Thursday, June 26, 2014

Used AND abused?


Treasure chest
While I adore life in the boonies,
at times it's rather obvious that
I'm not the usual Montanan. As
we settle into the Passion Pit, we
are slowly tweaking our decorative
decisions. One thing that's obvious
is that we need more storage in the
Master Bedroom. We were spoiled
by our Manhattan apartment which
had an entire wall of built-ins in
the Master. Now deprived, we've
decided that a "mid-century" chest
of drawers could store some stuff.
Gone but not forgotten
I miss very few things about Dallas.
One of the few is the ramshackle
"On Consignment" store in Uptown
on Fairmont. Located a few blocks
from our apartment I hit this den of
iniquity every Saturday to hunt and
peck. Literally stacked to the ceiling,
it was a treasure trove of decorator
cast offs. As I look around the Pit,
many of the things that we truly
love came from there. I'm certain
it would have what I seek. But I'm
here and the mother lode is there.
Cash & carry
If nothing else, Texans do love their
homes. In decadent Dallas it seemed
as if every city block was filled with
voracious redecorators in a state of
constant flux. Spewing out mounds
decorative debris. From the start,
anything in Lewistown arrived via
river boat, wagon, or train. Settlers
had little and post homesteading our
stockpile of antiques continues to be
meager at best. The truly affluent are
a limited group who prefer antlers or
Remington to mahogany and Eames.
Antiqs?
We always attempt to spend as much
of our money here in Lewistown as
possible. So we got in the car and hit
all of the local spots. There's a great
antique shop on Main Street however
it's emphasis is bric a brac so sadly,
nothing. The two local thrift stores
are filled with racks of clothing so
again, no viable options. Finally the
shop that proudly displays the sign
stating "Antiqs" hasn't yet caught on
to the mid century craze. All they
had was a sea of golden oak.
Modern marvels
Our last chance was a resale shop
on the wrong side of the tracks.
Somehow pulling into that lot in
a newly washed Jaguar XJL felt
a bit off. Once a restaurant, this
establishment has seen better days.
Inside was a selection of recent
vintage cast offs. You know, those
plump velour sofas that resemble
an overstuffed bra? We queried the
owner about our quest, his response
was "I only carry modern." In this
case, even I was speechless.
Life line
Next I hit e-bay. Post ten minutes
of surfing I found several options
that were exactly what we want.
Given I've purchased furniture
from my favorite cyber shop the
idea of purchasing an item that
big sight unseen is of no concern.
However I will defer purchasing
until after our next trip to Billings
in the hope that our dollars can
stay in Montana. However if we
can't find anything, UPS will be
delivering a big box soon!