Perhaps the reason I began collecting is because I am a frustrated decorator. Discouraged from going to Parsons or F. I. T. after graduating from high school, I marched off to work instead. Maybe it's because I inherited the "acquiring" gene from my mother. My father's mother collected as well, but it skipped a generation with him, much to my mother's chagrin. While Dad tossed things out the basement window on a cleanup day, Mom was out in the driveway, picking them up and stashing them in the garage. Maybe because we didn't have much it was important to hold on to the things that felt special.
When I got my first apartment in 1974 while still a teenager, the only possessions I brought with me were my clothes and a sewing kit. I bought a cool new red velvet sofa bed and a bentwood rocker. My grandmother gave me a 1930s brass swing arm floor lamp that was so heavy I could hardly lift it. The walls were already painted an eggshell buttery yellow and I found some textured satin drapes (to the floor, of course) in the same shade.
I remember how I fell more in love with that place every time I brought home some other amazing find. Back then, there was not much of a decorating budget so most everything was a hand-me-down or found - at the flea market ... or just found. And everything had some kind of issue, but it didn't matter. Turn the crack in the Italian pottery to the wall, put a matt over a water stained edge on a nautical map.
Today I still cherish those kinds of special pieces that have "character". If you go into the homes of the monied, a close inspection will reveal their "things" are less than perfect. Brilliant quality and or style overcomes the occasional chip or ding. Young people starting out want and deserve beautiful things and as a seller it's important to have pieces available in every price range. A novice collector today could be your most enduring customer down the road. When I go back to New York it is always a pleasure to return to the places that nourished my burgeoning habit. And you know what? My genetically predisposed daughter is the one who usually gets that ball rolling.
When I got my first apartment in 1974 while still a teenager, the only possessions I brought with me were my clothes and a sewing kit. I bought a cool new red velvet sofa bed and a bentwood rocker. My grandmother gave me a 1930s brass swing arm floor lamp that was so heavy I could hardly lift it. The walls were already painted an eggshell buttery yellow and I found some textured satin drapes (to the floor, of course) in the same shade.
I remember how I fell more in love with that place every time I brought home some other amazing find. Back then, there was not much of a decorating budget so most everything was a hand-me-down or found - at the flea market ... or just found. And everything had some kind of issue, but it didn't matter. Turn the crack in the Italian pottery to the wall, put a matt over a water stained edge on a nautical map.
Today I still cherish those kinds of special pieces that have "character". If you go into the homes of the monied, a close inspection will reveal their "things" are less than perfect. Brilliant quality and or style overcomes the occasional chip or ding. Young people starting out want and deserve beautiful things and as a seller it's important to have pieces available in every price range. A novice collector today could be your most enduring customer down the road. When I go back to New York it is always a pleasure to return to the places that nourished my burgeoning habit. And you know what? My genetically predisposed daughter is the one who usually gets that ball rolling.
Love it, Donna! A great beginning. Keep it rolling...xoxo Jo
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