Furniture talk...

or... I've had a de-stressing weekend.

This last weekend was a workout. All the family was out of town, so we were on our own to get a little more done around the house. In the one storage unit we have left, we are working our way down to the boxes that I'd just as soon leave there indefinitely. You know, the boxes that have out of style shoes and clothes you know you'll never use again, and boxes that are labeled "non-current office", "garage sale pantry", ect. or my favorite... "miscellaneous". what the heck is in that?

Then, once we drag the boxes home, comes the real fun... where to put all the stuff. Going through boxes, sorting out what to keep  and what to return to the box and mark "Garage Sale".  so. much. fun. But I did get something marked off my "to-do" list, and that was painting this sweet little washstand that my mom had used for years.

Sorry these pics are crummy. The basement living area doesn't have a lot of natural lighting. This piece had several coats of paint, and I didn't want to do any sanding before painting.  I was worn out and wasn't thinking about the outcome. But then once I got my first coat of ASCP Old White on I realized that I wouldn't be able to distress it without the green showing, too. (I didn't want any of the green to show through)

So, I did another coat of a mix of grays in a wash, then another "dry-brush" coat of Old White on top. It's far from perfect, but it gave the illusion of distressing, without actually sanding down.

This had been in our basement at the old house, but not in a place that I wanted to blog about, so I don't think you all have seen it. We're still working on getting the lower level here decorated. My main issue is that I have an exercise bike and a treadmill sort of in the middle of it all. I had plans for making a cute little kitchen nook, but all that went out the window with the need to have some viable exercise equipment. But I'm trying to make it look as good as it can with those two little elephants sitting in plain sight.

Anyhoo, take a look at this amazing piece of marble. When we moved 12 years ago to the other house, the movers broke the original piece of marble that was on this. It made me ill, especially since I'd told them to please wrap it carefully, and be aware that it was fragile. um yeh, they broke it. But the company finally replaced it with this, and I do have to say it's beautiful.

I have shown this old sideboard before, but it's been ages ago. (It was hiding in the same area of the basement as little green washstand) I've debated on whether to paint it, but it's not been a priority, so it's stayed like this.

It was my great or great great grandmother's and when I got it, it was literally black with years of varnish build-up. I stripped it, (back in the 70's) and used a rubbed oil finish. (Remember Homer Formby?) It's just stayed this way all this time, but it's such an orange-y color. It may move up on my "priority list" after some other things are done. It's such a nice piece of furniture, I know it would be so pretty painted. I don't have any qualms about painting it, as this isn't the original finish. The original finish was just plain nasty.

Half of our total basement is storage space, which is really a life saver. That's one of the reasons we chose this house. tons of storage. These two pieces are on each side of a door that goes into that area. We still have the big entertainment center and bookcases to fill and decorate, so that's holding me up on sharing more pics. But here are a couple, so you can get the jest of things.

The fireplace is just like the one upstairs. huge. and hard to decorate. We have the same old sofa, loveseat and chair, but since we don't use this space often, I can't see spending the money right now for new furniture. When the kids (they're not little kids, and are all over 35, it's just that we act like "kids") are all down here and we're watching movies, it a lounge-fest with coffees, sodas, wine glasses, cigars, and french bulldogs all vying for a spot. Blankets, quilts, and pillows all over, so new furniture seems pointless. Maybe plastic slipcovers would be the best investment.

I don't know who this person is, 

but oh.my.gosh. don't you love it?

This could be an aunt of any of us. te he.

Here's the armoire from the Living Room at the old house.

It's full of quilts right now.

That's my antique horsey on top.

(immediately to the left are the exercise elephants)

OK, I've kept you long enough with ho-hum stuff.

I've been working on unpacking more old dishes and odds and ends.

I'll share some of those next time.

Thanks to everyone that joined in on the Patriotic Party

over the weekend.

I'll leave up the link for a bit 

if you missed seeing the fun.

I'm joining in here:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Show and Share at Coastal Charm

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Share Your Cup at Mrs. Olson's

Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours

Share Your Style at Common Ground

xoxo,