While suffering from a bad cold recently, I wound up laying under-nourished on the living room floor with a box of Special K, shoveling grains from the box. No, not a drama queen oh-woe-is-me display. I was alone except for two cats, and though they were nearby and looking concerned (or maybe confused? unusual human behavior for sure), they don’t fall for human drama tricks. They’re far too smart.
While in this sorry state and unusual viewpoint, I noticed legs: sofa legs, chair legs, teak coffee table legs shaped like Chinese opium bed legs, Ming style table legs. And the differences and harmonies across all these legs.
Teak “opium bed” coffee table leg & chair leg – I love the light/dark contrast.
Our living room furniture’s legs were one reason for pairing the pieces together. But since then the legs have stood silent and still, doing their jobs all day every day without appreciation. They’ve become visible but invisible. Quick, right now without peeking first, could you grab a pencil and draw the legs of your furniture?
Now I’ve noticed that the graceful curves and shapely gams are still at their best. Here’s some shots of the various legs:
Painted cabinet from Thailand under a Ming console table.
Teak coffee table we found in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Teak coffee table, pillow hand-sewn with Indian jacquard silk, leather sofa from Retrospect and a wood rice goddess that we found in Baan Tawai, Thailand.
Chaai, found and rescued in Chicago. His name is Thai for “boy” or “man.”
This guy didn’t let me out of sight during the entire photo session. Here his tail was thumping. Why so annoyed? I thought he’d appreciate that I’m interested in our home from his perspective, but maybe I’m discovering secrets I wasn’t supposed to know about?
Attention deflection strategies work on humans too. He takes me in this direction. Why? Let’s see …
Pottery from a Michigan artist, Thai baskets, Ming console table. And yeah the dreaded wall-to-wall shag carpet.
Brass rain drum and wood rice god converted into a lamp. Both found in Thailand.
I’ve never liked all the orangey oak trim/door/window stain around the house, but there is a lot of it all over the house and it’s a big project to change it. And I’ve never settled on curtain rods so you can still see the white slider-thingy holding the curtains. So instead, let’s focus on what we do like: I’ve always liked the mix of the chunky light table legs with the dark polished sofa legs.
Leather sofas and mirror from Retrospect, coffee table and rain drum and rice god statue from Thailand. Indestructible rug from Home Decorators Collection.
My husband’s mrindangum — a South Indian drum — from his childhood.
Now there’s some noise above me, and air moving. I look up and … hey ma, what are you doing down there? he asks.
Well, I’m just trying to understand the world as you see it, I say. Ah, I see, he says. Carry on.
The legs of a rice goddess.
Little Thai cabinet tucked under Ming console table.
Chunky candlesticks under the same Ming console table.
So lay down on the floor sometime, and look at your rooms from a different perspective. You may be surprised by what you notice.
(And what a fitting title, as right now I have ZZ Top’s raspy thin voice thanks to this cold. I was wishing for something more Lauren Bacall-ish.)
