We loved our last home, but as we've said umpteen times, it was a little too far from the ocean and a little too small, but we miss it none the less. Even though it was only built in the late 50's it was still rich with local history. Our next door neighbor had lived there for 50 years and had grown up playing in our house and yard as her best friend's family had owned our house back then. Her house, which was to our left, burnt down when she was younger and so the whole neighborhood came together to build a new home for them, including the mini 'humpy' building at the back, in which she still lived. Her wedding photo's were actually taken in our main bedroom. Unfortunately we never got to see the wedding pictures, she forgot to bring them from her other house to show us, and she moved out just as we moved to here so I never got to ask again.
Even though the house lacked the more traditional features of an original Queenslander, (ornate internal fretwork, wraparound verandahs etc) it still had the most beautiful thin laid floorboards so indicative of that era, and as many tradies have told us, are becoming more and more rare to see in houses these days, (thicker width original wooden floorboards are still seen a lot). Gorgeous casement windows and the 1950's style wrought iron handrails, and old plumbing pipe fences. It was a cute little house that has stood modestly on that land and has seen many kids grow up in it and the street change around it.
Col and I have always bought things to remind us of past locations where we have lived, mostly in the form of artworks by local artists or of the local area. Obviously this time we were only moving house and not location, it was tricky to know what we could take with us for our little bit of history. So far we had found a few coins and an old glass bottle buried in the garden, but nothing of great interest. If I could I would have ripped out every floor board and re-laid them in our current house, but that clearly wasn't an option either. Then one day we stumbled upon an unlikely memento that we could definitely take with us and definitely use.
A vintage milky white glass ceiling lamp fitting!
The only photo I could find of it in its original setting is the one above on the left. A reflection in the mirror of our pre-renovated bathroom from when we first moved in. (So that you can see it a bit better I have altered the brightness in the image on the right). When we changed out the light fittings, Col was about to throw this old thing in the skip but I just couldn't do it, I thought it was such a waste. So Col suggested we keep it to use it as a vase or something. And I am soooo glad we did, I LOVE IT!! Up on the ceiling (as you can see) it looked totally boring and lost in the expanse of white. But with it's new lease of life as a centrepiece for our candles it just glows! Ha...literally.
It is just gorgeous and simple, and can enjoy its new life for many more years to come!
K xx
Now thats an upcycle! It looks great as a candle holder and having sentimental value makes it even more special :) Nice one
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle, it turned out to be quite a simple but nice reminder of our previous project.
DeleteCheers, Col