Comments to my post on an upcoming auction of Russian art in St Petersburg brought back lots of memories.
My grandmother used to love going to auctions and had a gift of seeing what things could become. She was fortunate to live in Newport, Rhode Island in the 1940s when so many of the beautiful estates (summer places) were abandoned and their furnishings auctioned off. Talk about antiques and treasures from Europe!
She'd have my grandfather repair any furniture that needed it, and she'd either paint it, stain it, or upholster it, or all three. That's how they furnished much of the 17 room house they bought and restored. I still have a few of the pieces she bought at auction back then. You never knew what she was going to come home with! She had such a wonderful sense of adventure.
