everything has a story: bedside tables (updated)

(update at the bottom)


I absolutely adore this pair of antique teak and marble-top pub tables from Singapore that we use for our bedside tables. 
(Note the wear on the table base after years and years worth of shoes wearing down the stretchers and chairs hitting the insides of the legs.)

this is my bedside table...

this is Dan's bedside table...

We purchased the tables, plus one more, from our favorite importer in Seattle when we lived in Dallas.  I desperately needed fresh merchandise for my antiques business, so we flew up to Seattle for the day- flew up that morning, shopped all day and flew home that night!
(Please do not ask me about the dining-size table like these two that I didn't buy...  it makes me cry, which makes my mascara run, which makes me look like a clown-   it's not pretty...  anyway, please don't ask;)
My plan was to keep one table and to sell two.  Plans are meant to be changed, yes?!  After getting the tables home I easily found places for two of the tables in the house (in Dallas they were in different rooms) and ended up selling only one.......   quickly and for a lot of money.  (I tell you that only because it comes into play later;) 
The teak table bases were a icky, gunky mess and after trying several methods Dan decided that the only way to thoroughly clean them was to take them to a car wash and use a high-powered sprayer on them! (do not try this at home;) 

My (much older;) sister, Susan, came to visit us in Dallas and fell in love with the tables too!  With the "sold" table long gone, I had to explain that she would have never paid the price I had to put on it to pay for the two I kept and my trip!!  That didn't make her feel any better-  she coveted the tables and would go on and on and.....  during each visit about how much she wanted one.

Time went on, lots of time and about two years later Dan and I were walking the antiques shop where my business was and low and behold we spotted a table that looked EXACTLY like our tables.... could it be?!!  Dan looked at the base trying to recognize any signs that it was "our" table. 
It was. 

Come to find out the designer who bought the table from me purchased it for a client.  Said client lived with it for about two years before re-decorating again, and the table was to be sold!!!  The designer, now a new antiques dealer, wanted the management to call me and find out how much I had sold it to her for because she couldn't remember, and she didn't know how much to ask for the table.

Unfortunately for her, my memory momentarily failed me and I just couldn't for the life of me remember!!! (hey, it's not my job to keep her books;)  She put a price on the table that was much lower than I sold it for!  One phone call to my sister and the table was SOLD.
 
The third table is now back in the family and happily resides in Austin!! 

Here it is in Austin!!!

 

Living in New England: they talk funny!

There are many aspects of life here that are so unique from other parts of the country, and I want to share those things with my family, and perhaps with you- if you have never been here. I thought it might be helpful to do some posts called : Living in New England that highlight quintessential New England sights, events, situations, and experiences.
I also know of many people who have lived here, in New England, their entire lives and perhaps don't realize that some of the events and sights that I will describe don't happen elsewhere in the country. Or, maybe you are originally from New England, but have moved away... I hope these posts will bring back some fond memories for you. In any event I wish to share New England with you through the eyes of this Southerner.

photo:  teacollection via google images

Please note that this post is said tongue-in-cheek as I come from the land of funny speak! 
A perfect example of this is a story that happened many years ago, not long after we had moved to Dallas -  Dan and I were at a hardware store in Garland, Texas.  An employee of the store helped us carry something out to our car, our brand new Ford Explorer, and he asked how we liked it, "We loved it" we replied. 
Then he asked... "Is is Spicy?"

"I'm sorry, what???" I said.  "Is it Spicy?"  

"Excuse me?" I said again.  Again he asked.... "Is it Spicy?"

At this point I'm thinking this is some kind of new slang lingo I'm unfamiliar with, so I mumble something and said, "Yes," not having a clue what I was saying yes to. About 20 minutes later on our drive home I looked at Dan and said.... "Ohhhhhh, he was asking is it SPACEY?!!!!!!!!!!" Like did the SUV have a lot of room, but said in Texas-speak it sounded like "Spicy"!!

photo:  Marc Creedon via google images

fast forward to New England:

In NE you hear things like:   dollah for dollar, sar for saw, cellah for cellar, pahk the cahh for park the car, watah for water.........................

