O.K. OI'll start. This is the coffee table in our living room. It was hand made for us by a friend, using red oak to match our floor and mantle. The slate tiles are left-overs from the kitchen floor we installed on our old house and DH and DS inserted them themselves. Adrian loves it because there are fossilized plants in the slate. I love it because it wears like iron, much needed in my house!

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This was taken as a photo of the dogs, Ajax on the right, DD's dog Raia on the left. Our babies! But you can see our old woodstove, which we used to heat the family room in the early years in our old house. It now sits in our kitchen and makes an interesting telephone table. Sorry about the wires...as I said, I was focusing on the dogs!

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Cheers,

Julie

I love the coffee table Julie. I have some tiles leftover from our kitchen backsplash in Toronto and would love to finally use them for something smart like that!

Well here goes.

First, what I call "early matrimony" furniture. This table was purchased by my grandmother as an antique. It is a leaf drop table with a drawer. Originally it was rectangular, but somewhere along the way, the leafs were rounded off. Nana was fond of locating "old" furniture in people's attics and this was one of her finds. My uncle, (the one in the sailor suit in that old photo on the previous thread) used this as his chemistry experiment table. It was refinished years later. My parents used the table as our diningroom table and I remember playing beneath it with my brother and sister. Later I used it often for working on school projects. In our Toronto home it was the diningroom table also and our kids covered it with craft projects, hiding it entirely for the month of October with Halloween fixings.

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Now this is what you get when you outlive your parents: things that you don't need or want but can't throw away. Mom was extremely fond of all things Japanese. This side table was used by her as a desk where she paid bills. The mail was smartly organized on one side. The stools well placed beneath the top surface were easily pulled out. The designs are charming. It is totally useless in our home.

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This diningroom table of ours is almost square, and in a pinch can seat eight. I purchased it when we moved to our farmhouse. It is actually Irish! It has a lovely wood surface which is not smooth, so you would not want to write there. The legs had to be raised about an inch so that people could fit their legs under it! I really am fond of it. Behind it you can see an antique Canadian pine sideboard. I used to keep dishes there, but now it is filled with "stuff".
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The low pale yellow table is similar to the dining table. We keep binoculars there and our Peterson's Guide too. The 2 small rockers on each end of the table face the feeders and we enjoy this spot year round. I got the rockers for a really good price when I set up this little area.
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These two little 'apothecary chests' wwere made for me by my DH acouple of years before he passed away, as was the little table they are sitting on. I keep all my seeds in them, and like to change out the vase display on top frequently during the growing season. By the way I was NOT drinking wine when I took this-despite the listing !

Kathy in Napa

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Julie- that's a great coffee table!
gb- that Japanese desk appeals to me too.

Here are a couple of our things here with a bit of 'history' to them...

The spice racks in the pantry and kitchen are 're-purposed' racks for chemicals that Randy 'liberated' from and old lab at university; the building was being torn down and the racks were deemed garbage! We cleaned them up and they make great spice racks (you can only see the chemical burns on the wood when you remove a few of the spice bottles... :- )
The pantry rack:
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The kitchen rack:
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This is my grandmother's gramophone - still works fine and we have records for it... It's not in the best of shape re the finish on it because, for many years, it sat in grandma's 'parlour' with a plant on the top and the plant was obviously watered carelessly...
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This washstand was also my grandparents'. It now sits in the front hall here and collects clutter - I did a hasty dump-most-of-the-clutter-elsewhere-to-take-the-picture :-)
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My picture files are a disaster. Organizing them is a painstaking process for me but one I am determined to accomplish. That should explain my tardiness in responding to this thread (congrats, Julie!).

I love old furniture. I inherited that from Mum and some of my earliest and very fondest memories involve auctions, junk shops, the smell of paint stripper, glue, and varnish.

This is a piece that has delighted me since it arrived in our home when I was very small.
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It is mahogany, circa 1840 and is from Boston. The lines scream "Federal" but the carving foretells the coming vogue of Victorian taste:
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I recall tea parties on it with my best friend, Sharon. Also curling up with Mum while she read to me.

