The Sideboard

When you say "sideboard" at Linderhof, it means one of three -- for there is one in the living room and one in the breakfast room besides the one in the dining room.

But I still think of the dining room one as The Sideboard -- it was, after all, the first!

It's one of those 30's/40's reproduction of Duncan Phyfe/Hepplewhite sideboards made from mahogany that are so common. You can find so many of them that I think that perhaps every household in American had a variation in their dining room!

We bought it when we moved here 22 years ago along with the table and the chairs that are now in the breakfast room. It has served us well.

On the wall behind is the woodblock on fabric that Husband Jim bought at an art gallery in Tai Wan in 1968 -- for $50 (which in 1968 for a GI serving in Viet Nam was a lot of money!)

It has always hung in our home and mostly in the dining room and mostly over a sideboard.
On the top (right now, anyway) are some favorite items -- my silver coffee urn. I had sold an article to Midwest Living and with the money I bought this -- an always wanted item. It was the exact same price as my Midwest Living money. And I've always treated my "extra" money as just that -- to buy things that I could not afford in our regular budget. I've had this for a long time, actually, and I still love it as much as the day I found it in the antique shop.
The silver coffee/tea service is always on the sideboard -- no matter what I do with each end! I love English gallery trays and this tray was an Estate Sale find and corrals the set nicely. Behind, is a huge Spode Blue Room platter. Found at an outlet mall for $100.00. I walked in the store, saw the platter and the price and immediately grabbed it. It was marked down -- way down and I felt so lucky.

I have been haunting that store ever since, hoping against hope that the Spode Italian tureen would be similarly marked down. Alas, it never has.

But I do have this wonderful platter which I treasure!
Currently, the Waterford decanters are on the other end of the sideboard. Purchased one at a time -- and all at great prices. Each is a different pattern but I don't care -- I don't like everything to be matchy, matchy!

I was so excited to find the first one and felt that my life was complete for I had a Waterford decanter! But, then, over a 10 year period, I found three more and all at really great prices! Steals, really. They're all different patterns but I like that.

For dinner parties, we will fill them with liqueurs. Poured from a Waterford decanter into wee Waterford glasses, it makes any liqueur elegant!

It's Tuesday and I'm joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday. I guess, however, mine should be Sideboard Top! Please join Marty and see what other tabletops there are this Tuesday!