Dan occasionally uses a park-and-ride bus when he has to go to Boston Logan Airport.  On one such return trip home he was the sole passenger on the big bus.  He sat up front and chatted with the driver.  (note:  Dan is the much friendlier half of this marriage.... even in an empty bus I would have probably sat in the last seat staring out the window, lost in thought decorating some room that didn't exist!  Dan is more social;)  So in his conversation with the bus driver the driver was explaining some of his past jobs.  He told Dan that he used to drive a "chattah" bus.  We had only lived in New Hampshire for several months when this encounter took place and while Dan had never heard of a "chattah" bus he assumed it must be some kind of a tour bus that went to different restaurants that served the area's famous chowder.   After several more references to the "chattah" bus, it finally became clear to Dan and he said, "oh,  you mean CHARTER bus", and the driver said "yeah, that's what I said... CHATTAH bus."

Dan laughingly said, "You talk funny!"  To which the bus driver laughingly said, "You listen funny!"

touche' !!!

snapshot...

fog in the back meadow

vintage japanese glass fishing floats

basketball-size fishing float in antique urn at front door


(This post could also be entitled "it's a small world," but I'll get to that story later in this post!)

Japanese glass fishing floats were once used by fishermen in many parts of the world to keep their nets afloat. Large groups of fishnets strung together, sometimes 50 miles (80 km) long, were set adrift in the ocean and supported near the surface by hollow glass balls or cylinders containing air to give them buoyancy.  These glass floats are no longer being used by fishermen, but many of them are still afloat in the world's oceans, primarily the Pacific.

The earliest floats, including most Japanese glass fishing floats, were hand made by a glassblower. Recycled glass, especially old sake bottles, was typically used and air bubbles in the glass are a result of the rapid recycling process. After being blown, floats were removed from the blowpipe and sealed with a 'button' of melted glass before being placed in a cooling oven. (This sealing button is sometimes mistakenly identified as a pontil mark. However, no pontil (or punty) was used in the process of blowing glass floats.) While floats were still hot and soft, marks were often embossed on or near the sealing button to identify the float for trademark. These marks sometimes included kanji symbols. Today most of the glass floats remaining in the ocean are stuck in a circular pattern of ocean currents in the North Pacific.   Once a float lands on a beach, it may roll in the surf and become "etched" by sand. Many glass floats show distinctive wear patters from the corrosive forces of sand, sun, and salt water. When old netting breaks off of a float, its pattern often remains on the surface of the glass where the glass was protected under the netting. Other floats have small amounts of water trapped inside of them. This water apparently enters the floats through microscopic imperfections in the glass while the floats are suspended in Arctic ice or held under water by netting.  Most floats are shades of green because that is the color of glass from recycled sake bottles (especially after long exposure to sunlight). However, clear, amber, aquamarine, amethyst, blue and other colors were also produced.

They have become a popular collectors’ item for beachcombers and decorators. Replicas are also being manufactured.

(The above excerpt is from Wikipedia and the full article can be read here.)

Fishing floats on the dining room table.  I love them all, but my very favorites have the rope etching.

photo for the love of a house






A collection of baseball-size floats still in their nets.
Vintage Biltmore Hotel Silver tray.photo for the love of a house



Close-up of the "marking" on the float.

photo for the love of a house

More of the collection in the basement!  This jardiniere is huge, so the size of the floats is a little misleading..... the largest in this photo are basketball-size and the smallest is grapefruit-size!
photo for the love of a house



My own personal exposure to fishing floats came at a very young age...  as I've mentioned before, my mother grew up in Hawaii (the story of her childhood lamp that now resides in my kitchen is here) and she would find floats on the beach that had washed ashore.   When she married my father and moved to the mainland she brought those floats with her and I grew up in San Antonio with the floats scattered in the yard amidst the flowers and shrubs.  After meeting Dan and moving to the Pacific Northwest we began antiquing to furnish our then apartment.  I started spying the small floats at shops, back then for very little money- usually around $1-$3 each!!  The floats captured my heart for three reasons:  I have a fondness for the orb shape (as can be seen throughout the house); they reminded me of home; and being poor newlyweds,  at $1 it was sometimes the only thing I could afford to buy on a shopping trip!   
Thus, a collection began!!

