As we move through a world of disposables, it’s easy to forget that just about everything was kept by previous generations.
Furniture is made to last. Crystal or china pieces were investments passed from parent to son to grandson. Even ordinary items can stay in use for decades: the same Corningware bowl and GE blender could produce birthday cake mixes for a generation and more.
Many of these items are still there, laid out under layers of yellowish newspaper in cardboard boxes or covered with sheets filled with dust. Attics, basements, and garages in America are filled with handmade home décor and homeware just waiting to be explored.
And this could be the perfect moment for that to happen, with prices rising and supply chains creeping in.
Hand tools are practical for anyone hoping to freshen up their decor this spring. It is good for the environment. It can be a mood enhancer if the items have sentimental value, or if you discover that your grandmother’s style was really cool.
“There’s fun putting the piece together and knowing you’re reclaiming a piece of history,” says Sean Hollenbach, a New York City comedian who recently rehabilitated an antique sofa that was among his late mother’s possessions.
It was a tough DIY project. The fabric was badly worn, and Hollenbach had never re-upholstered anything before. But now he’s proudly showing it to the house’s guests and telling the story of this cozy piece of furniture.
“It gives you a sense of pride,” he says.
There can be pressure, too. Anything tied to family history can carry sentimental baggage, and there’s sometimes the literal weight of heavy furnishings that no family member really wants.
Instead of stockpiling things for another year — or a decade — interior designer Melissa Cooley of Washington, D.C., Case Design is clear: Take these prized items out of their boxes. Dust off furniture that no one has used since the Eisenhower administration. Take a fresh look.
“You don’t respect them by keeping them in the attic,” she says.
With this in mind, we asked interior designers and homeowners how to make the most of their furnishings and household goods.
Don’t be afraid to use things, even if they are fragile
Glassware and dishes often remain in cans because people are afraid to break something that the previous generation carefully kept.
Interior designer Nadia Subaran, co-founder of Maryland-based Aidan Design, worked with a client who had a family collection of vintage green glassware and plates that no one ever had a chance to enjoy.
“When we were talking about kitchen design, she said, ‘I really want to get these things out of the boxes, out of the attic. “Not just shown but used,” says Subaran. “So we did an entire sink wall with no wall cabinets, just open shelves, so all of these things can be front and center.”
Today, the homeowner sees the items every time she enters her kitchen, finding beauty in its stunning green.
Subaran encourages people to display the treasures, as she did herself after inheriting an antique sari from India, handcrafted of orange silk with shimmering gold threads. “I have very little chance of wearing a sari, but it’s beautiful,” she says. And also: her husband loves the color orange.
So instead of leaving it in a box, “we literally hung it on a rod and then made a plexiglass cover that wouldn’t let UV rays in and damage it,” she says. “I walk in my door and it’s the first thing I see.”
Get creative with websites
Aileen Weintraub is a veteran of handmade furnishings. Her recently published memoir, “Knocked Down,” details the months she spent in bed in a house full of things that her husband’s family had owned for generations. There is also a barn full of hands from her family.
“I was trapped in this old farmhouse with everyone else’s furniture,” she says. “Even the dishes were from the 1940’s.”
While they were discussing what to keep, sell, or give away, she convinced her husband to try moving some of the items to new locations or using them in new ways.
Sofa moved to better access the view from the window. The marble clad table doesn’t look right anywhere but was too precious to give away, so they tried it outside on the covered veranda. It was not designed as outdoor furniture, but, as Weintraub says, “became the most beautiful place to sit and watch the sunset each evening.”
Hollenbach had the same experience with the sofa he inherited, moving it from place to place and eventually settling in a spot in the guest room.
Be creative
Coley worked with a client who didn’t like the heavy cherry wood closet from her husband’s family, but needed to find a way to use it.
“It has a very luxurious and modern style,” says Cooley, and this closet was just the opposite.
In such cases, the designer recommends isolating what you love in your favorite style and adding some of that vibe to the furniture you inherited. The cabinet has been stripped of the cherry finish and painted in glossy black. Old hardware has been replaced by modern brass pieces.
“Find the items you like and appreciate the most, and then let’s start decorating the product we want to improve,” Cooley says.
The tendency to contrast old and new can lead to great results, Subaran says. If a traditional piece of furniture doesn’t fit into your modern living room, try placing it in a foyer where it stands out as something special.
“You can pair it with a more modern mirror or lamp,” she says, “to help sort of connect with your other spaces.”
Cooley remembers a client with a historic door that has been in the family for generations.
“They are African American agents and that goes back to their ancestry,” she says. The lovely little door made of solid wood had “some history of where it came from, and what farm it was on. It goes back so far.”
But the door hadn’t been used in years and didn’t fit anywhere in their home. Cooley’s solution: The couple’s new bedroom design will include a small linen closet.
“We were able to find hardware that looked outdated, and we actually built the linen dresser to fit this door,” Cooley says. “It is a poem for her family. And when she wakes up, she can see him every day.”
