As soon as I found it on Craigslist, I transferred money over from Paypal. But would the sellers wait for me? Would the sellers be flooded with other offers?
We emailed back and forth throughout the week – asking dimensions, etc. The man was sweet, patient, eager to sell and downsize for his family. He waited, and now it’s ours.
It’s surreal.
I woke up these last couple mornings, stumbling out of my bedroom wiping the sleep from my eyes, only to open and see this set sitting proudly in our dining room, eagerly awaiting a family member to sit at it and use it, accepting it into our home. It feels so odd to see it and not our old set, though. We’ve had our old set for six years.
We purchased this second hand, just like our old one, from a couple who are moving and downsizing. They kept pretty fantastic care of the table and china cabinet, but maybe perhaps not-so-perfect care of the white fabric seats. They could use a good deep cleaning, not just to brighten the white once more, but to clean the remnants of scented cleaners or potpourri left on them.
This foreign scent doesn’t necessarily smell bad – it reminds me of visiting my grandmother’s when I was younger. That unmistakeable smell of her house when visiting, sitting on her furniture, it’s a lot like that. But smelling someone else’s house on furniture in your own home, it’s odd. I need to remedy this, to make it smell like our own home, but until I do, I can’t help but find my mind drifting about what life for this table was like when they still owned it; who sat on what chair, how many times it was moved (they are a military family), whether they had this new, or purchased it used, too.
I love owning furniture with a history.
I love loving older things, even if we have a more modern vibe. I love giving things new life, and I can’t wait to get started on steam-cleaning/rejuvenating the chair fabric, de-scenting the set, filling our new-to-us china cabinets with my grandmother’s dishes and platters and tchotchkes, and making it our own.
Do you own a china cabinet? This is my first time owning one. What do you store in yours?
