OT: All Things Victorian
Jill McQuown
which will form a bay window in the dining room as well as a partial turret
which will form the sitting area off the master bedroom over the porch.
I've always loved things from the turn of the last century. Well, sort of.
My Scottish grandmother's china is very much from that era... green and gilt
with Chelsea birds (peacocks) on it. It's a bit too garish for my taste.
Please fill that bowl with some soup! (laughing) Why did they like green so
much?
Now, since it's getting closer to the time he will actually break ground and
start to build, I've grown even more of a fascination with all things
Victorian. They *were* very garish, weren't they? I look at the furniture
and the wall paper and the drapes... oh my! It's a bit much. No red or
green silk wallpaper for me. No heavy velvet drapes blocking the light.
Lace, I can handle :-)
Okay, our conciliation will be hardwood floors downstairs, a nice claw-foot
tub in the guest bathroom, a pedestal sink... and I think I've talked him
into one of those wooden tank pull-chain toilets <G>
I found a great "telephone table" - mahogany with an adjoined padded
buttoned seat, in pale green and white stripes, for chatting and jotting
down notes. Not that I like talking on the phone, but for the unused corner
in the downstairs hall, hmmm.
Next up, I found a completely refurbished 1880's Victorian horsehair and
mahogany chaise lounge for the sitting area in the master bedroom. Okay,
it's gorgeous. But I'm not willing to pay $3,000 for it. And it's white
brocade. I plan to sit on it and read by the windows, not treat it like
it's in a museum! Why is it everything was either white, or (again, garish)
red velvet? Oh well, I'll find something less expensive and less apt to get
dirty :-) Maybe padded wicker.
Meanwhile, I have a mahogany dressing table - slightly later style, 1920's -
I've been outfitting with old perfume bottles and trinket boxes. A Limoges
hat pin holder from eBay. Now I need some hat pins! Oh! I got some hats!
Much later era, but what the heck.
Any and every idea about where to get inexpensive Victoriana for the house
is welcome! Please fill me in.
OB Food: This isn't Victorian. But it goes well with cheese crackers!
2 c. packed fresh parsley leaves
2/3 c. walnut pieces
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbs. dried basil
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. milk
In a blender, combine parsley, walnuts, Parm, garlic and basil until finely
chopped. Add cream cheese and milk and blend until smooth. Cover and chill
until served. Makes 2 cups of dip. I use lowfat cream cheese or Neufchatel
and skimmed milk. With the herbs, the cheese and the garlic, you don't
notice the difference.
Jill
scott
"Jill McQuown" wrote
> Any and every idea about where to get inexpensive Victoriana for the house
> is welcome! Please fill me in.
Auctions - Rummage Sales - Estate Sales - to name a few
Puester
>
> The house Ray has designed is Victorian in style, right down to the turret
> which will form a bay window in the dining room as well as a partial turret
> which will form the sitting area off the master bedroom over the porch.
Funny, but when you have talked about the house I have
always pictured a log cabin, honestly!
gloria p
SportKite1
>It's a bit too garish for my taste.
Depends a lot on the income level of the people who were living in the
Victorian era. While certain architectural features were relatively consistent,
decor depended largely on one's economic position. Not to mention that
immigrants brought family heirlooms with them from their various home countries
and displayed them proudly. The Victorian Cottage "look" is quite modest, not
overly fussy and might be a look you prefer. There is a mailorder company that
specializes in affordable Victorian style (as well as Craftsman) fixtures.I
wish I could remember the name, it could be as simple as Reproduction Hardware
Co. - LOL. You can find it advertised in various shelter magazines. I really
liked their lighting fixtures, glass door knobs, hinges and cabinet pulls.
>I think I've talked him
>into one of those wooden tank pull-chain toilets <G>
I had a friend who got those years ago and they are a maintenance pain in the
butt. Opt for a nice low water saving toilet and if possible place in a
separate Water Closet. ;) The idea is there, but you'll be eco-smart.
>I found a great "telephone table" - mahogany with an adjoined padded
>buttoned seat, in pale green and white stripes, for chatting and jotting
>down notes. Not that I like talking on the phone, but for the unused corner
>in the downstairs hall, hmmm.
Hmmmm....no one I know still sits down to talk on the phone...rofl. Thank
GODDESS for remotes so one can fold laundry, get a meal started, putter around,
oh, I really have gotten multi-task oriented. hehehehe
A nice piece of furniture but it will be a dust collector that rarely gets
used. Opt for a Hall Tree with a mirror, some hooks and a storage bench where
you can put on your shoes and store misc. stuff under the drop lid. You can
either scout out antique/junk stores OR build a reasonable facsimile using
materials available at your local Home Depot type store.
