Excavation 2012 – Day #9 – A Peck of Pickled Peppers

My husband is seriously annoyed with my  HGTV and DIY Network obsession. He claims that it is the reason that we wasted the majority of our Sunday afternoons in 2011 attending open houses and discussing the potential costs of buying and remodeling the homes we saw that just weren’t quite what we were looking for. But I remind him that my obsession with shows like House Hunters and Property Brothers and Holmes on Homes was what gave us both the confidence to take a chance on this 120 year old house that we fell in love with and purchased in November.

I’d say it’s a pretty even trade.

One of the things I love most about the HGTV and DIY Network (and attending open houses) is the ideas I get for decorating. I like looking at other people’s spaces and seeing what they do to make it their own–what pictures they hang, what paint colors they choose, what they collect and display. It’s amazing what you can learn about people just by walking into their living rooms.

I admit, I’m always impressed by the gorgeous, showroom quality homes. You know, the ones that look like they jumped straight out of a Crate & Barrel or Pier 1 catalog. But I gotta say, my admiration usually ends there. I like a home that looks lived in, comfortable. I like a home that has some personality. Sure your flawless granite countertops and your gleaming hardwood floors are pretty, and I love how all of the lamps and knick knacks on your shelves are color coordinated and perfectly spaced, but I’ve never been a person who feels comfortable in a museum-quality room. What’s the point of having something if you’re afraid to touch it, or if it sits unused, unnoticed and unappreciated?

Maybe it’s the writer in me, but I like to surround myself with things that have a story. Walk into my home and you’ll see the walls decorated with photos of family and friends and framed movie and music posters. Our shelves are filled with books we have already read read or plan to read. We decorate with things like souvenir glasses from our favorite restaurants, knick knacks passed down to us from family, and gifts given to us by friends. Our dining room table came from my Grandma Luethje’s estate. It traveled across the United States in a covered wagon, and I love sitting down to a meal knowing that generations of my family sat there before me.

Now that we are starting to settle in to our new home and deciding just how we want to arrange and decorate, it is time to make a few changes. And the changes start here…

Sure, these bottles are pretty. I love the rich red and green colors, and I even kind of dig the shape of the bottles. But I have to say, these don’t really fit my personal decorating taste. In fact, I think they are kinda creepy. They sort of remind me of the jars filled with pickled human body parts and alien babies from TV shows like American Horror Story and The X-Files.

Moving into the new house, we inherited dozens of these little bottles, along with some homemade jars filled with a variety of vegetables used as decoration in the top row of glass fronted cupboards in our kitchen.

Knowing that I’m just one false move away from one of these jars becoming a stinking, gelatinous mess on my kitchen floor, I’m okay getting rid of them. I was even more okay with it when I discovered they had been sitting there since 2006.

Ew.

My friend Jenny does her own canning and is always on the lookout for jars and supplies, so these are getting a thorough cleaning and will be put to good use again.

These little bottles, on the other hand, are up for grabs and are being sold. They can collect dust on someone else’s shelf for awhile.