If furniture could talk

Parker era buffet (refurbished by Wife-made, available for purchase on ebay)

I'm pretty sure, if furniture could talk, it would have a lot to say.  After all, being a piece of furniture would be just like being a fly on a wall.  Oh the stories they would tell!  I can just imagine it...

Parker table to the Kinross chairs one day: Psssssst!  Did you hear what they said happened at the thing last week??  I mean, really!

Kinross chair No. 1:  Huh?  I had this big backside on me, and it was all a bit muffled from where I was sitting, if you know what I mean.  *and the chair would, of course, raise one eyebrow if it had eyebrows to raise, insinuating the clear need for that big bum to get up and do some exercise*

Parker table: Ho ho ho ho.  Well yes, you certainly do get an eyeful, my dear chair.  But never mind, that's what you've been made for, and how beautifully you fulfil your purpose.  *because Parker tables really do appreciate well made chairs of a similar vintage*

Kinross chair No. 5: *stretching out its lovely cigar-shaped legs* Yes, I must say we do.  But if only they would redo my vinyl!  It's been well over forty years since I've had some work done in that area, and well, things are just starting to get a bit saggy, if you know what I mean.

Parker table:  *at this point the Parker table is getting a little titchy because these Kinross chairs really do like to go on about what they look like, and because, in his opinion, furniture of good breeding doesn't need to bang on about how it looks, because it always looks good*  Yes, yes, but getting back to what happened at the "thing" last week - good gracious, it was enough to make my timber veneer warp!

And so on and so forth.

This is part of what I love about old stuff.  To think that you can look at a piece of vintage furniture or home decor, and know that it has already lived an amazing life.  It's been in someone else's house, and held their belongings.  It's the place where someone sat and ate who knows how many meals and talked through the day's events.  It's the lounge where they sat riveted, watching man take his first steps on the moon through a black and white television.

Don't you think that's amazing?  I do.  I really love old stuff.

The other day a friend said to me that just because something's old, doesn't mean it's good.  I can appreciate that, because it is about design and functionality too, but there's something in me that really appreciates an item's age.  Even if it is ugly (or what we consider ugly now - cue 1980's shoulder pads, and teased hair), it still has a lot to say about its era.

I think that's why my house isn't full of one period of furniture.  I love elements of many periods of furniture because they all have something to say, something unique and distinctly their own.  That's my style too though - quite eclectic.  It's not for everyone, but it's me.