>Next up, I found a completely refurbished 1880's Victorian horsehair and
>mahogany chaise lounge for the sitting area in the master bedroom. Okay,
>it's gorgeous. But I'm not willing to pay $3,000 for it. And it's white
>brocade. I plan to sit on it and read by the windows, not treat it like
>it's in a museum! Why is it everything was either white, or (again, garish)
>red velvet? Oh well, I'll find something less expensive and less apt to get
>dirty :-) Maybe padded wicker.
Wicker is nice. As I recall Pier One has some pretty nice Victorian style
wicker that won't break the bank. I also saw someone on HGTV take an old
Victorian chair much the worse for wear upholstery wise, but the carved back,
legs and arms were definitely worth salvaging once it had been refinished. They
removed the upholstery, cut a piece of plywood to fit the curved back seat and
extended the platform to turn it into a Chaise - attaching new carved legs from
a local home supply store. They padded and upholstered the seat and VOILA, a
beautiful low cost Chaise. I think the whole thing cost less than a couple
hundred dollars.
>Any and every idea about where to get inexpensive Victoriana
Well, you've already checked out EBAY. I have a couple suggestions for good
catagories to check out. Stick with it, things change all the time there.
Search: And don't pluralize - the search best picks up on the individual
entries, not the subject.
Shabby Chic - Some of it is crap, but there are some cool finds too.
Rug - Don't forget that Victoriana oft includes some nice Oriental Rugs. I've
seen some amazing deals on great runners and rugs there. This is a catagory
well worth monitoring regularly, but do be sure to check out the shipping costs
before you commit to bidding.
Lamp - There are some crafters that market some amazing Victorian style
lampshades, plus there are sometimes new reproductions that go for a fair
price. Yard Sale to find inexpensive lamps to show off the shades. Even tho Gas
Lamps were the thing back then, use some creative license...lol
Painting - There are companies who specialize in "real oil paintings" - all
reproductions of famous paintings done, I believe in China. Some of them ARE
amazing. I picked up a Sargent copy for $15. a few months ago and it's
gorgeous. 24" x 36" - it's a beautiful addition to our bedroom. These companies
usually try to get you to have them framed by them since you're bidding on the
canvas on a wood frame. But their framing is pretty cheap so unless you're
going to frame them yourself, it might be an affordable way to go.
Pick a subject matter. In my case I love peacocks. So I simply type in Peacocks
and anything to do with them pops up. You can do the same with Roses, Birds,
Lace, etc.
Now the trick is to win the auction - but that is another subject. hehehehe
OB: Food
Well it's not food, but it's a Victorian Beverage.
To three quarts of fresh, ripe raspberries, put one of good vinegar. Let it
remain a day--then strain it, and put to each pint a pound of white sugar. Boil
the whole together for half an hour, skim it clear.
When cool, add a wine glass of French brandy to each pint of the shrub. A
couple of table-spoonfuls of this, mixed with a tumbler two-thirds full of
water, is a wholesome and refreshing drink.
Archon
The quoted paragraph makes me picture heavy weaponry! :)
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Nielsen
Computer Vision and Graphics at Aalborg University
Project: http://www.vrmedialab.dk/~tscv
Music: http://mp3.com/archon2
Website: http://www.archonia.dk
Jill McQuown
news:3D14FEDB...@gvdnet.dk...
>
>
> Puester wrote:
> >
> > Jill McQuown wrote:
> > >
> > > The house Ray has designed is Victorian in style, right down to the
turret
> > > which will form a bay window in the dining room as well as a partial
turret
> > > which will form the sitting area off the master bedroom over the
porch.
> >
> > Funny, but when you have talked about the house I have
> > always pictured a log cabin, honestly!
>
> The quoted paragraph makes me picture heavy weaponry! :)
>
> --
Jill
sf
Good Luck. You can't even go to the back woods anymore and find a
bargin.
If you want bargins, Jill, better buy reproductions.... a lot of the
so called antiques out there are reproductions, anyway.
scott
"sf" wrote:
> Good Luck. You can't even go to the back woods anymore and find a
> bargin.
>
I guess I should have asked where you live first. I live in Wisconsin, and
you could can find just about anything you want at the auctions around here,
and usually for very good prices.
SportKite1
>I found a Hall Tree I liked very much. Great idea, but not sure what I'd
>store in it. Boots for tromping outside when it rains, maybe :)
A flashlight or two, particularly a high beam one that could take you from a
power outed house to the car safely; a couple cheap disposable rain ponchos for
friends caught without raincoats; a reserve lightbulb for the porch light; a
small toolkit including a phillips/slotted combo screwdriver to fix small
things that go awry close to the door; oh...I could go on and on....but I'm
sure you can think of even more things that would come in handy close to your
front door.
sf
<smile>
Funny you mentioned that because I was thinking specifically of
Wisconsin! My sister lives in central Wis... Westboro and she used
to say the same thing, so I took her up on "antiquing" the last time I
was out there. We looked and looked at shops and estate sales (no
auctions when I was there), but what we found wasn't very good and it
was all at city prices. No bargains were found in that area when I
was there.
