Furniture for Adults

During my week off Colin and I puttered around a few furniture stores. We browsed every floor of ABC Carpet & Home, the majority of which was filled with items very much out of our price range, not to mention that everything seemed sized for massive 5000 sq. ft. lofts in SoHo. We did eye an antique vintage light fixture that made use of the edison lightbulbs that Colin likes so much. But any lighting for above the dining room table will have to wait until the table has arrived -- only then will we be able to determine what is most fitting.

The hightlight of the puttering about was an antique store, Brownstone Treasures, on Court Street in Brooklyn. A number of pieces in the store impressed. While our home has the requisite furnishings to function, we are looking to slowly replace the Ikea stuff with longer lasting items. We'd like a bench for the entryway, a place to land upon entry. There is also a wall in the large hall area that is in need of something. We have yet to find or identify the missing piece, something unique but with a bit of function.

We're most desiring a wardrobe to replace the ugly Ikea beast that currently lives in our bedroom. We saw a magnificent oak wardrobe at Brownstone Treasures, spacious, smooth with lovely curves, but heartbreakingly it had already been sold. Despite the sticker that said "Sold" I still had to ask: "so this one is sold?" (The sticker did not stop another customer from asking the same question and despite knowing the answer, my ears still perked up hoping to hear something that would indicate that it was back on the market. Of course, it wasn't).

So no go on the wardrobe but we did eye another beautiful item -- a 1940s four-drawer dresser. And while we didn't need a new dresser, this one was simply too nice to pass up, especially considering its price and good condition.

What I'm most delighted about is that there is now a place for the few palm-size family heirlooms that I'd had packed away for the past few years. I never found an appropriate place for them in my last two apartments -- the first apartment was already furnished, cramped and cluttered as it was. Our last place, a reaction to the cramp and clutter of our first apartment together, was very minimalist and modern.

Finally these heirlooms, passed down from my grandmother to my mother and now to me, have a home on the new dresser. One item is a small white creamer from a tea set that my grandmother played with as a child. On the bottom there are Cyrillic characters that reflect my family's Georgian and Russian roots. My grandmother's toy became a memento for my mother, something she could carry over in her suitcase to America. Today it finally has a special place in our new home.