As you would know from my last post, my husband and I moved
into our new home last month. A cute weatherboard bungalow with art deco
accents throughout. We are settled into our new abode and have been slowly
weeding the garden and doing all those things you does, that make a house a
home.
Just before we moved I sadly lost my Grandmother to cancer.
Although she had been sick for a while it was still a shock when it happened. I
had to travel back to New South Wales for her funeral and to help my mother try
and sort through 40 years of things she had collected. I was fortunate enough
to inherit some lovely vintage and retro goodies, including costume jewellery
from the 50s & 60s and a retro hairdryer and hot curler set. I also was
given a couple of 1960s shift dresses, something no one else in my family had
any interest in keeping.
Now, my Grandmother was somewhat of a hoarder. In all my
mother was at her house for 5 weeks trying to sift through all of these
treasures and there is even more to still go through. Everything thing had to
be picked up, looked at and decide whether it would be kept, donated or thrown
away. Often I would pick up a plastic bag thinking it was rubbish only to
discover that it was filled with photos. During this archaeological dig through
my family’s past I discovered pin up photos of my Grandmother that she has
taken to send to my Grandfather during the Korean War in the early 1950s. I was
blown away by her beauty; it was a side of her I had never seen before.
As much as her passing has saddened me, it has also been a
bit of an awakening. Seeing all these things that she had collected over the
years and how well they have aged got me thinking about the legacy that I will
be leaving behind for my Grandchildren.
These days we are filled with a world of plastic, finance
deals, upgrades and mass marketed STUFF. I have to confess that sometimes I
often to drawn into the idea of getting something “new”. I get the overwhelming
desire to go out and spend my hard earn cash on something that will temporarily
satisfy me. I get my new gadget or life saving device and within a few weeks
its sitting listlessly in the corner collecting dust, eventually meeting their
demise to the weekly rubbish collection. It’s a scary thought how much STUFF
has met a similar bitter end.
So when we moved into our new dream home I started looking
around and seeing all the things that I have often thought about upgrading or
trading in for new; our bedroom furniture, dining table set & even the desk
that I use to write this very blog. After a bit of thinking I picked colours
and set off for bunnings to buy the tools I needed to give these things a new
lease on life. So far I have painted the dressing table (spoken about in my
last blog), bed side tables, bed and next on the list is the dining set, which
I am thinking will look fantastic in red!
Hot Pink Dressing Table!
Hot Pink Chair
These projects have been taking up my weekends over the past
month. I get such a great feeling of satisfaction when I look at the finish
product and know that not only have saved hundreds of dollars on upcycling my
existing furniture, but with a bit of luck and care, some of these things will
follow us throughout our lives and may end up with our children or even
grandchildren.
These Photos do no justice to these bed side tables and bed. The colour is what I would describe as Tiffany Blue. Slightly on the greener side.
Let’s face it, contentment is free. Money can’t buy it, nor
can you finance interest free for 50 months! I look forward to more projects to
make do and mend
