House Artifact #4 Baron von Dog Buckle

This is the house that keeps on giving!!... Really strange stuff! Here we are with the latest basement find.

So awesome it had to be instagramed. Yes, I have made that a verb.

It's a brass dog belt buckle!

So many questions with this one. Why is it in the basement? Who would have worn this? Why would someone make this dog ..eh... *this* anatomically correct?

The back, sadly not instagramed.

It was made around 1978 so it must have made it's way into basement land sometime after that.

Therefore, dear Baron Buckle, I hope you enjoy your new home in the light of day. I'm sure things have changed quite a bit from the disco scene of the 1970's.

Note: Lots more house artifacts soon to be posted as I am in the process of buying a metal detector, woohoo!

The Prodigal Daughter/House has Returned!

So very sorry for the long absents but lots of things going on in the old homestead. Expect a flurry of updates soon!

Today let's do a half tour of the garage! Why a half tour? Because I lost the key haha.

It's actually pretty interesting, architecturally speaking. It's a 2 car garage, on the road so it's perfect for the winter (If it's empty, I have no idea, being keyless and all)

Hey look, a different angle! Can't wait to cut the locks and see what's inside!

So to be continued on the bottom level. On to the top level!

This is the top level that over looks the back yard. Currently it's where all of the garden utensils go to be forgotten.

Oh look, I have a roof on the ground! Kinda odd but at least it looks good from the street.

Here is a different angle, just to show how odd it looks having half a building in my backyard. I guess at least it keeps things interesting :)

More to come!

Battle Lighting Continues!

Out of the 16 or so rooms in this house, only 7 have over head lighting. This tally does not include the creepy little rooms although they do have over head lighting, which makes me shake my head at any former electrician that came into this house and thought "oh yes, tiny creepy rooms need light but bedrooms? Nahhhhh!" but I digress...

We've finally come to a decision on how we'd like to design the bedroom:

Of course no canopy though because even though the fire place could hide a whale, you have to duck to walk through a door. Once we decided on the general theme of course my first purchase was:

Low ceiling be damned!!!

It is way harder to find a plug in chandelier than I originally though. We've decided to go with wall sconces and floor lamps for most of the unlit rooms. Breaking into the horse hair walls for a rewire would be more hassle then it's worth plus I'm completely ok with not knowing what is back there.

When we first moved in, we didn't realize that most of the rooms lacked lighting because we were never really here in the dark. So as a result, in a panic, we went out and bought a bunch of these.

Only to realize later on how completely butt ugly they are. I'll try to redo a few, maybe move a few to the basement...So we will see their fate later.

This time around we went back and bought 3 more floor lamps.

2 of these, in the white color. I do like the added reading lamp.

One of these. And this....

Because it's yellow! And really, who doesn't like yellow? Unhappy people, that's who!!

I have no idea where these will go as of right now, I'm just happy to put a dent in the dark for now.

A Few Random Updates

Busy busy busy around the house due to the holidays. Hopefully we can make more progress as the weather warms up (haha, I forgot this is New England.)

First I'll start with the newest acquisitions.

I love silhouettes! I've always wanted to get some done of the kids and I but so far I haven't been able to find anyone to do it. I found this pair at an antique shop for $3! Cant beat that.

Now to the furniture...

Well we fit it through the door, haha. It's currently in the dining room as we are still unpacking and clearing room in the parlor. Oh and we don't have a dining room table so it fits nicely.

Apparently this is how you decorate a fireplace that could swallow a Volvo.

And finally....

My 200 year old door would like to wish you a happy Easter!

Inspiration!

I have been struggling with everything from paint color to furniture placement. I realize I'm over thinking things but really, that's what I do best. I was so excited though when I randomly found these 2 books at the store yesterday.

I'm going through them now and I'll post later if I find anything great :)

Furniture Jenga, Day 2

Finally made it back from the second day of the tag sale. Next year we are getting a uhaul. I really have no self control at these things and if I could have fit more, I would have!

Thankfully the Settee made it home, unharmed. I couldn't get a picture of it in good, outdoor lighting because it was beginning to drizzle unfortunately.

It, along with the other 2 seats, will need work. A good cleaning of the upholstery, restuffing, re tacking and firming up the frame. Really I'd say about 8 hours worth but definitely worth it for the price.

I haven't yet explored on here my love for old photos, paintings and frames but I found one at the sale that I could not pass up!

Well don't mind if I do!

So the entire lot, desk, painting, Settee and 2 chairs was a grand total of $200. Not bad for a weekend!

Exploring the Forgotten Life

Little known fact about me: one of my hobbies is furniture restoration. I like to find out everything I can about the piece, where it is from, where it lived and what I'd like to look like now. Sometimes the history of a piece is more exciting and valuable than the piece itself.

This weekend we happened upon a tag and oddities sale. I love these things! We've decided that for the decor of the house we are doing a mix of vintage and modern so these types of sales are perfect for us. Ikea never looked so good until you stick it next to a Victorian piece. We really didn't know what to expect going in but we liked it so much we are going back tomorrow! Of course this is mainly because we couldn't fit the Settee we bought in the back of the Escape.

Car Jenga!

So after many configurations later, we were able to fit a desk and 2 chairs into the back of the Escape!

Here were the finds:

Coming soon: the Settee

Honestly the desk was an after thought, I put in an offer on the 3 piece parlor set and the desk that was absurdly low and I never expected them to accept it.

I'm fairly certain the chairs and settee are federal style but I don't have much experience with that period so I'll have to do more research.

I honestly didn't think the desk was that great. Amongst the other items at the sale it looked like a reproduction piece but what the hay, it was cheap!

Either a reproduction or someone tried to varnish it and did a horrid job.

Behold! A desk!

I finally got a chance to look at the back and was quite surprised to see a manufacturing stamp!

The Flint Bruce Co. was a furniture company in Hartford from 1891 to 1950. This will help date the piece some.

Oh wait a minute....

Now this is interesting. Between the top panel and the interior panel are some papers!

I grab my "expert tools" (in this case a post it note and a pen) and went to work getting the papers outs.

OMG I AM SO EXCITED!!

1920???? I wonder when this last saw the light of day! At least now I know the desk isn't a reproduction!

But wait there is more!

I will have to say this made me tear up a bit. Not only do I have a wedding invitation for the daughter's wedding but also a hand written letter to the mother from daughter, expressing her love. There is also a birthday card to the mother.

I wonder why these were hidden in the top of the desk? What happened to these people? These were obviously significant enough to hold on to and here they are today, 90 years later, the last remaining relics of a person's life.

I hope they had a happy life.