In light of my recent dining room upgrades and photos, I wanted to talk a little about my penchant for mixing really, really old, slightly imperfect stuff in with sparkly brand new stuff. See, I really like items that have some history to them, things the Japanese would recognize as “wabi-sabi,” being simple and having beauty that comes with age and wear. I imagine each previous owner, polishing the solid silver the caster set lovingly or waxing the table and pressed-back chairs back in the days before they were antiques. It doesn’t take much to spark my interest in anything well-loved and useful.
I’ve bought antiques from various dealers as well as at auction. But the ones that hold meaning for me are family heirlooms, handed down through the generations. I’ve an old steamer trunk that a great great (how many greats?) grandmother carried all of her belongings in across the Plains to Colorado in the back of a covered wagon. I wonder what it would be like to put everything I own into a container that small – it’s mind boggling. And I have a few kerosene lanterns from a great grandpa who worked on the railroad. There are countless dishes and kitchen utensils passed to me – something that’s very special is an old noodle roller of my grandma’s. Though all wear the patina of age, most everything is in very good condition because back then, people didn’t just drive to Target to buy something new – they took care of what they had and learned to mend things when they fell into disrepair.
However, the unfortunate truth of antiques is, some of them are too valuable or too fragile to use in practical modern applications or they are simply obsolete and therefore only useful for their aesthetic appeal. And have you ever been in a home filled to brimming with nothing but antiques? The smell is a bit off-putting, to tell the truth.
I guess that’s where the modern standbys eventually DO come in. Sure, an old settee might be lovely, but aren’t a pair of modern leather club chairs more applicable to a casual sitting area in 2012? Definitely more rugged and able to withstand the weight (and dew claws) of a couple of 80 pound pitbulls. And while cast iron pans are great for many, many things, when I want grilled cheese, George Foreman really is a time saver. I could easily find an ancient moth-eaten wool rug for the floor, but with a furnace, I’m not reliant upon a centrally located fireplace to keep my floors warm so I can let the hardwood gleam. Candles are fabulous any old time – they add warmth to a room whereas incandescent bulbs create convenience and task lighting. It makes good sense to utilize both.
My point here is that I make space in my home for both old and new. It’s the Flintstones meet the Jetsons, functional meets charming. It’s fun when people walk in and ask me about the unusual antiques and comment about the well-balanced, semi-Bohemian mix of “stuff.” Any fool with a bank account can walk into a big box store and purchase everything new (and usually plastic). But those things lack character unless something else is brought in: nature, history, art…something. Making your home a reflection of yourself is part of what makes it feel warm and welcoming to family and guests.
What do YOU think?