This is not very good picture of a real Grandfather clock. This is the workmanship of the helpmeet's grandfather, a master cabinet maker from Germany who emigrated in the 1920s. He made a clock for each of his 3 children. The half round bonnet immediately identifies this piece as German. The works are British. My BIL offered it to us because the ceilings in his more contemporary home were to low to display it to best advantage. It will chime on the quarter hour and is very loud, so we don't use the chimes regularly.
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I see you guys have lots of cool stuff, too. The stove is to die for, Julie. Is it a top-loading Godin? I love the stories behind the pieces you've shared... it's the stories and memories that make things special to us, isn't it?

Chelone, that clock is wonderful ! I collect antique clocks but none are from the family. I love the face and I am determioned to have a clock with weights someday, can't wait to see it in person ! And that sofa is worthy of a reclining courtesan ..know any ?

Kathy in Napa

You guys have some fantastic pieces. I love to see neat and unique furniture in people's homes.

We have a number of pieces from Rick's parents or grandparents. Right now the camera battery died and won't even take a charge.

I do have a picture of this table from Rick's dad's machine shed. Not quite as nice as what your's are but I like it.

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Michelle, I remember that picture and like the table very much. My style! ;) The white vase is nifty too! You have collected such fun things from all around, like the secret garden house and the butterfly gate too.

Woody, no dog leashes on the wash stand? Looks empty!

gb - you can just see the edge of the wicker 'dog bag' container beside the washstand in the picture - Misty's leash was sitting there (after I dumped it there to clear off the top of the washstand to take the picture!) I forgot to mention.... I see Phoebe's white goatee has developed into a nice focal point for her face :-) Is her coat becoming more gray now?

Very much enjoyed everyone's photos of their furniture and their homes. What a neat table Julie. I am also happy with tables that will take some punishment. My DD will love the photo of your two doggies. She is very fond of that breed. Gardenbug, what a collection you have. I always love gateleg tables for some reason. The Japanese table with benches is so pretty. Would make a great 'behind the sofa' table or a buffet for the DR. Wondering how you have a potted rose blooming with snow on the ground and what that gorgeous plant is behind the rocker? I would love those low windows that you and Woody have. Ah, such a nice spot to sit and rock! Kathy, I think DH must have been very good with his hands. I don't think those small drawers in your apothecary chests could be easy to make. I like the way you have stacked them. Haven't seen an old gramophone in a long time, Woody. That one has some beautiful lines and looks like mahogany. Also enjoyed seeing your healthy looking fig tree and what is growing in that basket on the gramophone? Chelone, I had an uncle who lived in Maine and I remember he took me to an auction when I was a kid. Fond memory. Love the fact that you have furniture that connects you to happy memories. That is some setee you have there! Michelle...what a perfect work table. Very nice lines to it too.

Well, I have two old pieces that were my parents but photos will have to wait until another day.

Nice idea for a thread... :-)

PM2 - The plants on top of the gramophone are fakes! (and they are desperately in need of dusting...:-) The fig tree is the one that Randy has had since university days - it's 25-30 years old at least. It's sort of a giant-sized bonsai at this point!

Oakie doakie, I will add some of my 'treasures'.
The first was my mother's wash stand.It is really tacky looking, with the same paint that my mom put on it many years ago. I have it in my bedroom and use it as a bureau, and a plantstand. ( Most of my african violets are on it.) The door has broken off since this pic was taken. Nolon was going to fix it, but that hasn't happened.

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The next is the knick knack shelf that Nolon made for me, about 20 years ago.

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The third is a saucer shelf that he made for me about the same time .

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The next is the case that Nolon made at the same time as the first ones. I don't know why the sides look like that, they are actually very straight..not 'bulging'.

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My next pic was my Dad's chair, before he married my mother. It still has the paint that mama painted it. She was really into 'cream color'. :-)

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And the last is the bureau that I inherited, of my paternal grandmother's, when my mom passed. Sorry that it is not more visible. I have a bookcase stacked on top of it, and my jewelry case, and other stuff....too much to remove for a pic.