Fast forward several years and many floats - small baseball-size floats, grapefruit-size and large basketball-size floats have now been added to our collection!  We lived in Dallas at this point, and my much;) older sister, Susan, and beloved brother-in-law, Doug, admired our collection and started collecting floats themselves.
We had many wonderful antiquing sources in the Northwest, so for my antiques business in Dallas Dan and I would fly back regularly to shop.  On one such trip we took Susan and Doug with us, and went to the Tacoma Dome Antiques Show.  At the show, we separated to shop and when we met back up with Susan and Doug they were in a booth that had floats for sale talking to a man who was introduced to us as "Frank Forster."  Frank evidently had a vast collection of floats and the next thing I know we are driving to Frank's house in Tacoma to see his collection!  And vast it was- Frank was a serious collector and a whole room had been dedicated to fishing floats!   We also met his lovely wife Kim.  My sister corresponded with Frank and Kim for several years, until Frank's death.

So..... imagine my surprise when several months ago while blog-hopping I stumble on a blog called

Glass Float Junkie 

and on her site find photos and a mention of Frank and Kim's collection!! 

It is definitely a small world, yes?!

Rich Richardson and Frank Forster

photo Glass Float Junkie

Kamichia used to live in Alaska (she now lives on the Oregon coast) and would take plane trips to remote
beaches and find the likes of this....

photo by Glass Float Junkie



I squealed out loud when I first saw this photo!  The mother load of fishing floats right on the beach!!  Like an Easter egg hunt, only better!!!!  Can you imagine?! 

For a fascinating pictorial be sure to click on all of Kamichia's photo-links on her sidebar here showing her beach combing trips and the individual photos of different types of floats!

Since floats are now considered "collectibles", there are a lot of fakes out there too.  Kamichia talks about how to tell what is real from what is fake here.

Several of you have asked me where you might find fishing floats for sale; Kamichia also sells fishing floats on etsy,  (you can also look on ebay), but-  be forewarned.....
fishing floats can quickly become an obsession!!!:)

Here are a few other photos of how I use the vintage fishing floats around the house...
placed in the center of the iron dining table on the back porch

...in a copper tub filled with fishing floats and copper floats on the back porch

... in an old wire basket on the upstairs master bedroom porch.  I love the pop of color of the one amethyst float!

a cup of tea?!

My Alessi teapot by Michael Graves was a gift from a friend some 25 years ago.
I still adore its classic design.
here

My current favorite tea is Lemon Ginger by Stash with a teaspoon of organic agave- it has a great kick!
What's your favorite?!

the dining room: details

Thank you all for your wonderful comments about the dining room! 

I designed the room to be very simple. I wanted the room to have a calm ambiance allowing the guests and the food to take center stage.  I loved how so many of you picked up on that.
  I've described each photo, and hopefully have answered all questions, but if not, please don't hesitate to ask.



 Close-up of the dining room chandelier- notice the beautiful details of the strings of hand-cut crystal that drape the chandelier. I replaced the faceted ball finial that was on the chandelier with an antique amethyst crystal found at the Paris Flea Market.

View of the dining room from the entry.

The wall color is Benjamin Moore's Halo OC-46 in eggshell. 
The trim and wainscoting is BM White Dove in Latex Satin Impervo.

We found the dining table on our first trip to the Paris Flea Market.   Several months later we found the two antique French arm-chairs at the Scott Show in Atlanta.  There were matching side chairs that went with the arm chairs, but they were very small in scale and weren't comfortable to sit in.   I talked the dealer into selling me just the two arm chairs.  I looked for almost a year for side chairs.  I was about to give up hope when we made a visit to our friends, Scott and Laura Mayborn's, shop in Dallas- Uncommon Market.  I spied two side chairs that had just arrived on a shipment from France.  I could have sworn that the chairs would match my arm chairs... but I needed four.  Come to find out, there were two more matching side chairs- they were packed in a different container and the containers had been separated in transit!  I took the two home that they had, and was astonished at how closely (considering they are hand carved) they match the arm chairs.   The side chairs have rush bottoms and the arm chairs are wood, and while it might not look like it, I can attest that they are some of the most comfortable chairs ever!  Hours upon hours have been spent dining and visiting with family and friends sitting at this table!

