I got back from Boston this morning after a fabulous 3-day reprieve from document review. As if that wasn't enough, the majority of those three days was spent on Cape Cod at Jason's brother's fiance's family's house. (Writing stuff like the previous sentence makes me feel like that girl from Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
The weather was amazing and the four of us got really sunburned on Sunday. We took a 2 hour ferry and then walked around Nantucket for 8 hours and it didn't occur to any of us that we might need sunscreen. I grew up in Tucson with part of my summers in Florida, I SO know better than that. I'm paying for it now with a nice lobster-red patch on my chest shaped just like the V-neck I was wearing. My face and my arms got a little burnt too, but they're already fading to a nice tan (Thank you, Mamaw, for the skin that tans). Everyone, and I do mean EVERYone, at work has made some sort of comment upon glimpsing my upper chest. On the upside, the heat emanating from the burn is making my usual sweater unnecessary in this freezing basement.
Sunburn aside, it was a fabulous weekend. Nantucket is just as cute as it can be and I am in love with the weathered shingle look that is on most of the houses down there. Pictures to follow.
I only got a couple of hours of sleep last night thanks to the two guys who decided it would be a really awesome idea to shoot some hoops in the park across the street from Jason's at 3 AM. Does that seem weird to anyone else? They weren't talking at all, but the ball kept bouncing, bouncing, bouncing... Tonight I am leaving work and going straight to bed.
Now to the furniture, which I know you were waiting for with bated breath. When Jason and his brother helped me move in March they both commented on how my bedroom looks like a little girl's room - specifically it looks an awful lot like their little sister's room when she was 10 or so. I am seriously thinking of shedding the majority of my furniture before I move next. I have a couch that I love, so I won't be getting rid of that and I have one bookshelf left (I got rid of 2 in my last move) that I'll probably keep. My bedroom furniture consists of my dresser, my bed and my desk and there's really no need keep any of it around when I really think about it.
All of the furniture in the room is white or off-white. I don't really like white furniture, but the desk is white, the bed is off-white, so I bought the dresser to match.
Dresser: this is a massive white behemoth from IKEA that nearly killed Jason and Brandon during the move. I swore to Jason that he would never have to move it again. It's actually a bit broken at the bottom, but I'm hoping I can move it on Craig's List and get someone to come lug it out for me. Barring that, I'm pretty sure the only way I'm getting it out of the apartment is by taking an ax to it. Which, you know, could be fun.
Bed: This is a pretty, metal daybed that I got for a steal through the Chicago Sun-Times classifieds. It was exactly like the daybed I'd always wanted when I was younger and just seemed so fitting. When I was 22. Now I'm planning on selling it when I move, but the one thing is that the trundle is in my parents' storage in Chicago. I'm thinking maybe they can sell it as a rollaway for extra guest sleeping or something. It would be nice if it was here, but I can't think of a good way to ship a trundle bed from Chicago just so I can sell them as a set.
Desk: here is the toughest one. I have had this desk since I was 14 or 15. Before that, it belonged to my great-grandma and was in her room in Tucson when she lived with my grandma and grandpa. It consists of a bottom desk part, with a tall hutch of bookshelves. It is white, and designed with lots of frilliness and curlicues which was EXACTLY what I wanted when engulfed in my passion for Victoriana. However, my tastes have simplified since then. The paint has been chipping off for some time and I've always had plans to paint it - if I could just decide what color to paint it since I don't want it to be white. Even with a new paint job, it's just not really my style anymore.
The desk isn't very practical. I basically use it to store some office supplies and books, and it's a great surface to pile my bills and miscellaneous mail on until I get around to going through it. However, the hutch is too low for a computer. Even my smallish laptop screen is too tall to fit under the hutch. So strictly speaking it's not very useful as a desk, unless I decide to someday forego email for good old-fashioned letter writing.
But it was Daw Daw's (my great-grandma). And I've had it for so long. It has seen me through most of high school, was in storage for college, but then was with through Chicago, law school in Boston, and now my almost year in DC. What I would really like is to see if there's someone on that side of the family who would like it because of the Daw Daw connection. Or I would like to find it a nice home. I do feel sad thinking about giving it up, but it's just not practical to keep lugging it around with me when it's not my style and it's not really living up to its deskish purpose.
It's time for me to have a Big Girl room. Hello, IKEA!
7 comments:
My main thought on the desk is that if you strip it and paint it a funky color, it loses a lot of its Victorian baggage and becomes a conversation piece.
I wouyld hang onto the desk. Even if you just keep it somewhere on the side, it sounds like it has a lot of sentimental value -- and you might regret getting rid of it.
I'm so jealous that you all went to Nantucket. I talked to Jason's brother's fiance yesterday and she told me all about it. And then I cried. Just kidding. At least a little.
Jordan, I've been meaning to paint it for years. Someday I'll get around to it... Maybe I'll post pictures on the blog and ask for painting recommendations. I used to want to do a robin's egg blue with a white wash, but that was when I was more into the Victorian stuff.
So the consensus seems to be for me to keep the desk. I probably would regret it if I got rid of it, and it's pretty light. The space issue may be a problem once I move back to Boston, but we'll see.
Here are my two cents: keep the desk! If you repaint it you can use it somewhere else in your (future) house. I'm thinking mail/junk collection in an entryway or something. Anyway, I always liked that desk.
Amy H (in Columbus)
Okay, so I really like Amy's idea of using it in a nice wide entry hall - perhaps with an antique finish to it that complements the rest of your decor (be aware that in about 10 years you'll be evolved out of Ikea like you're evolved out of Victoriana now). It could hold the hall phone for guests to use, have a little square wicker basket to hold your incoming mail - oh, and don't forget the silver salver to be used by Giles to place calling cards from your friends! Ah, the good life!
Do you still have the Funk & Wagnalls? It looked great on that shelf you know.
Ah, choices. Aren't they the best?!
T-K
If only you were rich enough to afford an apartment with a nice wide entry hall to put it in... Who has a place big enough for spare desks?
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