This is my favorite credenza. Not because it's the hot mid century style of the moment but because it's from my grandmother. She had this sideboard in her living room for my whole life filled with records and tapes and all of her art books on top. When she died last year I inherited it. Even the smell of it reminds me of of the times we spent in her house together. It's a real treat in this modern age of mfd furniture to have a real heirloom with a history I can remember.
It got me to thinking though: I inherited more than just this sideboard from my grandmother but that's because she lived in LA and it was easy for me to take things home (not so easy for my cousins in Alaska). But we also had to get rid of a lot too.
How many of you have passed-down furniture that you adore? Have you gone to great lengths to get it home? Do you even like the furniture in your family or is it good riddance?
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Comments (7)
all of my family is in Kentucky and my grandfather passed away around this time last year. i've always coveted many of his possessions and the first thing i inherited was a t-shirt that his son made for him in the 70's that says "I'm the Garage Sale Kid". i definitely got my love of thrifting from him, so it was only fair that i got to have first dibs on the furniture.
anyway, lucky for me, that side of the family came into their money when Eames chairs and Brown Saltman credenzas were hot. unluckily for me....i live about 2500 miles away...
so, everything sits in my mothers attic, awaiting a) my return to Kentucky, or b) a long and very expensive trip in a uHaul out to LA.
I have gotten several things from my parents, some of them items they were replacing such as lamps etc that I wanted. Others I'm still awaiting for the day when my Mom finaly has no use for them, such the Queen Anne tall chest that's my Dad's and the grandfather clock in the living room that came from the Aire of Scotland and was built in something like 1850. I need to bring home my grandmother's mantle clock and I have a Mexican tiled table that was my grandmother's that her hubby bought for her in 1932 I believe and was the last piece of furniture he bought before he passed on.
I have several other items that were special projects of my Dad's, one a hanging bookcase that originally hung in the kitchen growing up and a lamp made from an old bomb casing that came from Vietnam that he had made shortly after he came back in 1968-69 and had beside his side of the bed for years.
And they will all co-exist in a modern leaning interior of my own design which includes MCM up through the 70's or so.
Oh Dean and ciddyguy! I am imagining such great heirlooms. Do you guys have pictures of any of this stuff?
Laure - that is a beautiful credenza...I'm a nice shade of green at the moment :)
that is a beautiful piece...and it is even better knowing that it came from someone you love...
The things I want to inherit are my parents' antique oriental rugs, a small wood chair with a hide seat my great grandfather made, and a beautiful old tiffany table lamp with an all green glass shade. There's also a great chair of mom's that's antique and french with this red silk fabric with a subtle pattern. I will be inheriting my Grandmother's ridiculously large collection of vintage Fiestaware.
As you can see, my family was never really into modernist design (save for the Fiesta). If I do ever get these things I will have to make them work within an almost entirely mid century atmosphere.
such a beautiful piece...and yes sentimental value makes it more appealing than the fact that it is a classic MCM piece