relating to, or living in the country, as distinguished from towns or cities; rural), a lot of our furniture is, well, “old.” I know, “antique” is a nicer way of saying “old.” But, really, the only thing in the house that could be thought of as “new,” or “modern,” is the treadmill. And that’s not exactly a piece of furniture, even though a cousin once said that, when they got a treadmill, a friend said that, all too soon, they’d be hanging their clean clothes on the their treadmill’s arms. And she said that that is what happened. While I don’t hang my clothes on the arms of my treadmill, if I did, I’m quite sure that there’d be plenty of room for my hands to grasp a space to hold on to, while I walked.
But, back to our actual furniture. The newest pieces of furniture we have are the stools that surround a cabinet extension. They date back to our previous home, which had an island in the center of the kitchen, where we often ate our meals.
Almost everything we now have is, well, old.
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- This is a cedar chest that my parents got when they were first married. It had a very dark finish (chic for the day). Mother painted it avocado green and stained it, per the style of the time. I stripped it and discovered that it is beautiful.
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- This very charming table was, in its beginnings, a child’s library table. It came from the Methodist church where we attended when I was growing up. At one point, there was a garage sale, and it was set out to be purchased. My mother bought it. It was Jeremy’s table when he was a little kid. Later, I stripped it and discovered how lovely it was.
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- This chest has been in our bedroom in several of our homes. The story is that it belonged to someone in the family, and various family members who came and went, used one or more of the drawers at a time.
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- This little rocking chair belonged to my great grandfather, Ozero Dodd Goodwin. It got handed down to his son, C.L. Goodwin, and then it went to my Dad, Ozero David Goodwin. Then it came to me, and then on to Jeremy, who is Jeremy Dodd Lintz. And, it’s still at my house. At some point we’ll send it along to JoAnne’s grandson, also named Ozero.
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- This chair came from my Ohio grandmother’s house. Mother brought it home from Ohio one year. She had the seat remade, but, as you can see, the weaving didn’t last. I put a plant on a large saucer on it.
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- I love the story of this chair. It also came from my paternal grandmother. David and I went up to visit her, in Wauseon, Ohio, one year, and I noticed the chair in her kitchen. (It does look pretty worn, doesn’t it.) When I sat down in it, I was startled, because it’s short. My grandmother explained that her mother was small, and she had trouble, when she was snapping beans, because the big bowl of beans would slip from her grasp if she wasn’t careful. So, my grandfather sawed off a couple of inches from each leg, so that her knees were elevated just enough for her to keep that big bowl of beans on her lap. Despite how dilapidated the chair looks, it’s quite sturdy. Come over sometime, and I’ll let you sit in it.
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- This beautiful chair was a gift to my maternal grandfather from his siblings. And Mother ended up with it. Once, many years ago, she asked me and JoAnne what things did we want from the house. And, we both answered, “The Red Chair.” It is a lovely thing. JoAnne did have it, for several years. (I took the armoire.) Then, after several moves, JoAnne was going to get rid of it, and did I want it, which was a ridiculous question. Of couse. So, it’s now part of my chair collection.
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- When we moved into the first house we bought, a friend of Mother’s offered this table for us. It had been used in a bunk house for some cowboys. We were glad to have it, and, eventually, I refinished the top. The chairs around this table, in the house where we live now, are chairs from my Ohio grandmother’s house. Every time we went to visit her, up there in Wauseon, Ohio, she would give Mother a chair, which she would put in the car’s trunk and we would arrange our luggage around it (and, of course, my Dad’s golf clubs).
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- Mother called these sheves “whatnot” shelves, and they came from her parents’ home. I looked up Whatnot: a light open set of shelves for bric-a-brac. You’re just going to have to look up “bric-a-brac” youself. Mother kept pretty things like vases and china pieces and picture frames on it. We put books on it. And, before Peter was even born, we screwed it onto the wall.
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- This armoire is the only piece of furniture that I recall from my maternal grandparents’ home. After several years of its being moved from one family’s home to another, it ended up at Mother’s. And, now, I am using it.
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- This washstand was also from my Mother’s family. I keep gift wrap and tissue paper and ribbons and bows in it.
We have a cousin who did some Interior Decorating work. At one visit with her, we saw that she’d used an old sewing machine drawer to hold notes and pens. What a clever idea! A few weeks later, Mother dropped into a, well, sort of junk shop. She saw an old treadle sewing machine and asked if she could purchase one of the drawers. “Of course,” said the owner. Then, a couple of days later, she went back and bought the other three drawers. Then, a day or so later, she decided to buy the rest of the old machine’s cabinet. Then, she refinished it all and gave it to me. The cover worked for a machine. Then, another machine was taller. Now, my current sewing machine is a little taller still, which is why I’ve attached those small wooden spools to the corners, so it will rest a little more evenly on the machine’s surface. Of course, it’s run by an electric foot pedal, and not the treadle, but I very much still love my old/new sewing machine.
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- This is the desk that my dad used when he was growing up. He was a great student in high school and then went on to Ohio State, where he expected to graduate. However, WWII happened, and he got drafted into the Army. He spent much of that time in Texas, where he met my mother. He ended up staying in Texas and graduating from Baylor instead of Ohio State. Kevin has the desk, now.
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- This is the desk my parents purchased with wedding gift money, and the one that Daddy used for the rest of his life. Now, it is my desk, and that is my paper shredder under the desk.
God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings.
1 Peter 4:10 (The Living Bible)
I think maybe the only piece of furniture we’ve purchased might be a bed. Really. Our decorating scheme can only be described as eclectic. (deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources [other people’s castoffs]
What a fascinating tour…loved it