As Time Goes By

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQinY85zlfo&feature=fvwrel

Don't you hate it when you have things that you no longer use or even want, but you have problems letting go of them because they are connected to a long list of good memories, or were given to you by someone you care for?  I have a nice dining room set, made in 1925, that Dearly Beloved bought me for our 25th anniversary.  The set consits of a table, sideboard and six chairs.  It sits in a dining room that is too small for it. There also is an old English sideboard in the room.  There is no room to sit around the table, so the room does not get used except as a place to dump belongings while going from the kitchen to the front entry.   It seems more practical to convert the dining room into an office/spare room.  However, I am having trouble trying to give up the dining room set.

I have thought about other places to use the individual pieces but know they need to go.  Knowing and doing are not the same.   I have no problem giving up the English sideboard.  We picked it up in Germany while stationed at Ramstein AB back in the early 1980s.  It is in need of repair.

I have gone as far as boxing up all the china that was in the sideboards, hoping to eventually have a place in the breakfast nook to store it.   It now looks as if we are in the process of moving. 

One of the issues I am wrestling with is how to get rid of the furniture once I finally commit to doing so.  Neither of my kids want it.  I do not want to give it away because it does have monetary value.  I do not want to have a garage/yard sale because I do not like strangers crawling over my front yard, critiquing my belongings. Besides, it is too hot to have a garage sale.   I do not want to advertise in the paper because I do not want strangers coming into the house.  I have thought about taking the furniture to the thrift shop and selling it on consignment.  But if it doesn't sell within 3 months, I would have to haul it home again. 

I think the hoarder side of me also wants to hang on to it.  I know it is made better than most furniture today.  So what to do.  And if I do get rid of this marvelous table and sideboard, do I replace it with a more cheaply made desk or table?  Seems almost wicked to do so.

I have the same problem with a table we picked up in Germany.  Dearly Beloved rescued it from the trash on base.   It is built solid as a rock.  DB stripped it, stained it and put a butcher block formica top on it.   We used it as a kitchen table for years.  Then Dearly Beloved gave it a third life as a black table with black glass inserts on the top-- a more modern look.   We use it in the breakfast nook.  We will not need it after we remodel the kitchen and breakfast nook.  But it is such a good piece, I cannot bear to part with it.  I am thinking it might make a great sewing table.  Of course, I also considered the dining room table for the same purpose. (Talk about coming full circle.  I use to have to sew on the dining room table and hated it.) Or, perhaps the breakfast nook table could be used as the new office desk/table.  No, not enough space once you add in the filing cabinet, day bed, etc. to the office.  The new office would end up as crowded and useless as the dining room is now.

And then there is the dresser we dragged out of Clay Hall at Phillips University.  The university is my alma mater and no longer exists.  The dresser is solid oak throughout, and has dovetailed drawer joints.  Weighs a ton.  I would like to remove it from my sewing room but where to put it?  Moving it will be a major deal because of its weight.  It is too good a piece to merely get rid of. 

And what about the Heppelwhite/Sheridan chest and the drop leaf table?  Is there  no end to it? 

I suppose if it were possible to get enough out of these pieces to buy a new quilter, any qualms I have would quickly evaporate.  But I don't think they will bring in that much cash.

Of course, the thought has occurred to me that it would be easier to add on a couple of new rooms to the house.  Or move.