Cleaning, Purging and Salvaging

So as I told you in my last post (here) I have to clean the garage to make room for DadK's table saw. 

Well, believe me when I tell you that this is no easy feat.  It has years of "stuff" in there. 

I'm gonna say "stuff" because if I say crap, hubby will tell me to throw it all away...  again!  O_O

He tells me that I do a great job of relocating things instead of getting rid of what I should.

I DO NOT do that!  ;o)

 

So I started friday after work to attempt to clean and purge and I knew it had to start with the shoes.

They kinda really were all over the place... 

You see, I am a definite Imelda when it comes to shoes.

But I think not as bad as my sisters...  (I'm trying to justify...) But hubby still told me to count. 

So for the time being until I can get rid of the big white monster of a cabinet, I am using it for shoes.

So far, I put a dent on about a quarter of my shoe collection.

There are 68 pairs in there. 

I am hoping that I can at least fit 150 pairs after emptying the top and last shelf on the right.   

 Most of this cabinet housed the ga-jillion gardening stuff that we had accumulated over the years.

Of course, we kept buying stuff because we never knew that we already had it because it gets lost in the cabinet!

Soooo...  do you want to see where I got all those pieces of woods to make the shelves for the shoes?

This is a corner of our back patio right outside the master bedroom doors.

I always had planned on getting an outdoor cabinet/armoir something for there. 

Since I couldnt find one that I wanted, I decided to build it.

Building the shell was a little tough because the wood was still not dry from being treated.

So it was especially heavy and of course, you know how much I love height on any furniture!

I tried to assemble as much of the frame on the floor.

But the patio wasnt too level and so I had to assemble it where it is to go.

Here it is so far...

Not much of anything right now but just you wait and see...

...and this is where I salvaged the wood pieces for my shoe shelving in the garage.

...and this is what is going to house all the garden stuff that I took out of the white monster cabinet.

 

What did I purge?  I got a whole van full of "crap" ;o) that I will take to MomK for her garage sale in 2 weeks. 

Not too bad for a weekend, huh?

 

By the way, I only got rid of a pair of shoe....and it was T's!   ;oP

 

 



Grandma's Bookshelf

It's been a while since I've posted about my home... or anything in my home.

And since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought that a post about this particular furniture is apropos.
This is Grandma's Bookshelf.,,and it is a shelf displaying love.

It sits in its own little place by the entrance of our home.

It was passed down to the hubby from his Grandmother.

Almost everything on this piece of furniture is a special memento.

These are our grandparents.  S1 is the one on the right with his grandma in blue.  She is also the one from whom the shelf came.  If you look closely, you can see that S1's hair is ridiculously thick and long then!  ;o)  I have the picture of my grandfather somewhere, I just haven't had a chance to frame it yet.

All the books behind the pictures are also from Grandma. 

Some of them are over 100 years old and all are leather bound.  All Harvard Classics! 

The white box hidden behind grandma's picture are the twins baptism candles. 

I want to display them properly but with kids and dogs, I'm afraid that they'll end up broken. 

So for now they sit there.

 

This is a letter and rosary made by my sister and given to me when she got married.

I dont consider myself a very religious person but I do respect cultures and traditions and I am quite sentimental about heirlooms.   I'd like to hope that alot of things that I cherish and keep and pass down to my children will also be as cherished and live on.

These bibles are also leather bound antiques, with very yellowed pages and beautifully detailed illustrations.  The small white bottle is filled with holy water from Lourdes, given to me by my best friend, EL. 

 It sits on one of the old saucers handed down to me by my mom and along with another rosary made by my sister and given to T for being a flower girl in her wedding.

The white heart shaped box contains the gold ribbon that held my engagement ring that was tied around Roxy's neck (hubby's dog then) when hubby asked me to marry him.

The big black book is our wedding album.

When we moved into our house, one of my first purchases for our home is this leather signing book. 

Every single person that has come to stay in our home has signed it. 

It is full of wonderful and joyous words and memories. 

 I am still looking for an old inkstand and quill pen.  I think that they would complete the vignette.

As you can see, this barrister's bookcase is really a secretary too.  It's a wonderful piece of furniture!

Almost hidden at the bottom are more of Grandma's leather books and the only picture of Mom and Dad K at their wedding.  It also has our engagement picture and then our wedding picture with our favorite priest, Father Tim! 

 

Lastly, is this little guy made from brass with a beautiful etched design.  This bird was the last addition.  It was won by Mom K at a family Kris Kringle game from Aunt S.  Aunt S hated it! 

I, loving its originality and detailed artistry was glad to have it.

I think of Aunt S everytime I see it and smile as I remember what Mom K said were her comments when she told her that I would like it.  And since she is after all one of our wedding godparents, she too deserves a special place...even if it's through the bird she so hates!  LOL! 



Nichols and Stone

Yesterday has got to be one of my best "thrifting" days! I have been looking for Windsor chairs for my kitchen for like forever. I have entertained the idea of just getting any garage sale chair and refinishing it myself but the thought of trying to do this with all them spindles have erased this idea from my head!

So off I went on my regular Saturday morning jaunt and what do I find on my second stop? Windsor Chairs! A pair of them, in the color I want.....and even better, a couple of antiques made by Nichols and Stone!!!!! These are actually side chairs and I wish that I knew a little more about their history.

For those of you that dont know, Nichols and Stone were among, if not THE leading manufacturers of the American Windsor chair. This pair (worth even more because they are a pair) were made for Centenary College in neighboring New Jersey. I am now the proud owner of a pair of them!! =o)

At auction nowadays with the more reputable auction houses, these chairs would probably fetch a price of no less than $300 a piece!


If I tell you how much I actually spent for these chairs, I absolutely think that you would faint in amazement! =o)

If you are a collector of 19th century pieces, or an antique dealer, or just an avid fan and know-all about Nichols and Stone, Hitchcock or an alumni or history buff about Centenary College and know anything about these chairs, please let me know!!! I'd really love to know their story!!!

Cockadooddledoooooo!!!

I got a most wonderful surprise from my bro-in-law yesterday and I LOVE it!!! I have never been into decorative ceramic animals of any kind but the crowing rooster has ALWAYS reminded me of my Lola's(grandma)house in the province. No matter where I am, when I hear the "cockadoodledoo" of any rooster, my thoughts go back to my very early childhood running around in my Lola's house and yard. I knew that I just had to have one of them to bring back and preserve this memory in my home. I mentioned this to L, who loves scavenging for good deals like myself, to grab me one if he finds...and he did!!! =o) Rooster is over a foot wide and almost 2 feet tall!! I know that his final home is right smack in the middle of my island counter. His colors are sooo beautiful and match my kitchen and adjacent family room so well! (more pics to follow AFTER I clean the counter! ;oP)

I've also been making more of my decorative pillows since I found out that my embroidery machine is STILL not working. This is after paying over $125 to get it fixed! I am not a happy camper! Here are the pillows of which I just put in my Etsy!


Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

New Rug

Well I finally got rid of the old under the sink rug and changed it with this darker jewel toned one. I didn't think I'd like it as much but I think that it goes better with the theme. I made the curtains rather quickly when we first moved in and didn't realize how awful it looks! Project #1 of must do things. Project #2 of must do things is to repot some of the window plants. I LOVE the tall long stemmed plant that is growing like the magic beanstalk but need to research what it is first so that I can properly transplant and propagate it. Project #3 is to tile the window ledge. I really love the plants there and the plants seem to love it there too. Only problem is the wood of the ledge doesn't like it too much.

By the way, our kitchen counters are really never this neat. I have double deep commercial sinks and I pushed everything in it to take this picture!