On May 20 the muses and I are "Climbing-for-Air" with our in-laws -- a tribute to my father-in-law who passed away on 4/13/22. Here's a link to my fundraising page if you'd like to offer a financial contribution. Or... just cheer us on in spirit. Climbing stairs is hard work! 😂
Deb & I are among those obnoxious shoppers who run our fingers over wooden furniture, knickknacks, and objects d’art, absorbing the grain through our fingertips. We love our wooden tables, wooden chairs, and wooden shelves.
(Yes, we still have some composite-wood shelves — “unnatural wood,” if you will — from our ensign/broke single days, but they are kept out of sight in basement or home office. Hey, they’re paid for! And as a percentage of income when purchased, probably more expensive than our later natural wood furniture...)
(Come to think of it, my first apartment shelves were natural wood! Unfinished. Supported by natural cinder blocks. 😁)
Thank you Jack and Deb! I'll let you know how the muses and I climb on the 20th. Tal will be sprinting, Cal dawdling, and Nia doing her best to keep it together. 😂
I've had to wrestle with envy over the last couple of years. Both of my sisters-in-law built new homes with all the new gadgets and color schemes du jour. In truth, I am happy for both of them. 😁 I had my opportunity for brand new and exciting in 1999. We're at the 20+ point where everything is starting to show its age... and lack of style? My leaf pattern stairway/landing carpet screams, "I'm from the 90s!" The thing is, it's great quality and has held up specularly. 🤷🏻♀️
Painted "wood" is all the rage these days. Whites and grays.
Never will I paint over our oak. I will remind myself of its beauty instead!
Bravo! Painting over the fake stuff (particle board😱, OSB, and MDF) does little to make the pieces more sag-resistant. 😝
Do you ever see movies featuring interiors of fine, old mansions? Any painted wood? 😱 Not on your life! Dark? Usually, but great detailing, characterized by interesting wood grain, and typically not finished with “shiny” finishes like shellac.
As availability of old growth tree lumber declines, making statements with wood grain gets tougher. The switch to paint strikes me as, “If we can’t make the cabinets look great, we can always make them look like nothing!” My interior designer friend does not need to hear a word of this ... She knows I’m a relic so maybe it wouldn’t matter. 🤷🏽
By the way, intentional or not, the hot link to Merriam-Webster for “theophany” was perfect! I was surprised that the page remained “active” when I saw an imbedded pop-up add shouting, “So your home has dust!” And showed a plastic jug of ? being poured into a pan. If Calliope awakens with lower back spasms during the night, don’t breathe a word about the “magic dust solver!” 😉
I'm reminded of my recent visit to the Pabst Mansion where a restoration society has been painstakingly removing paint and trying to replace wall/ceiling coverings and woodwork.
As I might have mentioned, the craftsmanship is awe-inspiring... even for a Shaker-style-lover like me.
Magic dust solver? Sounds amazing! We've been able to open windows and the dust has a yellowish tinge -- pollen a plenty!
The swirling pollen days! A car parked outside here in mid March quickly acquires a visible layer of pollen. Starting the engine sets the particles in motion, swirling like magic. Pine trees first, distinctly yellow, followed by oaks of several species adding a touch of green. Or so I’m told. Brutal for those with seasonal allergies.
I love fresh, cool night air but my sinuses argue loudly against open windows!
On the “Strippers” at the Pabst Mansion, a paint stripper exists that can be applied, coat after coat, to form a wrap. Then the product sits for hours. Next day the stripper can be removed with all the softened paint/varnish adhered to it in a single layer. Way less messy than typical strippers.
Yes! Another connoisseur of student furniture! My grad school coffee table? Cinder blocks and double wide 2x10’s. My grad school bookshelf? Much more refined. 1x8 yellow pine, choice grade lumber (hand picked🙂), and cut with a handsaw, rabbeted top corners (showing off), and hand drilled and countersunk with a Stanley “egg beater” drill for brass screws. It’s in my garage.
But the entertainment center? By my third year I selected 1x10 yellow pine and developed a design for the tube-TV, another niche for my RCA suitcase record player, storage for LP’s, and rows for books top and bottom. Originally stained with Watco dark walnut finish (70’s) it now sports a coat of neutral paint (wife) and occupies more space in the garage. I sometimes call myself a “sentimental hoarder.” 🤷🏽
I never bought decent furniture until I left the Navy, Gary. Military moves were done by contractors who bid the lowest, and the lack of care the movers took reflected that. Unless a piece was destroyed beyond use, putting in a claim was a waste of time, so dings, scrapes, and gouges were standard, acquired over 10 years and 8 moves. Hence my first pieces of "real" furniture had to wait until my first civilian apartment. And 32 years (and only 2 moves) later, it's still in good shape!
My son is Active Duty Air Force, career service, and has experienced what you just described. The “complexities” on their move to a base in England involve a dog crate not meeting international height standards. Better still, the port near New Orleans (from which he embarked) informed him they could/would not move his one-year old Mustang GT to England! Notwithstanding son’s rigorous preparation and planning. I was afraid I would have to turn in the rental SUV and take possession of the Mustang. 😬 For an indeterminate period of time. 🤔
Fortunately PetSmart kept their promise to swap crates if something like this happened. The port shippers, after sweet- toned cajoling by son’s wife, realized they were flat out wrong. Furniture shipped well both ways!! They are now stationed 70 miles from us, granddaughter included!
Hmmm... If you don't ask, you don't know!
Rejected by... yourself?