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Unlike most of my stuff, grandma's bureau is still in as good condition as it was when I got it. I am rather hard on furniture.

I have my dad's writing desk, and may post a pic of it when I get the obstacles removed from in front of it so I can take a pic. :-(

I also have a nice large case that Nolon built me for my stereo and records. It is on rollers. Right now it is inaccessible for getting a picture....too many plants on and around it. :-(

I have a very heavy library table, a small buffet,(a large one that was mate to it was severly damaged while in storage), an antique dinningroom table ( the one I work puzzles on), and other antique tables of various sizes.

And (oh yes) an antique clock that Nolon bought when he was 9 years old , and a couple of picture frames, and kerosine lamps. But then, I am almost an antique muself! LOL !

Marie, I love that Japanese side table. It would be great to set below my dinningroom windows to set plants on. :-)
Or in our vestibule.
One of my tables sort of resembles your green one. Mine is green also, but has straight tapered legs, with deep groves the length of them. I have no good place for it, so it is in our pantry, under the lower shelf.
I have a feeling that you and I have similar households.

Julie, I love your table. A friend of Nolon's gave him a low table that he made. It is/was a glass-covered case for arrowheads, not it also has my butterfly collection in it too. The legs were made from an axle of an ancient wagon that the friend found in the Idaho mountains. It is not nearly as pretty as your table, but is valued because of it's history.
I like your stove, and the pooches look cute in front of it. :-)

Kathy, your apothecary chests are really neat. I can imagine how much you treasure them.

Woody, your treasures are kind of in the same category as mine. I had my mother's Victrolla (sp?) phonograph ( it was her mother's to begin with). I left it with my oldest sister while between homes. She took out the 'insides' and turned it into a liquor cabinet!!! Up until then, it was a working phonograph! I was very disappointed, to say the least, but there was little I could do about it. I left it with her.
I would be happy if my washstand was refinished like yours. Mine's mirror, with the towel rack beneath, is out in our storage shed.

Wow! Chelone! That sofa is great! How often have you recovered it? :-) The clock is great also. A preacher friend went into making grandfather clocks in his older years. Did a good job of it too. One of his beginning wood work jobs was a corner shelf. He gave it to me. It sets in my bedroom, on the stand by the head of my bed. He was not happy with it. But I value it.

Michelle. I am looking forward to more pics from you. As Marie said, that table is "my style" also.

Marian

PM, the rose with the snowy background...Well when March inflicts us with blizzards, rain flooding and mud, I have a definite need for plants and bulbs. I generally get inexpensive ones at the grocery store to help me through this time. The rose was a Valentine gift to myself.

Here is the plant behind the rocker, in an old pine stand. It is a begonia that I've managed to keep happy for three years now.

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Woody, I'm very jealous that your DH could keep a Fig Tree going all that time. I've tried to grow one, two or three times and lose my patience with them when they are so sensitive to any changes and when moving them, they dropped lots of their leaves. I imagine you've helped keep it going. :-)

Marian....you have a lot of pieces from the past. I haven't anything from any of my grandparents. Only one photo of my grandmother on my mother's side. I have no memory of any of them. It would be great to have something they used.

Gardenbug...You've given me a good idea. I usually receive cut flowers and am always so sad when they last such a short time. I think I will ask for plants next time. I just LOVE your begonia. Very pretty and graceful! Three years is also a long time. It fits that pine stand perfectly.

Here is my contribution...this chair was in our house when I was growing up. One of the few pieces I have that my parents used. It is slipcovered and not as comfortable as it looks. Needs new cushions, I think. I have a Dining Room set that was my mother's but no photo today. :-)

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It's relay cool furniture.I like all cool furniture image.

I like all image of cool furniture.It's most useful to me.
Nice post..

The coffee table is amazing and maybe u can redecorate it with some flowers to make it look beautiful.