The English Maximalista

Just a short-ish blog, today, as I’ve been super busy with my mother and our family friend visiting. We have been seeing the sights, and dashing about, making the most of our time together.

Perhaps you saw some of the videos I posted on Facebook and Instagram, of our trip to Utah, which I shall be blogging about soon. Watch this space!

After our 7-hour drive, yesterday, it was great to get back to Mr Maximalista and Sadie, who had been holding down the fort whilst we were off gallivanting. It’s good to be home.

*****

I am sitting on the green settee [seen in the picture] as I type this, savouring the solitude after the excessive mental stimulation of our long drive through the mountains. My eyes darting around the family pictures I have scattered around the room, and my body reveling in the comfort of my own private sitting room / office, which I grandly call my boudoir.

The Waverly wallpaper is one I have had in storage for years, until I had the perfect place to hang it. I simply adore this Mandarin pattern, with the whimsical animals climbing on the plants and pagodas — it brings me so much joy!

As wonderful as it has been to go away for a few days with Mummy Dearest, it is equally as wonderful to arrive safely back home, to my quiet little room at the back of our house, and close the door to the world for a little while.

The doll on the chair was a gift from my late grandmother when I was about five; the tapestry on the footstool is one she had done many years ago. Mummy Dearest and I have been reminiscing about my grandmother, so she has been on the forefront of my mind these past few days; it’s lovely to relax in this room and feel her presence.

*****

One of my interests is refinishing furniture found at junk shops. I fell in love with the feet on this mahogany dresser, seen on the left of the above picture, which I purchased from a St Vincent de Paul store in Wisconsin a few years ago. 

The dresser itself was in good shape, except that the two upper drawers had a different finish to the rest of the piece. That same weekend, I gently sanded the old varnish off those two drawers, and tried to replicate the varnish with the rest of the piece. Of course, I am an amateur restorer, but I am quite pleased with the result.

Surprisingly, the brass escutcheons cleaned up really well, too, as a previous owner had simply varnished over the top of them; I don’t have the key, but nevertheless, this piece is priceless to me.

Not shown in the pictures is my exercise bike, which resides in front of the window, the idea being that I can look out at the countryside whilst I peddle to nowhere… although the reality is that the handlebars are a useful place on which to hang my clothes. Maybe I shall get around to “proper” exercising again, once Mummy Dearest has left? Probably not!

Lots of love,

M xo