Heirlooms

I have always been obsessed with heirlooms. I am honored to have things passed down to me. They come with a history, a story, a soul. That matters to me!

Right now we are looking for a dining room table. So far it has taken me five years to find this table and in its place is a large dark wood round table I got from an online outlet store. During covid, like many others cooped up in their house too long, I got restless and started doing miscellaneous projects around my house.

Backstory- Ty and I had plans to tear this house down prior to Covid, so we figured any of these covid-spawned ideas, no matter how eccentric, were all just temporary anyway.

So I order this large discount table that ends up being way too big for the small breakfast room I have available for its occupancy but squished it in there anyway. Who cares, right? Well within a week, I did. So I decided to put in a bench and replace the upholstery on the chairs. I looked everywhere and then pulled up design icon, Kelly Wearstler’s site. I went on there with the sole intent of finding inspiration that I could pull off more affordably elsewhere.

Well that slippery slope grabbed me by the ankles and took me all the way down the hill, if you know what I mean. I fell in love with her prints- especially the Graffito Deep Sky Wallpaper. And wouldn’t ya know it- she had upholstery to match.

Soooo- I did what anyone would do- I sold a little bit of my tesla stock and bought some very fine and expensive designer linen fabric and matching wallpaper. I found someone to come and reupholster the chairs and someone else to come and help me hang the wallpaper. I loved the matching pattern and different textures so much that I didn’t stop there but covered the ceilings in it too!

Please keep in mind that at this time I have a two year old, a three year old and am pregnant with my third child. This is a ridiculous choice of fabric for families with small children and an absolutely insane choice for dining chairs. Dining chairs for children? A crime, really.

But, like I said, it was Covid and I lost my mind a bit during Covid and I was sure I was going to find a forever dining table soon and would repurpose my Kelly Wearstler chairs to a more formal setting when I did.

Cut to today, mid-2024 and I still haven’t found that dining room table which I intended to be an heirloom one day. What I have is a large dark wood round table that monopolizes the room covered in watermarks despite best efforts and various nicks and scratches. It is surrounded by my Kelly Wearstler chairs that each have their own tattoos, the art work of Bel who is now 7, Wilde, now 6 and Whip, 3.

One chair has the name “Elena” written across the blue linen seat because Bel was learning to write and Princess Elena of Avalor was her hero. There is fuchsia glitter glue, remnants of a project Wilde did one day which is exactly perfect for her personality. On another chair, the back has three vertical stripes, drawn in black sharpie by Whip- a nod to when he was learning to count. Every day when I pass that chair, I can see his pudgy fingers gripping the sharpie and making the lines, counting aloud “Onnnnne, Twoooooo, Freeeeee.” Then there’s another chair that is dallopped with brown oil spots- from a time when my beloved housekeeper, Norma, tried to stain away the water spots on the table. And of course, the multitude of spaghetti spots and the bleach stains from me not knowing how to clean.

Long story short- this discount table IS the heirloom table. This is the one I want to pass down- stains and all. She has a soul. And cool tattoos.

- Bridget