Some of you may know that I started this blog after a change in my life when my mom passed away a few years ago. She was 86, which I guess most would consider that a good long life, but boy, was I not ready to lose her. I guess we are never ready to lose our moms but somehow it seems like it might be easier if they are sick or suffering or their quality of life has deteriorated, you know, all of those justifications that one comes up with when you are coping with the loss of the woman who gave birth to you.
My mom was getting older, true, but still unbelievably active and a total firecracker of a lady. Sometimes I think back on things that happened weeks before her death and I think she might have known her time was short, but then again, who really knows. I do know that I miss her every day and as Mother’s Day approaches the lump in my throat and chest seems to swell.
Becoming a lover of vintage finds, décor, well, just about everything vintage came on like a light switch when I was going through her belongings in my childhood home. She kept EVERYTHING, and as hard as it was to do it, I think the entire process was very cathartic in so many ways.
One of the things she had in her home was an “antique room” where she housed so many lacy, dainty treasures of her mother’s, my father’s mother and my great-grandparents. She had a sofa that had long been referred to as “Mom’s pink couch”. “Mom” was my paternal grandmother and the couch that had been in my parent’s home for a couple of decades was a beige satiny, old damask French provincial couch. Apparently the couch used to be pink and time had aged the color, but not the condition; it was pristine. The furniture and décor of this room was not, and quite frankly still isn’t “my style” at all. Sometimes I don’t know exactly what my style is. I’m drawn to farmhouse, French country, rustic but not crazy chippy décor style, although typing that I look around the room and definitely see some chippy goodness going on. But right when I think I know my style, something else knocks me off my feet and it’s completely different. Still, I couldn’t give this antique room grouping up. I brought it in and made it my entry room when you walk into our house. It’s like needed this room around me, I needed to have it just like it was at her house. It’s funny, I get more compliments on this room than any other room in our house and my husband simply loves it.
There are color pallets that I love and very few I don’t care for but pinks and burgundy is one that I can honestly say I don’t ever use. Pinks and burgundy are a little too fru-fru for me, but this antique velvet burgundy love seat is one of my favorite pieces of furniture ever. When I get to the point that I will dismantle this room, which may or may not happen, I don’t think I’ll ever part with the love seat. It’s just dreamy. When my youngest daughter had her first set of senior pictures, we drug it out in the backyard and had her photo taken on it, with the deer behind her. I loved it.
There is the antique grandfather’s clock that I adore and it will remain in our house even if the antique room goes. I remember when my parents brought it back from an antique store when I was young, so if it was an “antique” then, you can imagine how old it is. It stopped running decades ago and sat in their house, not working. One of the first things I did was find a clock specialist who fixed it for us and the chimes that I went to sleep to as a child are now back in my home.
At the advise of one of my mom’s best friends, I took light fixtures from her home as well and have hung one in this room. One is also in my greenhouse, if you can believe it. There is a gold leaf antique shelf that I remember my mom splurging to buy gold leaf and applied it sheet by sheet. She adorned it with all kinds of vintage trinkets, including my first pair of glasses (white cat-eyes from the 2nd grade).
So, to dismantle or not dismantle. To move on or stay in the past. I’m not sure what I’ll do, but they are classic pieces of French Provincial furniture. What do you think? Are there rooms of furniture that you hold on to hold on to memories? Maybe so, and that’s totally OK. But step back in time and take a look at some of these beauties from the past. Stay safe and healthy all!