Roman & Wendy
> Depends a lot on the income level of the people who were living in the
> Victorian era. While certain architectural features were relatively
consistent,
> decor depended largely on one's economic position. Not to mention that
> immigrants brought family heirlooms with them from their various home
countries
> and displayed them proudly. The Victorian Cottage "look" is quite modest,
not
> overly fussy and might be a look you prefer. There is a mailorder company
that
> specializes in affordable Victorian style (as well as Craftsman)
fixtures.I
> wish I could remember the name, it could be as simple as Reproduction
Hardware
> Co. - LOL. You can find it advertised in various shelter magazines. I
really
> liked their lighting fixtures, glass door knobs, hinges and cabinet pulls.
>
I think you are refering to Restoation Hardware. They are on the web at
www.restorationhardware.com. some very nice reproduction drawr pulls, and
such.
Roman
Jill McQuown
news:3d14fc3a...@news.pipeline.com...
the turn of the last century and some wonderful leather-top tables made in
the 1930's. So I do know how to tell the difference :-) Look at the
dovetails in the drawers. Nails? What type? Look at the oxidation of the
wood. Also, what kind of wood? This is a key to where the piece was made.
When Ray and I go out "antiquing" we are like a couple from the Antiques
Roadshow... pull out the drawers, look at the feet on the chest, has this
been cut off? Modified? Refinished? Hey, mom had one of those it's from
1980! (laughing) It's fun.
Jill
Jill McQuown
news:20020622184440...@mb-fp.aol.com...
> >buttoned seat, in pale green and white stripes, for chatting and jotting
> >down notes. Not that I like talking on the phone, but for the unused
corner
> >in the downstairs hall, hmmm.
>
> Hmmmm....no one I know still sits down to talk on the phone...rofl. Thank
> GODDESS for remotes so one can fold laundry, get a meal started, putter
around,
> oh, I really have gotten multi-task oriented. hehehehe
>
> A nice piece of furniture but it will be a dust collector that rarely gets
> used. Opt for a Hall Tree with a mirror, some hooks and a storage bench
where
> you can put on your shoes and store misc. stuff under the drop lid. You
can
> either scout out antique/junk stores OR build a reasonable facsimile using
> materials available at your local Home Depot type store.
>
store in it. Boots for tromping outside when it rains, maybe :)
Oh well, I'll find something less expensive and less apt to get
> >dirty :-) Maybe padded wicker.
>
> Wicker is nice. As I recall Pier One has some pretty nice Victorian style
> wicker that won't break the bank.
I'll be looking at wicker :-)
> >Any and every idea about where to get inexpensive Victoriana
>
> Well, you've already checked out EBAY. I have a couple suggestions for
good
> catagories to check out. Stick with it, things change all the time there.
>
> Search: And don't pluralize - the search best picks up on the individual
> entries, not the subject.
>
> Shabby Chic - Some of it is crap, but there are some cool finds too.
>
> Rug - Don't forget that Victoriana oft includes some nice Oriental Rugs.
I've
> seen some amazing deals on great runners and rugs there. This is a
catagory
> well worth monitoring regularly, but do be sure to check out the shipping
costs
> before you commit to bidding.
>
> Lamp - There are some crafters that market some amazing Victorian style
> lampshades, plus there are sometimes new reproductions that go for a fair
> price. Yard Sale to find inexpensive lamps to show off the shades. Even
tho Gas
> Lamps were the thing back then, use some creative license...lol
>
I'd love to have gas lights! But, it's against building codes these days.
Most were converted to electric.
Thanks for all the suggestions, Ellen!
Jill
Jill McQuown
news:3d151cc7$0$79559$4bb1...@news.dwave.net...
be (laugh). Estate sales and auctions duly noted :-)
Jill
Elisabeth Bouynot
jmcq...@bellsouth.net says...
> Now, since it's getting closer to the time he will actually break ground and
> start to build, I've grown even more of a fascination with all things
> Victorian. They *were* very garish, weren't they? I look at the furniture
> and the wall paper and the drapes... oh my! It's a bit much. No red or
> green silk wallpaper for me. No heavy velvet drapes blocking the light.
> Lace, I can handle :-)
The most hilarious description of Victorian furniture - and taste in
general - is in a SciFi book called "To say nothing of the dog", by
Connie Willis. Victorian parlors, with antimacassars on the armchairs,
overdone decoration...
Good luck with the house
Elisabeth