Each piece in my bedroom is special in its own way. They incorporate both my past, and my present.
Those plain white net sheers at the windows -- they were in my very first house I bought in 1986 -- left behind by the prior deceased owner. After I laundered them, I realized they were not tan, but were white! LOL! The former owner(s) of my first house were smokers, and there was film of nicotine and tar over EVERYTHING! Back then, a younger Jan had the energy to scrub up everything, including ceilings, woodwork (left in it's natural state and was beautiful once cleaned), wood panelling in the dining room and the "Spanish Plaster" walls, which were the absolute worst to clean because it wasn't just a swipe and wipe! I wonder how many miles I posted marching up and down the ladder so many times... After I thoroughly scrubbed down the house from ceiling to floorboards, I didn't have to paint at all! The Spanish Plaster was beautiful and the paint the prior owner(s) had put on was in neutral colors and in great shape underneath the now-removed smut of who knows how many years. So, I was rewarded for my muscular cleaning endeavors. The Goddess does bless hard work done with a good heart...
When I sold that home three years later and embarked upon the adventure of having my current home custom-built, I packed up those old but now pristine-white net sheers, along with the chandelier from that home's dining room, which now hangs above my round table in "this" dinette, and the mini-chandelier that now hangs in "this" mini-entry-way (it used to hang in my grand entry-way. That entry-way was large enough to use as a home office as well as a mini-green house. It held my Ming-style desk and chair, a very large oriental painting and some oriental hangings, and many many plants! It had a mini-tile floor in earth tones ranging from nearly white to deep brown, but was mostly gold, and it was all so beautiful. Why did I ever sell that house?)
I thnk the light fixtures I abducted from "my old house" are Art Deco, or possibly a blend of Art Nouveau and Art Deco.
They are chrome-plated (a little pitted and scarred), and there is a "bronze" finish that seems to be painted on some of the other metal (of unknown type). There are creamy-colored milk-glass fixtures. My brother-in-law, Fred L., removed them from my old house before I sold it (I installed new fixtures that were lovely and fit their respective spaces, but were not "historical"), and re-wrired both fixtures for me before the contractor's electrician re-hung them for me in early 1990 in this house. Maybe those fixtures (and who knows, maybe the net sheers, too) are close to being "antiques." I already know they're vintage, darlings :)
Ach! Getting off track (as per usual). Here are more photos of the "bedroom rip apart" in progress:
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| Before: Bed loaded with shit that I scooped out from underneath. It occurred to me before I started shoving the bed toward its eventual destination that it would behoove me to remove all the stuff I'd stashed underneath it more than 2 years before when I'd put the home on the market for sale... Yes, that IS a toilet seat...resting against one of my pillows...  Believe it or not, this is one of 2 toilet seats I bought more than 10 years ago to replace the grungy looking original wood seats on the upstairs and downstairs toilets. I was really really stupid, darlings. I let one of my cheapskate sisters, Darlene, talk me into spending less money to buy these plastic toilet seats, instead of the nice, sturdy wood ones I wanted to buy. C'est l'avi! I replaced the gunky toilet in the downstairs bath with the new plastic one. It was so shitty afterward, that I never did replace the upstairs toilet seat, but continued to use the "grungy" one. Now, of course, I realize I can just take the sucker off and repaint it! Doh! And so, all ths time, the second cheapo plastic toilet seat has been stashed under my bed... Look at that! Still in its original wrapping! Meanwhile, the grungy toilet seat in the upstairs bath has yet to be replaced. Yes, all these years (21 and counting) I've lived here I have scrubbed diligently. Didn't seem to make a fricking difference. So why the hell clean???  A close-up of some of the shit from underneath the bed now piled on top of my bed! That IS an old rolled-up rug, darlings! It's putrid green, too. What WAS I thinking back then??? It's practically brand new. It will be a donation to the Purpole Heart soon. You can also see parts of two black/grey/white large posters of vintage New York City, one of my favorite places in the world. I took them down in 2009 from - the den? - the guest room? -- don't remember, when I put the house on the market. I seriously need to remount them! Right now they are masking-taped to two bands (top and bottom) cut out of cardboard boxes. In light, all the "waves" between the taped parts show!  A cock-eyed view of the posters from underneath the bed now on top of the bed!  The other side of the bed - lots of pictures that were taken down during the 2009 "de-cluttering" when I put the house on the market for sale. I figured I would try for the home-buyer credit and home-seller credit in one-fell swoop! My house has NEVER (exactly) been cluttered but, to my shame, I listened to the really bad advice of the full-of-crap brokers. They ultimately brought me two offers; I accepted one, and then let it go when it was clear they couldn't sell their house for their asking price. The other buyers, for "cash", pissed me off so much (long story) that I outright refused it! They not only low-balled me, they insulted me by offering $20,000 less than the listing price. F-U! I instructed my brokers to counter for the full listing price! Har! That's when the brokers called me and offered to "cancel" our contract. I gladly accepted! Guess I wasn't really ready to sell Maison Newton after all. |
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