From a House to a Home

After making it through July 4th weekend, Big T and I decided to outfit the cottage in Boston in more appropriate housewares. Our neighborhood was somewhat swanky, and Big T had clients to the house quite often. Pretty clear, we needed to upgrade. We shopped retail furniture stores, as Big T only ever shopped retail. I frowned. It was all too expensive. Didn’t matter how much money he had, it was almost sinful to waste it. We tried flea markets and garage sales but that wasn’t working either. I bought one small chaise lounge, perfect for 4 girls, but a Boston upholsterer wanted to charge me $700 to recover the piece + fabric. Nope, not working.
When Big T was back in Mississippi, I showed him the “House Bible” I put together for the B&B. Big T is a man’s man. He doesn’t care about matching drapes, and couches, but he does care about cost and comfort. Fluffy things like upholstery was NOT his wheelhouse. Sounds reasonable, right? It’s the same way I used to think as well. I explained.
I have several undergrad degrees but they are all business related. I was finishing up another accounting degree (at 31) when I thought the sale for the B&B would go through. On a lark, I took a senior level class for interior designers on “Period Architecture and Interiors”. I knew I was out of my element with period furnishings and at least wanted to know enough to sound intelligent and not be taken advantage of financially. You see, I thought the interior design majors were fluff queens, the ones who couldn’t make it in Chemistry, Mathematics, Accounting, etc. Well, I begged for a “C” in that class, and getting through it damn near killed me. My preconceived notion about interior designers was shattered, but the class saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars when it came to outfitting the B&B. One thing they taught me was to keep the “House Bible”, which is measurements, fabric swatches, pics, of each room, by tab. Keep it in the trunk of your car. Sure, it helped me figure out what to buy, but surprisingly…… and most importantly, it helped me to NOT buy things and make costly mistakes.
Big T was impressed with the House Bible ( a plan, organized, he liked it) and understood the concept, “Go for it, babe!” He left the decoration of the cottage up to me. We agreed on a budget, which I thought was lavish – but he was thinking retail. I had another idea. I had resources.
Grandpa came to Mississippi in 1961, one of three guys, to start a furniture factory. Throughout my life, cousins, uncles, even my parents in 1978, ordered a large quantity of furniture from the factory, under grandpa’s tutelage, and had the pieces delivered in the factory truck with familiar blue logo. When I bought the B&B in 1994, I needed antiques, and the factory only made modern furniture, so I couldn’t use them…… but for the cottage….. it would work. The factory had an outlet, and even though Grandpa passed away in ’87, I still carried his discounts. Time to explore the options. I had a hard time with the layout of the cottage, however, and hit a brick wall.
The cottage was built by hand by the former owners. Downstairs was originally a kitchen, small dining room, living, side door and stair. The house HAD a 10′ wide porch on the west and north, which had been enclosed. So, when you opened the door to the current house, you entered a room that was 40′ long but only 10′ wide. It looked like a bowling alley. At the entry, turn right and enter the kitchen. I noticed the kitchen actually had an exterior door. I was obviously the original entry to the home. I took the door off. No need.
Kitchen was a U-shape, with a terrific peninsula into a small dining room with cute windows overlooking the neighborhood and a side porch. Perfect for a mom who spent time in the kitchen but had to keep track of kids running up and down the street. The dining room had a door to the basement, in the living room, the stairs to go up to bedrooms. The living room was small, but the north wall was knocked out, posts remaining, so the room “appeared bigger. A hole in the west wall of the living room, obviously a former window to the west porch, served as a passthrough to the bowling alley. Awkward……… perfect place for a picture.
The enclosed north porch stretched the width of the house, but again, only 10′ deep x 35′ wide, the north galley. It looked odd. Wrapping around the house, a new exterior door on the east side led to the side porch. Upstairs, smaller footprint, sans the addition of the porches. Master bedroom ran the width of the north and looked out to the bay, with a sitting room. One small bathroom, two more bedrooms.
Clearly, the biggest problem would be the bowling alley and the north galleyway. I played with the floorplan endlessly, until Gunner gave me an idea. Back in Mississippi, he and a buddy built a fort in his back hallway (10’x15′) instead of in his room (16’x16′). I asked him why he didn’t build it in his room. His response, at 6yrs old, “It’s too big in my room.” Lightbulb went on. Space is bigger from a child’s eyes. Perfect solution, from the mouth of a babe. Time to divide up the alleyways into different spaces.
We needed an entry, with 5 kids, which was rugged enough for snow boots and beach sand.  Big tube Tv’s were going out of style and we scored a 6′ entertainment center with doors for a big tv, retrofitted the interior with hooks for coats, shelves underneath to stack shoes/boots. A big commercial cookie sheet with a welcome mat inside was PERFECT for snow boots and saved the wooden floors. On the left, a solid wood dresser with six drawers was ideal, with a drawer for each kid and one for Big T and me. The entertainment center visually divided the bowling alley.
On the back of the entertainment center, another entertainment center was retrofitted for Big T’s home office, computer, homework space. On the back side of his “office” a bookshelf and extra chair. Moving on down the bowling alley…..
We needed an extra fridge, space for kid’s healthy snacks, veg/cheese/meat trays we kept replenishing all summer, and cold drinks… kept the kids out of the kitchen. Self-serve! Across and down from the fridge, from the factory outlet, we bought a high table for a bar, and two lux bar chairs, another dresser converted to a bar, drawers for grill tools, outdoor serving pieces. Doors to the deck were right there. Gorgeous view and a perfect spot for morning coffee and the paper.
