A New Home for an Old Welsh Dresser ...

Sometimes I think it's much harder to find just the right piece of furniture ... or fabric ... or accessory ... when you have something definite in mind. I can't count the number of times I've gone into a shop and, when asked by a salesperson if they can help me find something, answered ... "No, thanks. I'll know it when I see it."

I have been looking for a china cabinet for our breakfast area for quite some time, and had a mental image of exactly what I wanted filed away in that part of my mind where I store "decorating stuff" (if you're like me, that's a pretty large area).

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I spent some time in Shreveport, Louisiana, and we went to one of my favorite shops there, a little antique shop called Antiques on Gladstone. As I walked in, one of the first things I saw was the little china cabinet I've had filed away in my mind all this time. It was truly "love at first sight," and my heart literally skipped a beat when I saw it.

Its tag read "Old Welsh Dresser with Pot Rack," and I thought, "Oh, be still my heart ... I'm taking you home."

I'll spare you the details of my "wheeling and dealing," and the Kodak moments of my husband and me loading it in the back of his pickup truck. Suffice it to say that it is, indeed, happily living in its new home -- our breakfast area!

It looks like it was made to fit the space, and I'm so pleased with the way it complements the other furniture.

{You can click on the pictures to enlarge them, if you'd like }

I can't close without telling you a little about some of the accessories I used to decorate it.

The wooden bowl holding the apples was my grandmother's, and this old oval-shaped tin on the top shelf is full of antique buttons she saved "just in case she needed them someday." I'll share the buttons in a post soon.

This precious little cut glass jar with the little bird perched on the lid is a treasure I inherited from my mother-in-law. There are also little birds encircling the bottom of the jar ...

And my mother recently gave me this beautiful old candy tin. She can't remember where she got it, but she's had it for many years ...

I love having all these keepsakes nearby so we can enjoy them and share the stories behind them.

Perhaps one day, our granddaughter Avery Grace will reminisce with her family about "the day Grandmama found that old Welsh Dresser in a little shop in Shreveport."