iRelle

I’ve been on a bit of a 50s home-decor inspired redecoration spree the last few weeks. It started with completely cleaning the surplus furniture (my coffee table) and associated junk out of my room for some relatives to stay over the weeks around New years, and the distribution of Granny’s things has kept the redecorating bug alive and well for a rather protracted period of time. I’m still working on the other three walls of my room, but for now the ‘bookcase’ wall is all done.

I’m shooting for a 1940s-50s vintage look, in green and purple. Enter Granny’s doilies and boxes of old photos. I’ve been made keeper of the memories for my generation of the family – all the photos, slides and letters are my responsibility, and I revel in them. We dispatched most of Granny’s belongings when she moved in with us nine years ago, but a certain cabinet and contents has been in our home for all those years, and we’ve had some fun sharing out the memories this week.

Perhaps the most amazing finds came out of one of the boxes of photos. Right at the bottom, buried beneath loose snapshots and sheets of closely-written letters, I found my great-grandma’s autograph book. I think to encompass the awesomeness of this book I’ll need another blog post… it’s truly a snapshot of a life at the outbreak of World War I.

Another relic of WWI is a fantastic snap I found amongst the Kelty family albums. It shows a soldier getting his hair cut, smoking his pipe. My great-grandfather’s writing on the back names them only as ‘my mates’ on board the S.S. Miltiades – a ship that was requisitioned for troop transport in 1915, and broken up in 1922 or ’23. This is one of the three photos I’ve blown up and framed with the frames from the 70s that were also in the bottom of a photo box. The other photos are circa WWII – My granddad, Don, cutting his brother Jeff’s hair, and some of their mates with one of the trucks they drove (and wrecked, according to other photos).

My major effort to redecorate my room is the set of drawers that I’ve restored a little and repainted in two shades of green- giving me a little more storage space, and a project that I’ve had a whole heap of fun with over the last week. Now I’ve just got to figure out how much junk I can squeeze into them!

Next job: to make some pretty cushion covers using some of Granny’s doilies, recover my lampshade to match the decor, and make some curtain tie-backs. I’m also on the lookout for some new sheets and a suitable table cloth for my bedside table! I haven’t felt this full or purpose (or this content) for ages. I just can’t wait to have a whole house of my own to decorate!

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