CHERYL BUTTS IN: What We Collect

Please welcome Cheryl to my blog as she takes over for me during the final stages of my renovation craziness!   This is Cheryl..

I put the moon on her picture because that is always what appears when she makes a comment on my blog.  Take it away Cheryl....

Cheryl in Wisconsin here.  I am an expert blog lurker, gleaning inspiration and ideas from all of bloglandia, while I live the high life in leisure, occasionally leaving snarky comments.   I figured perhaps it was time for me to put forth some effort… and since I am too uncoordinated to start my own blog, Danni at Silo Hill Farm has agreed to let me blather on, here on hers.  Isn’t she special?  You don’t need me to tell you that.

Occasionally I feel the need to define my decorating style.   Why do I do that?   It is almost impossible for me to do so.    I believe, at the end of the day, most people’s home’s décor is dictated by what they like, what they buy when they’re shopping, what makes them happy.  Rarely can it all be pigeonholed into a particular ‘style’.

I will do three posts, each one about the three most prominent types of stuff I drag home.

Post # 1   HEAVY METAL

Friends avoid going to flea markets and garage sales with me due to my tendency to get attached to the heaviest piece of metal in the place.  

This is my living room wall, behind my couch.  It took me all day to arrange this, it had to be in such a way that the screws holding it all up went into studs.  Perhaps that is my excuse why some of this looks crooked.  Fascinating how much more a person can scrutinize in a photo vs. in person.  (I’m learning, bloggers!)  You do NOT want to piddle around with 112 year old plaster.

If you look past the dust and computer cables in this next photo, you can see the GINORMOUS iron gate that stands behind my computer desk in the dining room alcove.  This puppy is 7 feet tall and weighs one ton (I’m estimating).  I bought it on eBay and drove to Minnesota to pick it up.  The guy I was dating at the time had impressive muscle strength and a very convenient pickup truck. 

There is also a Hand of Fatima door knocker, also purchased from eBay when I was on a France kick.  It was too heavy to actually put on my door so I made it into a paper holder apparatus for my desk.

 

Miscellaneous metal stuff -  silver, ormolu, keys, your typical metal birds.  Please note the succulent planting in the background.  That was inspired by Miss Danni.

This is the top of my entertainment center .  There is a shelving piece on top one of my friends had made out of an old window.  It houses part of my silver collection.  I started collecting silver a number of years back before the melt value skyrocketed.  Nowadays I have to compete for it at garage sales with old men that see it for it’s salvage value.   Let me ask you this:  What could they possibly make out of the melted silver that would be as fabulous as what it is now?  I will continue my quest, and when I kick the bucket I’ll ask the team clearing my home to NOT allow this beautiful artwork to be melted.  I prefer the tarnished look of these pieces, which makes owning them much easier than if I were to use it all Downton Abbey-esque .

This unit is on my front porch.  It will be obvious to anyone on a similar latitude as Wisconsin that this photo was not taken this week.  I was at an adorable little shop in northern Wisconsin one day when I decided that this had to come home with me.  It didn’t fit in the trunk of the Oldsmobile well, but that did not stop me.

If you have an old iron stove on one side of your porch it must be balanced by another iron stove on the other side, doesn’t it?  This was given to me by a dear friend.

This was on Craigslist for $100.  It is an actual iron balcony removed from an old apartment house.  I had to have it.  Why?,I was asked.  I had no idea.  Fortunately for me, I was still dating the muscle man with the pickup at the time.  I have no idea how much it weighs, but I can tell you that I’m fairly strong and I cannot move this thing.  I have it up against my house in the back and covered it with an old door.  That is roofing rubber covering the top, with a terrible attachment job.  In my defense, it was around 100-degrees the day I decided to staple it to that door.  Do you know how hot black rubber gets in 100-degree weather?  I will reapproach that project some day when it’s nice out and I don’t have anything else to do.  It makes a wonderful potting bench.

My house does not have an actual fireplace.  This is what I put together to fake one.  It started with this gorgeous fireplace surround, taken out of an old mansion out east.  (Don’t you just mourn for the old homes that architectural salvage is obtained from?)  I build the rest of it out of bedposts and a piece of shelf.  The ‘background’ is just textured wallpaper that I painted grey then slopped stain on.

A closer view of the best part:

That is it for this post.  I hope I provided an iota of entertainment, like you all do for me.

Thanks, Danni!