Rearranging Furniture

Wow, a busy week completed and another already started here at Casa Ireland. Even with normal housework, appointments, mowing two yards, and checking on my mama, I found time for a few extras.

First, for our anniversary my sweetheart bought me a fabulous tiger oak sideboard at a local antique mall. The label says Home Furniture Company, East York, PA. There's no date but I'm thinking early 1920's. They manufactured oak dining furniture from 1898 to 1928, when they changed to radio cabinets and bedroom suites. It is exactly what I was looking for and matches my other tiger oak pieces perfectly. I love the detail on the doors!

Getting a new piece of furniture means rearranging...not only the room where it will be, but overflow into other rooms. I had to unload the china cabinet to move it, which led to cleaning the glass shelves, finding forgotten treasures, and reorganizing the shelves. I dusted baseboards and chair rails, swept and swiffered, rehung pictures and wall décor. I brought in his old Philco radio to sit on the new sideboard, moved a mirror to the hallway. My dining room sparkles and looks totally redecorated.

We already have a house full of stuff, so I donated one old filing cabinet and plan to sell another piece. I have two boxes of stuff from the kitchen and dining room ready to go to Goodwill. After dealing with an estate sale, my plan is to simplify and purge our household items. This year and from now on, the one in, one out (maybe two out) rule will apply to nearly everything. My fabric and his electronics are excluded, of course.

By the way, I know that the current trend is not brown furniture. I don't follow trends, I use what I like. I decorate for my own happiness, pleasure and comfort.  

Decorating Golden Rule:  

Live with what you love

Antique Tiger Oak Furniture

I have always loved furniture pieces made from quartersawn oak. It has character and texture. Sometimes called tiger oak because of the golden striped grain lines, it was popular during the Arts & Crafts period. My great grandmother Mamie had an oak table and chairs, china cabinet, and buffet. They are the simple Mission style, manufactured by the Cochran Chair Company in Cochran, Indiana before 1900. The story is that she had to burn two chairs and the table leaf one winter night so they wouldn't freeze. I don't know about that, but I have enjoyed the round table and four chairs in my kitchen and dining room for nearly 30 years.  

I have been wanting a tiger oak sideboard to match my table. Last Friday, on our anniversary, we went exploring in a local antique mall. We saw several oak buffets, but they weren't exactly what I had in mind. We did come across a cute little tiger oak bookcase with a single glass door and the same simple lines. It fits perfectly on a short wall in our dining room, and the sale price was right at $225. I've already filled it with pieces of my pottery collection.

We noticed it had an original looking shipping label on the back, hand addressed to Portland Planing Mill in Portland, Tennessee (where we live). What looks like an original price of $37 can be seen on the wood back. The manufacturer on the label is Grand Rapids Fancy Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was able to find that they were in business from 1896 to 1938, before being bought out by another company. They made office desks, ladies desks, bookcases, music and radio cabinets, mostly in the Arts & Crafts style.  The only info I found about the Portland Planing Mill is a Portland Herald article in 1909. 

I'll keep searching for a tiger oak sideboard or buffet, enjoying my quest since it's such fun browsing around antique shops, flea markets and estate sales. I wonder about the families who owned the pieces, where they came from and the stories they could tell.  

“Antiques are things one generation buys,

the next generation gets rid of,

and the following generation buys again.”

--Author Unknown

Fashion Rerun: The Fun and Funky 70's

What's hip, cool, and a blast from the past? This spring and summer we're seeing a return of designs from forty years ago. Wow...can it be that long? It seems like yesterday. If I still had the little knit dresses, peasant tops, and floppy hats, they'd be classified as vintage! These are the clothes that I loved to sew and I have the patterns to prove it.

Looking through my older patterns, I found quite a few that are exactly the same as those in stores right now. The only problem is, mine are size 7 or 9 junior. Modifying those to fit my current size 12 will be a challenge for the more detailed designs. The simpler ones should convert easily. Or maybe I'll sell a few vintage patterns and buy new ones to add to my collection.

It will be fun to wear the 70's styles again, at least some of them. I don't believe I can manage micro-mini skirts this time around.

Useful Notion: What goes around, comes around...in fashion, style, home décor, or life.  Keep the best and discard the rest. 

Remember that always dressing in understated good taste is the same as playing dead.  -- Susan Catherine

Never wear anything that panics the cat.

           -- P.J. O'Rourke