These pieces always find a prominent place in each of our homes. With our many Navy moves, we always get to decide where our favorite things will be displayed. What may be a dresser in a bedroom in one home can become a buffet in our dining room in another. I love the change of pace and having the ability to change the function and location of a piece....although I do not love having to pack and unpack again with each move :).
The table in the picture above has served so many purposes in the past for our family. It originally belonged to my grandparents. Back in the 1930's the top of the table sat atop a sales counter in my grandfather's general store. It was used to display sewing thread. When the store closed, my grandmother, whom I call the Original Repurposer, had the box transformed into a side table. Of course, my grandfather provided the manual labor to make the transformation. As a child, I can remember the table being at my grandmother's bedside. I loved the look. Even back then I was a lover of all things vintage. I never knew my grandfather, he suffered a stroke and passed away just three weeks before I was born. My mother and grandmother always spoke of him with love in their eyes, so I know he was a pretty incredible person. Having all the things that were special to him surrounding me as I grew up, and even now that I have my own family, makes me feel connected to him.
On top of the table sits a basket I found years ago at a thrift store. It is filled with seashells, driftwood and small treasures that we have collected from all our travels, and home towns, across the world. I use the term "home towns", for we feel, even if we're stationed in a location for only one year, it becomes our home town. I even have shells in the basket my dear friends sent to us from their beautiful home in the Caribbean. There's also a cypress stump my father found during one of his outdoor explorations of the Charleston Lowcountry. I love that bit of cypress. The fact that my children, parents, grandparents, and dear friends have held some of these items in their hands makes them so special.
The small footstool below the table is a creation of my grandfather's as well. I love the stool and remember sitting on it on my grandmother's front porch while I watched in amazement as she nurtured her garden into a splendid summer work of art. She was a master gardener....guess what her name was? It was Flora! A gardener with "Flora" for a name has to be a master!
So, as the song goes, "these are a few of my favorite things". I can't imagine setting up a home without these and so many of my other family treasures. We keep saying we need to downsize, but I just can't bear to start thinking about that....not yet anyway.
Have a wonderful day everyone and take extra special care of all your favorite things!
