In my definition of Gypsy, there’s a lot of art. I enjoy painting. 15 Years ago when my soon-to-be-ex-husband and I were living in Lynnwood, Washington (curiously it’s an 8 mile drive that takes almost an hour sometimes) we had an apartment in a corporate housing area. Many of our neighbors were in Lynnwood on a 6 month contract and they sometimes had a habit of throwing away furniture when they moved out. Our home was located just above the dumpsters and I could casually scan throughout the day and pick up desks, dressers, tables, chairs, even a bicycle once.
What we didn’t get via dumpster diving, we purchased at Goodwill and my favorite thing to do was to paint them. I don’t know if any of it matched, ever. Each piece was unique. When it came time to move away from that apartment, we had a giant yard sale.
Imagine how pleased I was when my hand-painted furniture sold out quickly. Actually, part of me was pleased because we needed the money but another part of me was sad because I had poured my heart into that stuff. No one haggled down the price and if I recall correctly, there was even a scuffle between two shoppers and a toybox/trunk.
Painting furniture brings me joy and I have spent the past few days painting a vintage china cabinet. Or maybe it’s a buffet. I really have no idea. It was a gift from my mother and it didn’t even need painting. I stressed out about it for a little while, dying to make it my canvas and equally concerned that she would get mad about it. I gave her several opportunities to reclaim the piece and she didn’t want it.
Now here’s the thing… We recently moved from a nasty little single-wide trailer with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom into a 3500 square foot McMansion with 7 bedrooms (except one’s an office) and 4 bathrooms. Our old furniture was dreadful and filled with bad vibes and unhappy memories. I didn’t want to bring it into the new house, so basically we’re largely unfurnished. So I kinda needed that cabinet (or is it a buffet?) Only I’m not a big fan of plain brown wood. When I see furniture with visible wood grain, it mostly says “paint me” so this piece sat in the garage for at least a month, untouched.
I picked up a set of curtains at Value Village. A friend gave me a set of Ikea chairs. The formal dining room began to take shape and all these pieces that didn’t really match when they were naked (you know, with their wood showing) suddenly became family.
Of course I”ll post pictures, when it’s done. Mostly, I just wanted to say that it feels really nice to be painting again.