The Table

Without boring you further with the renovation, it has actually progressed pretty well.

Like all such projects, you suddenly realise the furniture you had is no longer right - and the expense rolls on.

I'd already chosen some lovely, dark green velvet dining chairs. In fact, Elle found them and they're very comfortable, so I got them. Gotta love a dining chair that invites those at the table to settle in and linger.

What I then struggled with, was a table. I wanted something that was:

•  Small enough to fit the space under the window for every day
•  Extendable for dinners of eight or more
•  Oval, in case I need to squeeze a few more around
• Able to accommodate the height of the already purchased velvet chairs (tricky with the mechanics of extension tables I discovered)
• Of a finish and design that will fit in with my eclectic taste, including almost-black floors

That last point was especially tricky as it will on occasion be positioned in the middle of the room in front of what I like to grandly refer to as 'the library,' and what the kids prefer to refer to as 'the bookshelf'. Cruel.

I nearly wore Google out trying to find one. I'm now of the opinion that unless I love it and it's perfect, I'll keep looking. But nothing fitted the bill. 

I saw this table in a magazine and whilst not perfect, (not crazy for the base) thought it warranted a call to get a price. Perhaps I could grow to love it.

When I rang and asked 'how much?', the friendly guy with the heavy Italian accent starting telling me how amazing and famous the European designer is, how exquisite his work, how fine the materials of porcelain and steel and the expertise of the craftsmanship. I was compelled to point out that the more he talked, the more expensive it was sounding - and I wasn't wrong - it was a hair under $14k. Yeah...no.

So on the search went - this time including eBay. 

And there it was - my perfect table - up for auction, in Melbourne, no bids, a couple of 'watchers' and a starting price of $35. I was so nervous I couldn't wait until the last minute, so placed a 'proxy bid' of $152 (in case someone bid $150). As it happened, no-one else placed a bid so it was mine - for $35!!

In a stroke of karma, about 2 hours after the successful purchase of the table, someone purchased the hideous Indian silk painting I'd had on eBay for months.... for exactly $35!

A few days later, we hired a trailer from Bunnings. That expedited the moving of the wine fridge from storage into the laundry, some cupboards from the shed back to the storage unit and after that, the collection of the table. The guy was lovely - I almost felt guilty taking the beautiful table for $35 - but I did it anyway!!

When we turned it upside down to glue carpet on the feet, I noticed an old black ink stamp, 'Preston Furniture' and an address. Googling it, the manufacturer had gone but it is still an industrial area so it appears that our table was made locally, I'm guessing in the 1960s. This was just getting better and better.

And look! Isn't it perfect?!! Next mission; leather couches.

The Entrepreneur

Remember the window guy who got me blushing like a teenage girl?

Turned out that looking good was his best asset. We constructed the building according to 'Angelo's' advice, but when he came back and looked he said no, they couldn't work with that. Geoff (my partner and the builder) declared him a 'nuff nuff', assured me he had no idea about building and our search for a new window guy put us back about four months :(

After a couple of quotes and meetings we now have a guy - perhaps not a model - but who certainly knows what he's talking about.

So it was with some surprise last week that I opened an email Geoff had forwarded me from   'Angelo' (yes, I did change his name to protect the guilty!) with an unrequested quote. It was now at least 4 months since he'd said he couldn't help, and now he had great pleasure in submitting plans and a quote for.... drum roll..... $70,000!!! Laugh!! (Only because we're sorted, I confess, otherwise I may have wept.)

This wasn't just out of the ballpark of what he'd originally estimated, it wasn't even in the same galaxy! We'd have to put one of the kids on eBay for that. Ridiculous!

I emailed Geoff back suggesting he'd enjoy declining that one. He did, politely. And we assumed that was the end of it, but hell no! Here's what he got back!!

Thank you for you [sic] time in this matter and look forward to a day we can do business.

On another note, i also market a travel club, our product is called 'x' 

(I've removed it - I can't take on that kind of responsibility!)

We customise amazing holiday packages at a wholesale price

Price Pledge - 100% best price on the market or you go for free!

(Website link also removed - message me if you really, really want it!!)

I would love to know your opinion about our club, once again thank you for your time.

All I can say is I hope his knowledge of travel exceeds his knowledge of building....

Do you have what you love? Or love what you have?

It's a question I've been contemplating a lot lately.

We're hoping to eventually embark on that renovation and it does force you to be realistic about your innate style and the way you live.

Not so long ago, my dream was 'minimalist'. Both the interior style and the concept of living with less, with everything in place and a place for everything. Something like this. Ahhh.... the serenity!

And then I woke up.


We don't live like that! We are messy people - all of us. And we love stuff. Not all crap, although there's certainly plenty of that. The books have filled the available bookshelves so we now have a few piles as well (yes, a home for them all is a priority for the reno). We have more art (and I use that term in its most eclectic definition) than wall space - and yes, of course there'll be less walls after the reno so not sure how that's going to work - we may need to be selective, god forbid! And Geoff's collection of music and movies (among the more significant of his 'collections') including hundreds of vinyls, CDs and DVDs, seems to be added to almost daily.

I confess I am a 'What if I throw out those pipe-cleaners and then next week, I need a pipe-cleaner?' kinda chick. And hard to believe, but I loathe contributing to landfill unnecessarily if I can avoid it. I know it would be better to throw out the pipe-cleaner and if we ever need some, buy them then - but I just can't.

In addition, we probably have too much furniture - gorgeous church pews, my grandfather's tool chest, Geoff's antique writing desk, my grandmother's pianola - that we feel some connection with, so that can't go either. Add a treadmill, too many cushions (what is it with cushions???) a penchant for 'objet d'art' and pieces collected from our regular travels  - and you'll be getting the picture. Now just squish that all into a modest (some might say small) abode. Welcome to chaos and clutter!

As my sister-in-law would say, we've lost all hope and are now just praying for a fire!

So, how are things at your place? Are you sufficiently ruthless and detached to have exactly what you love - right now at this moment in history? Or like me, have you had to accept defeat because you love what you have?

Maybe, like most things in life, it's a spectrum and some of us, like me, are hanging in the extremes.