A place for everything, and everything in it's place….antique style

    I have a duelling personality. One side of me loves old things to the point of clutter, the other side of me wants a place for everything, and everything in it's place.
    So, I starting repurposing the things I had acquired so that I could have the best of both worlds!

     This beautiful, WWII era homemade leather "basket" serves as a spice rack, of sorts. It also was used at my son's summer birthday party to hold drinks.

     My Belleville Creameries box helps keep my mixing bowls, serving dishes, and platters all tidy and accessible. 

     I've had this Canadian Butter box for a while, and it has had many, many jobs. It was a "night stand" sitting on the floor when I had a low bed. Then it served at many parties as a bags of chips holder. It was used very temporarily to hold our cardboard and paper that we would take out to burn (a very undignified job for such a lovely box). Finally, I was trying to get our computer nook in order, and I anchored and screwed it to the wall as a shelf.  

     This box sits next to my stove and holds my cooking utensils as well as oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. 

      This box literally has not been re-purposed at all, and holds the chalk for our little chalk boards! 

     I got this box a long time ago to hold toys for my son in his room, but it has since become the potato holder in the kitchen.      

     An old whiskey box holds extra quilts in the hall incase guests need an extra blanket in the night, then they don't need to go rooting through my linen closet!

     An old steamer trunk holds my kids toys. At night, the toys get tossed in there, and my living room looks like an adult, relaxing place instead of an isle from Toys R Us!  

     Speaking of steamer trunks, my kids also have one on the front porch to hold outside toys, but the lift out part of it (that most old trunks you'll find have missing), needed a job. So, it got added to our computer nook as a shelf. 

    More steamer trunks….o.k, I have a problem….but let's not dwell on that right now. 
     These stacked trunks are also in our computer space, the bottom one is actually a little empty, but the top one has our computer paper, and some other office-y things like binders and files.

     Just so you don't get it in your head that I am perfectly tidy, I am also sharing this photo from my fairly messy back room. This lovely box holds, as you can see, anything that lands in it! In here you'll find things ranging from dog treats, to a thermometer, mitts and a hat, lost nails and screws, and sidewalk chalk. 

     So, (I want to say "in conclusion" as though I am completing an essay) you can love something, but also put it to good use.  These beautiful bits of history are a part of our house, a part of us and who we are, and they help keep things tidy! I call that a win/win....um, win!