Comments on: Hello!

By: Shanon

Shanon — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:29:08 +0000

I’m so late to play this game, but what the heck! =)

1. It’s a tie between the chest of drawers that my mother-in-law refinished and gave to my husband for his golden birthday AND our huge coffee table that I made my hubs (then friend) take with him after college. It had big turned legs and it’s painted black. I’m sure we’ll paint it more colors in our lifetime.

2. The oak library desk that I bought at an auction and painted the top with a harlequin pattern.

3. The perfect blue fluted vase that used to belong to my mom. I always admired it when I was little and now I have two rooms painted the exact same color.

4. The set of round shaped vintage mirrors that I inherited from my aunt. One is art nouveau and is a brassy gold with a woman and plants encircling it. The other has etched stars all the way around.

5. The rosary I received for my first communion. It has garnet colored stones, my birth stone, and I always loved it. I was desperately tempted to wear it at one point, because I love jewelry. Haha

This was fun to think about Holly. It’s interesting to see what the list says about me. I guess I’m very sentimental. =)
Shanon´s last blog ..You’ve got to see these!

By: becca

becca — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:25:38 +0000

I love your blog! It is a refreshing part of my day when I am able to stop by for a few minutes! I’ve been searching and searching for the desk that you pictured. May I ask where it’s from? Thanks!

By: Lealand Eve Richard

Lealand Eve Richard — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:25:17 +0000

What a great question! My top 5 would definitely be:

1. my “Children’s Prison” oil painting by my super-talented art school
classmate, Laine Justice

2. my cream and blue brocade telephone “gossip” bench, found while
scouring a antiques market in Ithaca, New York

3. my wrought iron “enchanted forest” canopy bed with vines and leaves

4. my dresser, built by my great-grandfather and mosaic’d by my sister
and I with bits of sea glass

5. my bright turquoise blue refrigerator by Big Chill

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:02:33 +0000

Holly,

Glad to hear things are progressing so quickly for your upcoming move. I know how you must feel, having moved to Sweden several years ago and then back to the States a few years after that. International moves can be so nerve wracking, but your approach demonstrates your usual natural grace.

RE: One’s top five for a move, mine have been:
1) A small copper bowl, very simple and ancient looking.; mostly decorative but I love it
2) A blue Dalarna rooster that belonged to my grandmother
3) A yellow Fiesta bud vase
4) My favorite mug, handmade by a Jamaican potter
5) A small bird sculpture from South Africa

Over the years, I have done a LOT of traveling and living out of a carpet bag, but the copper bowl and Dala rooster almost always join me on the road. The other three items are a little too delicate for extensive travel, but with those few items, my home begins to sprout even in a lonely hotel room on the other side of the world.

Good luck with the move!
A

By: meg

meg — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:49:31 +0000

This is a great question Holly!
1. my grandfather’s lamp that he built when he was in grade school.
2. my hoosier cabinet that my husband built me as a belated wedding gift
3. the antique closet/desk/armoire that we refinished together when we were dating (it took AGES)
4. my pair of sweet little antique chairs from my grandmother
5. the mission style dining room server my husband built

guess i’m pretty sentimental tonight!
xoxo

By: Steph Bond

Steph Bond — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:47:59 +0000

Wow – I would never ever part with that giraffe lamp either. Too cool. So I have moved my whole life a few times (to Europe and back and I didn’t take anything either way except clothes). The 2 biggest moves were from Australia to the US, and I didn’t take anything (only clothes), and kept the rest in storage. The second was moving from the US to Australia, and by that time we were married and had collected things together, so took with us:
1. Our couch (comfy and a lot cheaper to ship than re-buying in Australia)
2. Our DWR dining table and chairs
3. Art (photography, posters that would remind us of the US)
4. Our stereo and bose speakers (again, too expensive to re-buy)
5. Kitchen items that we received for our wedding (mostly good pots, pans and knives).
Everything else we sold and gave away which felt great. Good luck with the rest of your move and I hope it’s as cathartic as our clean-out was!

By: emily

emily — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:32:41 +0000

Wow, loved reading everyone’s responses. Some of you have some really valuable stuff. My list falls more on the “sentimental” spectrum… My husband and I have moved several times in a few short years, so we haven’t accumulated many nice things yet to avoid worrying about transporting them.

My list:
1. Cheap metal serving tray we bought on our honeymoon in Napa Valley
2. Vintage aquamarine dentist chair that my dad and I impulse-bought for $100 at an antique store. It was a fixture in my college dorm room and is actually a great chair for reading. Heavy though.
3. Box of old photos and letters
4. My grandma’s old Fiestaware gravy boat
5. Side table my husband made for me out of polished copper pipe while we were dating

Good luck with your move!

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:25:07 +0000

This is so interesting. On the one hand, we just bought our first house last year, so we are definitely in the accumulating phase, rather than a decluttering phase. We’re finally only buying things we really love, rather than just the cheapest thing that will serve our needs. So, it’s taking us longer because our budget still isn’t large and with 2 little kids we just don’t have the time to all the flea market/antique-ing type shopping we’d love to do more of (it’s just too hard when the kids are with us b/c we’re both picky and indecisive!).

We definitely moved too much just stuff with us last year when we moved across the country. We did give a away/craigslist a lot, but really still needed to hold onto some necessities since we had some money to pay for the move (which we couldn’t use to buy new stuff).

But, if we did have to/choose to up and move to Europe tomorrow, I think I’d have to keep:

1.) photos and kid mementos
2.) the little vintage bar cart in our dining room
3.) my grandmother’s chrome serving pieces
4.) our silverware (sounds strange, I know, but it was a wedding gift from my family and we just love it. It’s WS stainless and there is just something about it we both love.)
5.) my new glass top coffee table

By: rochelle

rochelle — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:16:39 +0000

Speaking from a been their – learned that lesson, point of view I wish I would have seen things differently when I moved abroad. Because I moved only a couple years after my wedding, and because we had a company paying for everything, I took all kinds of housewares, furniture and just stuff, that in the end didn’t fit (doors, rooms, and basically everything is smaller in London) and I didn’t want (or worse wanted, but had to get rid of for lack of a place to put it.). I packed all my cheished items at my parents house for safe storage. What did that do for me? Nothing good I tell you… It gave me no sense of permanence when we got there….no pictures, no sentimental items, instead just a bunch of stuff…I so wish I had done the other way around. I think I would have felt more grounded while there and able to live in the moment rather than having all this (literal) baggage.
Anyway, being more enlightened, what would I take now?
1) my computer with all my family pictures on it.
2) A couple of flower vases that my grandmother gave me.
3) My favorite picture…my grandmother as a baby, with her grandmother, in a rounded glass antique frame.
4) My children pet items (Tiggles the taggie blanket for my daughter and Bla Bla the sock monkey for my son)
5) my 2 cats…even though they had to go to quarantine for 6 months when we moved to England (we drove over and hour each way every Saturday to visit them) I could never leave them behind.

By: Di

Di — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:41:08 +0000

Hi Holly,

Several years ago I moved to Europe and sold or gave away just about everything I owned, except for some things that I just couldn’t bear to part with. When I returned, I found that I didn’t miss any of what I no longer had – except for a collection of small brass candlestick holders that to this day I swear are misplaced somewhere. Anyway, you’ll be accumulating so many new things, you won’t miss your old stuff. It’s just stuff. Have a great move!