On May 20 the muses and I are "Climbing-for-Air" with our in-laws -- a tribute to my father-in-law who passed away on 4/13/22. Here's a link to my fundraising page if you'd like to offer a financial contribution. Or... just cheer us on in spirit. Climbing stairs is hard work! 😂
https://action.lung.org/site/TR;jsessionid=00000000.app30050a?px=9175216&pg=personal&fr_id=23588&NONCE_TOKEN=8B821C95990D17D43312DEDCF82FC8C9
Natural wood is not in vogue? Say WHAT?! 😳
Deb & I are among those obnoxious shoppers who run our fingers over wooden furniture, knickknacks, and objects d’art, absorbing the grain through our fingertips. We love our wooden tables, wooden chairs, and wooden shelves.
(Yes, we still have some composite-wood shelves — “unnatural wood,” if you will — from our ensign/broke single days, but they are kept out of sight in basement or home office. Hey, they’re paid for! And as a percentage of income when purchased, probably more expensive than our later natural wood furniture...)
(Come to think of it, my first apartment shelves were natural wood! Unfinished. Supported by natural cinder blocks. 😁)
Thank you Jack and Deb! I'll let you know how the muses and I climb on the 20th. Tal will be sprinting, Cal dawdling, and Nia doing her best to keep it together. 😂
I've had to wrestle with envy over the last couple of years. Both of my sisters-in-law built new homes with all the new gadgets and color schemes du jour. In truth, I am happy for both of them. 😁 I had my opportunity for brand new and exciting in 1999. We're at the 20+ point where everything is starting to show its age... and lack of style? My leaf pattern stairway/landing carpet screams, "I'm from the 90s!" The thing is, it's great quality and has held up specularly. 🤷🏻♀️
Painted "wood" is all the rage these days. Whites and grays.
Never will I paint over our oak. I will remind myself of its beauty instead!
Bravo! Painting over the fake stuff (particle board😱, OSB, and MDF) does little to make the pieces more sag-resistant. 😝
Do you ever see movies featuring interiors of fine, old mansions? Any painted wood? 😱 Not on your life! Dark? Usually, but great detailing, characterized by interesting wood grain, and typically not finished with “shiny” finishes like shellac.
As availability of old growth tree lumber declines, making statements with wood grain gets tougher. The switch to paint strikes me as, “If we can’t make the cabinets look great, we can always make them look like nothing!” My interior designer friend does not need to hear a word of this ... She knows I’m a relic so maybe it wouldn’t matter. 🤷🏽
By the way, intentional or not, the hot link to Merriam-Webster for “theophany” was perfect! I was surprised that the page remained “active” when I saw an imbedded pop-up add shouting, “So your home has dust!” And showed a plastic jug of ? being poured into a pan. If Calliope awakens with lower back spasms during the night, don’t breathe a word about the “magic dust solver!” 😉
I'm reminded of my recent visit to the Pabst Mansion where a restoration society has been painstakingly removing paint and trying to replace wall/ceiling coverings and woodwork.
As I might have mentioned, the craftsmanship is awe-inspiring... even for a Shaker-style-lover like me.
Magic dust solver? Sounds amazing! We've been able to open windows and the dust has a yellowish tinge -- pollen a plenty!
The swirling pollen days! A car parked outside here in mid March quickly acquires a visible layer of pollen. Starting the engine sets the particles in motion, swirling like magic. Pine trees first, distinctly yellow, followed by oaks of several species adding a touch of green. Or so I’m told. Brutal for those with seasonal allergies.
I love fresh, cool night air but my sinuses argue loudly against open windows!
On the “Strippers” at the Pabst Mansion, a paint stripper exists that can be applied, coat after coat, to form a wrap. Then the product sits for hours. Next day the stripper can be removed with all the softened paint/varnish adhered to it in a single layer. Way less messy than typical strippers.
Yes! Another connoisseur of student furniture! My grad school coffee table? Cinder blocks and double wide 2x10’s. My grad school bookshelf? Much more refined. 1x8 yellow pine, choice grade lumber (hand picked🙂), and cut with a handsaw, rabbeted top corners (showing off), and hand drilled and countersunk with a Stanley “egg beater” drill for brass screws. It’s in my garage.
But the entertainment center? By my third year I selected 1x10 yellow pine and developed a design for the tube-TV, another niche for my RCA suitcase record player, storage for LP’s, and rows for books top and bottom. Originally stained with Watco dark walnut finish (70’s) it now sports a coat of neutral paint (wife) and occupies more space in the garage. I sometimes call myself a “sentimental hoarder.” 🤷🏽
I never bought decent furniture until I left the Navy, Gary. Military moves were done by contractors who bid the lowest, and the lack of care the movers took reflected that. Unless a piece was destroyed beyond use, putting in a claim was a waste of time, so dings, scrapes, and gouges were standard, acquired over 10 years and 8 moves. Hence my first pieces of "real" furniture had to wait until my first civilian apartment. And 32 years (and only 2 moves) later, it's still in good shape!
My son is Active Duty Air Force, career service, and has experienced what you just described. The “complexities” on their move to a base in England involve a dog crate not meeting international height standards. Better still, the port near New Orleans (from which he embarked) informed him they could/would not move his one-year old Mustang GT to England! Notwithstanding son’s rigorous preparation and planning. I was afraid I would have to turn in the rental SUV and take possession of the Mustang. 😬 For an indeterminate period of time. 🤔
Fortunately PetSmart kept their promise to swap crates if something like this happened. The port shippers, after sweet- toned cajoling by son’s wife, realized they were flat out wrong. Furniture shipped well both ways!! They are now stationed 70 miles from us, granddaughter included!