As we’ve gone through this renovation, I’ve learned that the pieces I still love are the ones that were never mass-produced. They are the ones that I don’t see in anyone else’s home. I’ve got some pieces I’ve had for many years and they still “work” because they are unique.
Like the big copper bowl that sits on the lower shelf of a table. Like the chamber pot I use in a bathroom for my wastebasket. The old sewing machine table that has a mismatched top which has been repainted many times over the years. Like the crocks that sit on each one my steps going upstairs. The unique pieces we’ve collected on our travels. The sand, rocks and driftwood that sit in a bowl in my entryway. Or the birdbath above that is constructed from a discarded birdbath base, a tray from house, and a big rock. It’s so “zen”.
I think I like the unique and unusual because they prompt memories. The usual, the mass-produced don’t do that for me. Sometimes i even forget where they were purchased because they are that forgettable.
The pieces I’ve given away or are going to give away are pieces I’ve bought in department stores where there have been a dozen of them on the shelf. That must have been a period in my life when I thought my home had to look like someone elses’. Thank goodness I got over that.
There’s nothing I like more than to find a great thrift store piece and upcycling it into something really unique. Almost every thing in my home has had my hand print in some form or other.
Redecorating my home has brought me back to what I love. It has stirred my creative juices much to my husband’s chagrin. I’ve taken some pieces I’ve put aside and brought them back out. As I look around, I’ve probably eliminated almost everything that I purchased as new. The “old” has become new for me again.
I love the unique. In things, people, situations, art, books, etc. I’m thankful that God has made each of us unique as well. Sometimes I forget that. I want people to act like me, thank like me, believe like me. But then I remember, if they did I wouldn’t be unique either!