Rounding the corner, a new dining set from factory outlet, with enough chairs for us all. It was cramped with only 10′, but we could shove the table against the wall easily on felt gliders. A half bookcase served as our china hutch and provided a visual “end” of the dining space. Another half bookcase, back-to-back provided a small sitting space/library for the little kids and a few toys. Big T’s $1 beastly couch was recovered in Boston (I could have bought a used car for less), tucked into the corner by the side porch door, with another entertainment center and an old tube TV. A huge overstuffed chair was added with an ottoman. We called it “sport’s corner”, the place where guys went to check the score of the game, and the kids bastion for cartoons and slumber parties.
The living room received two new couches, a few slipper chairs, end tables, coffee tables, nicer lamps. The former dining room was turned into a sitting room. Couch and comfy chairs, big enough for two kids, and stools for the bartop. Heck, everyone gathers in the kitchen anyway, right? Might as well make it friendly.
Upstairs, more couches for a large sitting room in the master. Big T couldn’t understand why the upstairs sitting room was so important to me. I explained, with 5 kids, four of them being girls, there would be a lot of drama. The sitting room would become the place for them to plead their case, be disciplined, cry, or tattle on one another. It would become the quiet space or the bargaining space. He got it, immediately.
New rugs, short pile, same but different color as we had in the B&B. If this carpet could hold up under B&B traffic, it would handle 5 kids and their friends. Colors were cream base, predominant light blue, a rose, and a gold. Same rugs all through the house…… cuz it was a little house. The mix of color hides a stain easily and Big T was allergic (not really) to a vacuum cleaner. Done.
Problem was, all the furniture, dressers, couches, entertainment centers, artwork, lamps, rugs, etc., were purchased and sitting in Mississippi.
The furniture factory outlet was run by a guy named Tony, displaced from Long Island to Mississippi. He knew and loved my grandfather. I was spending Big T’s money and we weren’t married yet, so I as a little cautious. I took him shopping at the outlet. He sat on couches to see if he liked the “feel”. He said, “That’s the ugliest damn couch I’ve ever seen…… and it doesn’t match that couch… or that chair.” “Don’t worry honey, don’t look at the color, we’re recovering to match.”, I said. He was confused. We were shopping for high quality, solid wood, furniture that would last, but the fabric didn’t matter, the prices were extraordinary. Fabric can change easily and …… he hadn’t yet met Fred, my magic upholstery guy.
Fred, was a black guy who dressed like a classic pimp and wore $800 dollar ostrich boots. Can’t remember a time without Fred in my life. Somehow, I met him through a couple of buddies who have a place outside of town, who retrofit Lear Jets. Fred and his team can do ANYTHING with upholstery. I once bought two matching, solid maple bedroom chairs in a garage sale for $1/each. They didn’t even have cushions but the frames were perfect. Fred fixed them, and they now sit in our most expensive B&B guest room. I took Big T to meet Fred and the sight was extraordinary. Big T the Boston lawyer and Fred, talking about fabric….. and fringe…… and welting…… hilarious.
Of course, I also had a source for wholesale fabric – the good stuff, to-the-trade-only, and close-outs as well. One by one, the couches/chairs went from the Tony’s outlet, to Fred the Upholsterer, and back to Tony for shipping. Fred made us pillows, valance boards for windows, everything we needed. The entertainment centers came to us, one by one, were retrofitted, painted or stained, and delivered back to Tony. As the months passed, we had a section of Tony’s warehouse which was “Daughn’s”. I met Tony at the warehouse and added a few more things to the truck delivery. The factory had their own fleet for delivery. Thank heaven.
All in all, we came in at 43% of Big T’s budget, including delivery and the cost for the beastly couch being recovered in Boston. The accountant in me was satisfied. T was amazed……… no more retail for him.
The weekend before Thanksgiving, the familiar truck, the royal blue logo I’ve known all my life, Grandpa’s logo, arrived at our cottage in Boston. I teared up when I saw the truck coming up our narrow street. It was as if Grandpa was an angel, still sending me furniture….. his legacy continued through one more generation. There was snow on the ground, and it was about 8:00pm on a Saturday night.
The truck driver, who looked like a member of the band Alabama, had driven the load all the way from my hometown. The factory is a half mile from my current home. Clearly, he thought he was making a commercial delivery, to a company, with docks and warehouse people to unload. He wasn’t supposed to help us unload…… at all.  He thought he was at the wrong location and could barely get the semi up the street. He wasn’t too happy.
On the other hand, I was so happy to see THAT truck and THAT logo, I was overwhelmed. I threw my arms around Daniel, the truck driver, and hugged him so hard I almost tackled him. I was barely able to contain the tears. The cottage was a long project, and yes, I worked on it, half-blinded by the distance from Boston to Mississippi. Yet, 3-4 months and 1683 miles later, Daniel was at my doorstep. Once he figured out who I was, “How the hell did YOU get all the way up here, to Boston?”, his attitude completely changed. Even through his heavy beard, Daniel had a smile that could light up a room.
He helped us unload quickly, as we had the street blocked. With the truck empty, Big T followed him as he drove the truck to an empty corner of a grocery store parking lot. Big T brought the driver back to spend the night with us. I insisted. No need for Daniel to spend the night in a truck stop when he could stretch out in a comfy bed and get a good meal….. a few good meals.
The next morning, I made a huge breakfast. Gunner, who slept through the whole thing, woke up, wandered into the bathroom to pee, and ran slap into the truck driver in the shower. Awkward. Gunner came running downstairs, confused. Daniel had 5 kids at home, didn’t bother him at all.
Daniel stayed with us through Monday morning. He and Big T watched football all day, drank beer, hung pictures, and moved furniture. I made bread and a big pot of chili and gave him a big batch to take back home to Mississippi. What a godsend Daniel was…..a good man…. from home.
And we glided into Thanksgiving…….. humbled and duly thankful.