Wednesday, January 23, 2008

My Chaise

There are a couple of stories about the chaise longe.
1: My Grandma saw it on someone's front porch when I was about 12 (I'm 50 this year). It had old 'leatherette' upholstery and wasn't in bad condition. Dunno how many times she saw it before she eventually went in and casually asked if they wanted to sell the 'old couch out front'. Apparently the guy went inside to ask the missus and came back and said 'how much?' to which she replied 'you tell me.' He said $50 and she stood there, stunned, knowing what an amazing piece it was and with a bit if an idea of its worth. He mistook her amazement to be hesitation and said to her... 'Ok, $40'. She paid for it there and then and took it home, balanced atop her shopping jeep.
She covered it with that striped material... er... ah... Regency Stripes... and gave it to my Mum.
2: I held a party when I was 14. My innocent and sweet high school boyfriend... you know, the one you dream of kissing but only do on one occasion because you're both too shy... was moving to Perth. We had gatecrashers who were a bit rough and somehow knocked the back off. It's a weak point I guess... so Mum and Dad put it under the house...
3: ...where the upholstery rotted. A few years before my separation 11 or 12 years ago, they gave it to me.
4: My (ex) husband promised to have it fixed up. Mainly because he never bought Christmas presents and gave me an IOU the day after Christmas out of guilt. But, as money came and went for a few years... more promises were made, ala Birthday etc... but no go.
5: We separated and soon after recieved a big tax refund and I said to a counsellor (we had a last-ditched-effort to find a solution) I was going to fix up the Chaise with my tax. To which the ex said, no let me. The counsellor said it would be a good gesture...
6: But...
8: 4 years passed. I finally got my share of our money. And ordered the fixing-up there and then!
Pure silk, hand-loomed silk, no less!!!! French. Perfect workmanship. Lots of money, but it had to be.

3 comments:

shula said...

Go Bobby.

The ex sounds like a right flake.

Unkoof said...

Oh, it is an absolutely gorgeous piece! What a lovely piece of history and so much sentimental value!! Your renovations seem to be going really well, it is really looking great. xo Penny

Anonymous said...

it's beautiful! Go your grandma!