The eagle picture has been in my family ever since I was a kid. I took it along with me when we moved out of my dad's house in 1997. My sofa and matching chair I got in Sal's in Bloomfield for $49 for the set. The orange chair was a super steal at the Sal's in Manchester for $6.49. My end tables were also another amazing buy... $9.99 for each one at the Rocky Hill Goodwill... then oddly enough, I got the end magazine rack type one with the hinged top at the next GW we went to in Middletown for only $12.99. As luck would have it, it was part of the same set (Mersman) as my other three tables.

Mrs. Patricia Rovetti has donated this Colonial figurine to The Estate. It was found in the first home she purchased many years ago. It now has a very suitable home.

Mr. Michael Braden Pastore has donated the wall hanging that sits in the above right. If you can believe it, this picture was being thrown away by one of his friends and he rescued it right from the front lawn!

As you can see, Miss Jane Wilhite completely approves of all the living room furnishings. Her favorite spot so far seems to be on the pile of afghans that my Memere Beaudoin and great grandmother Gilda Tierinni. I am sure both of my great grandmothers are looking on from "The Other Side" and are quite happy that the cat's ass is sitting on their hard work.

Oh... and yes, that is Steve & Eydie on the cover of the TV Guide!

The biggest changes here in the living room are the addition of the wall border, and the draperies. Some sad news.... I paid full price for both things :(

I don't mean to let you down, friends! If it is any consolation, the drapes are from Family Dollar, and the sheers are from Anne Hope. It think it cost me around $45 per window. Still, not toooo bad.

 

Welcome to my parlor!

Since this was really the first "Finished Room" here at The Estate, there's really not been a lot of changes to it over the past few years.

The Afghan collection has continued to grow - both from vintage finds to two new ones handmade by Mom!

Sometime over the winter in 2007 I won several ebay auctions for plastic flower/foliage stems and have been hard at work getting rid of any remnants of silk plants!

 

Here, Jane sits on the "Yiddah Cat Bed" that I got for her a few years ago.

Please note the beautiful new plastic flower arrangements on the entertainment center and doughbox end table!

Also, the trash find is gone off the wall, and has been replaced with some wooden Military prints that I had had out in the hallway.

 

 

Here's a close-up of the arrangement I made for the entertainment center.... and Michelle's head!

Of every picture I took of it, this is the only one that came out well!

There's the three military prints. I had initially bought two, then found the third. In one of my vintage books about Kitchen designs from 1966, they have the same prints! And I see that there are others! I MUST FIND THEM!

The afghan on the chair was made by my mom with some vintage yarn she found at my step-grandparent's house back in 2006. She hates the colors. I love them!

Somehow, somewhere along the way I started collecting these orange and white crocheted doilies. I keep finding them at Saver's in Springfield, so I keep buying them.... I think they're very Vintage Old Lady!

This little plant a combination of the sad little plant that I rescued from the trash when Ms. Florine Suber left The Travelers in 2003. It has now been combined with a few more pothos stems from Mrs. Taneka A. Thompson. I call her "Floneka"

The statue was a gift from Joseph and Zhamilya DeFeo! It's a mother spanking her bare-bottomed son. It tells the whole story of how he broke a flower pot and is getting punished. It's ever so inspiring!

I love the afghan on the Victorian-era chair. It's daisies!

 

More plastic flowers in action!

See the button missing on the right-side of the coffee table ?

One Ms. Jane Wilhite likes to try and get them off! Even when I glue them back in place!

When I replaced the missing ones, they kept disappearing. I assumed they fell off. But when the ones on the horizontal surfaces kept ending up on the floor, I knew something was a little suspect!

Another afghan. This one was always at my Grandmother's house. I believe her mother made it.

 

The book on the coffee table was a treasured find from the Traveler Restaurant up in Union CT! It's all about things you can make with ALCOA WRAP! AKA, Aluminum Foil! It's almost frightening! Someday I may have to dedicate some space to its pictures.

 

The barrel lamp seemed too naked.... so a plastic flower ring has remedied that!

 

Up on the wall, I pulled the fake, silk ivy off of the foot warmers on the wall because I felt they were...... "too much"

 

Das ist Zuviel!