Saturday, March 24, 2012

a little bit of danish vintage


This week I became the proud owner of this lovely sofa that I
bought from dansk vintage at the Wooloongabba Antique Centre.
I wanted to have an area without a television upstairs, where the focus
would be on reading or quiet activity.

I originally saw this sofa when I had just popped into the WAC for a coffee. It
was displayed in the entrance foyer and almost stopped me in my tracks. My mum
was still over at that time from Germany, and rather than having a coffee
I turned straight around, hopped in the car and drove to get her so that
she could have a look too before I bought it - all the while
fervently hoping that no one would buy it while I was collecting her.
Luckily it was still there when we returned, and I have been diligently making
payments since then until this week when I finally was able to bring it back
to the old girl.

pride of place

it's hard to photograph but there is some beautiful detailing
in the upholstery

this is the view looking into the room from behind the sofa -
I have had these two little antique tub chairs for about 15 years.
I'll get them reupholstered at some point. The table is
an earlier purchase from dansk vintage too.

the little box with compartments is another
WAC find


It's always worth a visit to the WAC to have a look around - and the
cafe is excellent too.

dansk vintage
shop 37
Wooloongabba Antique Centre
22 Wellington Road
Wooloongabba Q 4102

or like them on Facebook here

Saturday, March 10, 2012

some photos from the archives: the old girl in the 90's


When I started this blog, I recounted here how it all started in 1995, with the first wave of renovations, and about how I seemed to have lost all my photos from that time.

As luck would have it, while unpacking boxes this week - and trying not to focus on the fact that over 3 months in, we are still unpacking boxes - I found some photos that chronicle some of the
initial renovations. They are all pre-digital and I have no idea where the negatives are, so I have taken photos of the photos - a bit grainy, but they were an amazing trip down memory lane for me.


this was what the old girl looked like when we bought her.
There were three flats and six sets of stairs. The verandahs had
all been closed in, and there was a big tree in the front garden
that we removed fairly quickly.

another view of the house

one of the first priorities after settlement was to build a fence
as we had dogs

me with one of the dogs sitting on the old stairs.
we had opened up the verandahs by that stage.

verandah railings starting to go up

restumping

new roof
The old roof was like a patchwork quilt of many
colours and we could always pick out the house when
we flew into Brisbane over our suburb

this was our kitchen for about six months. It was pretty hard
but much easier in your twenties with no children
than it would have been now.
The main thing I see when I look at this is the Nescafe Gold Blend -
the coffee culture has ensured that most of us now have coffee machines
of some description at home - I can't honestly remember the last time
I would have bought instant coffee. The second thing is the
prominently placed cockroach baits and spray - we certainly
needed it :(

this was the "new" kitchen under construction - how marvellously
luxurious it seemed to have a proper stove top, oven, and
running water.

this is the old girl looking lovely in about 1999 - freshly painted.
Exterior looked lovely, interior was about to get a revamp and sadly
our relationship ended, and it took a long time until this current
renovation took place.

fast forward to 2011 - how much the hedge has grown.
The Poinciana planted in 1997 is well established, as is the Jacaranda
on the footpath. The house is hardly visible.

another view of the old girl - March 2012


What a journey!



Sunday, March 4, 2012

those little things I'll never get rid of


I am still embracing "decluttering" and continue to sort boxes, trying to be as sensible as I
can about what to keep, what to sell on eBay, and what to give away to charity.
I have to admit that to my shame I have found so many things (mainly clothes, but homewares too) that have never been used or worn, and still have the labels on. We have made
a few trips to the council dump and it always makes me sad - as a society we wouldn't have to get rid of so much stuff if we didn't buy so much in the first place. I have been trying to
very consciously shop as a result of this - however I think we all start out with similar good intentions and somehow they go astray.

While I am definitely not a hoarder (that role is reserved for the man of the house - I have to sneak stuff out to Vinnies in the dark of night so he doesn't object), there are just a few little things I can never get rid of - they mean something to me.

this little mouse husband and wife - only about 2 cm high - were originally bought in Munich when I
was a teenager. I had a "Setzkasten" - a German tradition, a little flat wooden house with lots of little rooms or compartment, and which is mounted on the wall. It is designed to show off little treasures or ornaments. I no longer have the Setzkasten, but this little pair have accompanied me through my adult life, and even though they have suffered with the travelling (they have both lost ears, and Mr. Mouse has lost the top of his top hat), I still love them and they have found a new home in the
old girl.

this pink and grey mouse came into my life when I was about 9 or 10.
When I was at school in Glasgow, the mother of one of my friends had lost
a child many years earlier to leukaemia. Every year she held a big fundraising event for Leukaemia, and my Mum always drafted me into selling raffle tickets. I remember not
understanding as a young child why this event was organised every year and why such a fuss was made about it - and of course I would have grumbled to my Mum about raffle ticket duties. Now as an adult and a mother, I can of course understand why losing a child for whaetever reason is life changing and devastating - and I look back and admire the reslience of that mother in using her grief to make a difference. It was at one of these fundraisers that I acquired this mouse who was christened "Daddy Long Legs" - how I loved him (yes, a "He" despite the pink). I can't bring myself to give him away to charity, so he remains
in the household too.

I suspect that even the most ruthless declutterer would have one or two little things that are close to the heart, and while serving no practical purpose, these are what makes a house a home.