Eclectic Decorating

When we moved to our large home from our tiny condo, I felt a bit overwhelmed.  “Ok, Lord,” I said dubiously, “You built this house.  Guess You’ll have to furnish it.”

Well, amazingly enough, He has.  Over the years we’ve gotten a lot of things for free: a dining set, a pair of sofas, a loveseat, a coffee table, a bedroom set, end tables, kitchen ware,  and a multitude of odds and ends.  And I’ve found lots of great buys at garage sales and at the Goodwill, too.  It’s amazing what some slipcovers and a little paint will do!

Here are some goodies my mother-in-law brought me when she came up to visit, just from her cleaning out the stuff in her garage and attic.  It seemed like every time she called, “Would you happen to like….?” I answered, “Yes!!  I would!”

This is a portable camera from I believe the late 1800’s.  It can fold into its own case, and now resides happily alongside old family photos on the mantel.

 

Oh boy, did my girls flip over this!  This is an old jewelry case that came full of costume jewelry, mostly from their great grandmother.  Pins were sure the thing back then.

 

 

And look at this!  This is a quilt that someone made from, it looks like, old cut up clothing.  Gorgeous.  I wish I knew more of the history of it.  I feel convicted about not putting labels onto the quilts I’ve been making (laziness, I guess, although making a quilt itself is really hard work!).

 

 

Old jars are always fun and useful all over the house!

 

 

This cream colored leather luggage is amazing.  I keep it stacked in my bedroom because it’s just so pretty.

 

 

Oh…and INSIDE….were tons of linens!  I thought my 14yo was going to faint.  She loves hosting tea parties and dreams of doing it as a business.

 

 

 

This quilt belonged to my mother in law when she was a girl.   It’s so sweet, but in need of repair.  I was counseled to cut it up and frame parts of it, but I can’t bring myself to scissors yet.

 

 

I am always astounded that these quilts were HAND STITCHED.  And I think I’m busy with my automatic dishwashers and so forth.  Hand stitched!  Every little hexagon!

 

 

Here is another quilt, a beautiful red and white.  Also in the photo you can see a birdcage I picked up that a friend of mine spray painted (thank you!); it’s sitting on a $5 small coffee table I got at the same garage sale I found these chairs at.  The tea set was given to us by a sweet woman who left them at her death, and my husband built the frame around the slate chalkboard that was given to me by our architect’s teacher-wife.  The table underneath was found at a consignment shop with a bench, and I painted it.  Curtains from IKEA and antique spinning wheel given to me by a friend’s parents.  See how eclectic my house is in its decor?  I’m just (almost) sorry I don’t have a better camera.

 

 

I was so sad to sell my room sized loom but look what my father in law found for me!  It’s the perfect size to make dish towels with, which is all I really wanted to do anyway.

 

 

And this is the piece that started it all.  I was looking around the web for an old typewriter and just couldn’t justify buying one.  So I asked my mother in law, “Say….in that full garage of yours, would you happen to have anything like an old typewriter?”  And thus opened the floodgates!

 

 

All that to say, you never know what you’ll find if you ask!  And, of course, if the Lord builds the house, He will furnish it, too.

 

 

Have a lovely week!