Little nook.

Touches of NH.

So, I kind of have a thing with signs. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, then you know this already, given all of the pictures from the farm. I’ve amassed a collection of both antique & personalized wooden signs. And I plan to continue to add to the collection.

God help Utah antique shops. But I’m limited on space, so I have to rein things in somewhat.

The living room.

Comfy couch.

Again, if you remember the amazing interior design advice of Edith Wharton, her aesthetic is all about simplicity & making utilitarian objects beautiful. Not clutter for clutter’s sake. Coming out of the Victorian Age of knick knacks, curio cabinets, collections, & pillows, ferns, & objects galore, Wharton wanted things streamlined. All that dusting, can you even imagine?

Not that I can say anything. My mother was a Depression baby & loved Victoriana in homes from my youth, so there’s THAT. There’s been an influence, you could say.

Entryway.

Kitchen wall.

Thus, you’ll see accents of the Victorian & Edwardian in my collections of rug beaters & old crate signs. There’s something about preserving the history of these things. Imagine the hands that beat those rag, rope, or hooked rugs, well before the advent of vacuum cleaners? I remember beating rope rugs when I was little, myself.

Like washing boards (my great-grandmother was a laundry woman), these tools remind us of what we now take for granted. Days of grueling labor now eliminated by technology.

Dining room feature.

Front hall.

And so, perhaps, like the mementos that remind me of New Hampshire & New England, my collections of old books, signs, work tools, & antique jars remind me of a harder life. Remind me to be grateful for the many gifts in my life. It’s all too easy to take things for granted & forget about all of that hardship of mills & forges & pioneers in a new land. Convenience makes us forget.

Maybe that fierce determination of the pioneering spirit is what has drawn me in part to Utah. I respect it. I admire it. I hope to cultivate it in myself.

More signage, & of course books.

Authentic Currier & Ives print.