L family's Asian artifacts collection

I arranged the artwork in the hall to continue their Asian theme…the homeowner added perimeter photos from their travels…

Asian art collection

…moving into their living room, I grouped paintings that all had “water” as the theme…this was in the same room as their piano, so the art had to be off-center to allow for the piano lid to be fully open…

piano and art

water/seaside art work

The “Ka” family had a lovely Americana country style which F&F updated by playing off the white rug already in the room.  Added white accessories from other rooms and F&F provided pillows and white iron to brighten and update the look….

iron from F&F with homeowner's ivy and white plates in background

…more iron by the TV cupboard with vignette on top…

tv cupboard with more f&f iron

tv cupboard with white accents

…the homeowner wanted new pillows and these white canvas striped pillows lighten up the couch…and the game boards were rehung…

gameboards as art

…a little corner vignette with homeowners artwork, old chest and family mementoes…

back corner near french doors

love this family photo with child's chair...all special family memories

…the homeowner had great foundation pieces, including this cupboard on the other side of the french doors…

great country cupboard

popping more of the white on top

…more work to come as I catch up with my clients:)

some funky pillows were used in the making of this vignette

Last couple of weeks I’ve been back to see my friends at The Green Chair Project.  Life and work kinda got in the way of volunteering.  Spent some time in the showroom today, organizing furniture and adding accessories.  It still amazes me how a bunch of stuff from multiple households can come together.  Green Chair is the lucky beneficiary of wonderful donations that are generally in good shape but if not there are handy folks, amongst the army of volunteers, who breathe new life into old stuff.  Today one volunteer was repairing kitchen chairs, another was fixing lamps and still another was making art and bulletin boards from scrap fabric…and that was just a few of the folks there today.  There are regular “unpaid” volunteers who keep Green Chair humming along…check out their sign-up at volunterspot if you want a fun, rewarding experience.  Green Chair is always in need of donations as well…especially couches, dressers, kitchen tables/chairs and other furniture items.  Drop by for a few hours or drop off some goods and say hi to Jackie and Beth, the ladies in charge…

lots 'o pink and, of course, a "green chair"

greys and tans and taupes all put together from several household donations

living room vignette with "office-y" chairs that work for home

Arrived back in the mountains with a load of stuff to sell at Oddfellows including this ornate settee…

...the carved arms are beautiful...

...and it's functional too...the wood at the bottom is actually a drawer...

It’s a settee I’ve probably had for close to 16 years but it takes up a lot of space in the dining room.  Part of January purging is to ”thin out” and look at stuff through a new lens…the lens that sees my kids not realistically wanting all this stuff or wanting to deal with this later (that sounds morbid).

This settee is really cool as it opens up into a table that was useful when we neeeded extra places for a big dinner or it served as the bar.  But, in all honesty, I haven’t opened it that much over the years and in its “sitting” position it doesn’t get used that much either.  Sooo I decided it was a prime candidate for purging.  I was at peace with that decision, Mr. F&F was on board, and so it was loaded into my van for the trip to the mountains.

The four hour drive (by myself) allows me some NPR time and some quiet time.  That’s when I started to get second thoughts about the settee…I began to ruminate about an event where the settee took center stage.  Our former house was a classic surburban floor plan with a wasteful, big ass foyer – we tried to justify its existence with dance parties, the Christmas tree’s place of honor, and the bar set-up was always there.  So when we decided to have our last child (little man) baptized at home, the foyer seemed the natural choice to set-up a little “chapel,” if you will.  My parents flew in with the priest that married us and we hosted a ceremony in the foyer with chairs spilling into the family room.  It coincided with our 15th anniversary, so we also decided to renew our vows.  We placed the settee at the front of the foyer, opened it up as a table/altar where Father Jack said mass.  It was a beautiful ceremony with college boy (who was then 7 years old) doing the very difficult readings and middle child sulking because of all the attention given her older and younger brothers. Father Jack, then north of eighty years old, splashed water all over the table, Mr. F&F and I recited funny vows, and it was a joyous occasion with family and close friends in attendance.  As I remembered this event fondly during my drive to the mountains, my purging efforts were starting to take a backseat to my emotions.  I had to pull back, remember my own advice…it’s not the stuff, but the memories and there are wonderful photographs that document this memorable occasion (thanks to my lovely niece)….

settee as table with white cloth and set as altar

a tired bunch are we

middle girl getting special grandma attention

table in forefront with our little "chapel" set up

college boy at age 7...a very precocious reader

little man getting dunked on the settee as table

little man looking happy that it's all over

…and this is what gets me through the purging process.  If something special to you is not already “documented,” take a picture or ask your parents for a picture in its former home or write a memory in your journal.  Do what it takes to remember what’s really important.  The memories…not the stuff.