Old vs New

You may have noticed that I don't buy much that is new. I actually buy new things like clothes and koi pond pumps, jewelry and food. I would have bought a brand new mattress and box springs if I weren't doing the "newly single mom," routine. But mostly I don't like new things. They have no history. They have no life in them. New furniture in particular is meant to be disposable. In fact the interiors are mostly compressed sawdust and glue. Even the really expensive furniture in the furniture stores is predominantly glue. Have you noticed that after they make that furniture, they "antique" it by putting so much paint on it, you can't see the real wood? So I just skip a step. I buy the antiques. On those you can see the wood grain and after aging, it is beautiful! A lot of times I have to refinish them, which I don't like doing, but it's worth it. I have a beautiful old cabinet in my entry hall. My sister gave it to me when I was in college because it was UGLY!!! It was "antiqued" with avocado green paint! When I stripped it I discovered the most beautiful inlaid veneers of different types of wood! What fun that was, as that ugly '70's paint fell away and I discovered beech and walnut with opposing grain on each door! It turned out to be an old television cabinet with rattan back doors for ventilation. I love that piece. I love all my antiques. I wonder about their lives before they lived with me. Who used them? Did the people love them or hate them? Was it a big family? A happy or sad family? These antiques hold many secrets. The picture above is my antique and retro hat collection. I love hats. I look really good in them, too. Don't like to wear them, though. I don't have too many clothes which go with a turn of the century straw hat. I do have some clothes to go with the 1950's hats. Wear them sometimes but due to my job, my opportunities are very limited.

We used to live in a Victorian house with a front and a back porch. We'd sit out there on antique rockers for hours at a time. Most of the rockers are gone now. I have one left. It needs a replaced cushion for being in the living room, but I haven't found the right fabric to go with it's personality. I miss all my rockers. They either died or we sold them before we moved. There's something very comforting about an antique rocker. My imagination runs wild with stories of people rocking in them.

Anyway, so that's the fun of it. Collecting history!