I found the vintage chandelier years ago in a small town in Texas.  It hung in our Dallas dining room and we brought it with us when we moved.   When I purchased the chandelier it had 197 drop crystals hanging all over it. It looked sad, dated and gloopy, but I could see the fabulous lines of the chandelier under all those crystals.  I took me, literally, two days to take them all off and let the gorgeous crystal roping shine on its own!  I now use the 197 crystals with small white lights on the Christmas tree- nothing else.

Antique oil paining, signed (initialled) and dated 1888 in its original frame. 
It's difficult to tell the scale of this room, but this painting is rather large at 4 feet wide.

Antique French dough bowl is filled with vintage Japanese fishing floats (a post on fishing floats to follow!) 
I describe my decorating style as gathered and my decorating process as organic-
meaning I buy things because I love them, not just to fill an empty space; I let rooms evolve organically.  I could only put together a story board after a room is designed!  In that organic process I have found it interesting to learn new things about myself...  I would not normally tell you that blues and greens are favorite colors of mine, yet if you look around my house you will notice a recurrence of a particular shade of blue/green in many places (in fact this very shade, in velvet, was just picked up from the upholsterer and is the ottoman at the foot of the bed in the master bedroom.)  So, apparently I do love those colors;  I gravitate to them because they are very soothing and restful to me..... I just didn't know to name them!  The same is true of marine oil paintings.  I have always loved "the mountains".... it is the place that grounds and comforts my soul....yet if you look around the house I obviously have a "thing" for the ocean, as I find these paintings with their beautiful blue/greens also captivating and soothing.   My love for the ocean is new to me (we didn't have the ocean close-by growing up in Texas;), it wasn't until moving to New England and discovering the Maine coast have I fallen in love with the sea!  So now,  all the seascapes make perfect sense to have in our home! 
The floats are the same beautiful blue/green that is also found in the oil paintings.
(I found it so interesting how some saw them as "blue" and some as "green"- that is exactly what I love about them that they are almost an indescribable/chameleon color that changes in different light.)

The antique oil painting above the original mantel was painted by Edwin Hayes, and is titled "In Full Sail," circa 19th century.  We found this painting along with another large antique oil at an estate sale in Dallas in a tiny, nondescript house about 18 years ago.  It was a "don't be fooled by the cover" kind of house as we were shocked at the quality of antiques this homeowner had amassed. 

The dining room mantel.

Small antique watercolor behind glass in its original frame found in Edmonds, Washington with vintage cobalt alabaster grapes and an antique gilt French finial, worm holes and all.

Pair of 17th century Italian wood and gesso gilt candlesticks found in France.

The built-in is original to the house.  The cabinet perfectly aligns with the built-in in the kitchen.  They are both very deep and we've been told that they originally were not divided, and used as a pass-through between the two rooms.   The opening to the right leads into the kitchen.  The black door goes out to the back porch.

The built-in holds the larger pieces of our vintage Hotel Silver collection, and antique English ironstone.

Pair of antique marble urns flanked by antique brass altersticks with linen shades from Home Goods (a favorite source for great, inexpensive shades.)

One marble urn is filled with a wasp nest that we found our first winter in New Hampshire.  I stalked it for months waiting for the snow to melt so that I could get to it!  The other has a small succulent- I love how the pattern of the leaves of the succulent mimics the honeycomb in the nest...

I fell for the simple antique French mirror because of its large size (it is over 5 feet), the aged mirror, and because I was smitten that there were two small iron hooks at the top of the frame.  I like to think about what would have originally hung on the mirror!   I used old chain to hang an antique oil painting that we found in Avignon. I love the painting because it reminds me of the region and of our trips there.  The 18th century flame-front mahogany chest of drawers with its original hardware (it is rare for such an old piece to have the original hardware) was found literally in pieces at the Scott Show in Atlanta- it's a great story that I will share in another post.

On top of the chest of drawers is a large marble urn found at Round Top, which Dan turned into a lamp using an old iron department-store display base for the cap.  The smocked and beaded silk lampshade was custom-made (originally for a different lamp.)  Antique mercury glass compote holds a small piece of white coral.   The story of the forestwood can be found here.

Looking forward to having you for dinner!!



the dining room

click HERE to read the "details" post on this room