Linderhof


Gardening, Cooking and Decorating on the Prairie of Kansas


Welcome to Linderhof, our 1920's home on the prairie, where there's usually something in the oven, flowers in the garden for tabletops and herbs in the garden for cooking. Where, when company comes, the teapot is always on and there are cookies and cakes to share in the larder.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Everything Has A Story -- Part One


When you "collect' furniture
rather than going to a furniture store and buying enough furniture
to fill your room,
Every
piece has a story

And the furnishings of Linderhof are no exception

My first story . . . .

The "bar" in the living room


It's German, Belgian, French or English
you pick!

They seem to be from the country that is chic at the moment!

I first fell in love with a German one,
called a Shrank
newly married our first couple friends had one
Stationed in Germany and loving antiques
they brought several pieces back with them

Alas, at that time big pieces of European furniture  were not being imported 
the only way to get something similar was to go to Europe and bring it back yourself

Furniture at the time we were married consisted of 
"plastic" Mediterranean or Early American maple
And so I yearned

Years and years later
We were in a consignment shop
And there was a "shrank"
for $600

We've seen some for sale
At a price twice that or more!

Why only $600?
It was a "classy" consignment shop
Most of the furniture there was early 18th century furniture
mostly American
rather than late 18th century furniture from Europe!

We bought it
Had a friend and his trailer haul it home for us
And he kept it while we decided where we were going to put it

And so, with some furniture arranging, it came to live in the living room at Linderhof


We love the heavily carved upper center door


And the carving on the bottom
drawers

Deep storage -- it holds lots of "stuff"


The top is marble which is nice when you use it as a bar
Sometimes we clear off the liquor bottles and put some of our decanters on display!


The story . . .
The age of the piece
How it traveled from Europe to find it's way eventually in the little consignment shop
And reminds us so much of the "Shrank" that we coveted so long ago
How we weren't look for something like this
(but rarely are we looking for a piece -- they just seem to find us!)
Had no idea that we would even own one
But there it was . . .
And home it came!

Oh, and do we call it a "Shrank" --
no we call it a sideboard
The living room sideboard!

Not everything has a story at Linderhof
But I love to share the stories of the things that do!


5 comments:

Gina @ VictorianWannaBe said...

Beautiful piece Martha, so glad you ended up with it. It looks beautiful in your home and I enjoyed reading your story. We used to have a mall here that carried the big European pieces like that and they actually had some just like that.
Have a wonderful day,
Gina

Sandra said...

I love your stories of how things came to be at Linderhof. You have a unique style that I am always impressed with. That is a beautiful piece of furniture.

Rue said...

Martha, that piece is absolutely gorgeous. I love hearing about the things you've acquired and you know I completely agree with you on collecting over the years rather than going out and buying it all in one fell swoop.

I was wondering if you'd share your Champagne chicken recipe? :)

xo,
rue

Pat said...

Martha,
I love the story behind your "shrank", dear friend!!!
I am ever so~o~o grateful to have seen it in person when visiting Linderhof!!!
It truly, is a beautiful piece!!!
Fondly,
Pat

Delvalina said...

the story just simply beautiful! I love things that you shared here.
Blessing,
Delvalina