Finding Found

 

 

When my friends moved out, their parents had to throw a fresh coat of paint on their bedroom walls; mine had to remud them.  It seemed completely normal to me to mount a bucksaw, a pitchfork, a prairie apron, sheep shears, show ribbons, war medals and about 2 score vintage framed pictures of farms, maps, horses, the Queen, the American  Civil War, and Winston Churchill to recount a few. 

Saturday mornings my dad would run errands downtown, and sometimes I tagged along.  He would drop me off, at my request, about a block away from the then-crowded, smelly, dishevelled second hand store.  I would wander the cramped aisles, touching fabrics, imagining the lives of the people who wore these clothes and owned these things.  There was a tension within me: a curiosity and desire to see and have these things that were different, imperfect, old, and yet not have my friends find out how I spent Saturday mornings yardsaling on my bike or wandering the second hand store. 

Before long, I left high school and my perceived need to keep my secret life just that.   I focused on higher learning, covering every inch of my bedroom walls in fabulous old pictures and artifacts, and finding The Man.  Enter William, dream boat, incredibly, completely smitten by this unusual maiden.  Our first date was to the very same second hand store I had visited in those first days of going downtown with my dad.  Of course we fell in love (inevitable really when your first date is to the second hand store), and got married. 

I soon acquired and worked a “real job” for a few years, but always puttered at some restoration or some burning idea.  Baby Samuel entered our lives on a stormy April night, and very soon after there came in me a rekindled love of adventure, nature, seashells, leather, wool, sticks, forts, and rocks as I watched him awaken to these wonders.

Life sped up and slowed down simultaneously.  So much came into focus while other things quietly drifted out of focus. 

Baby Katie Jane arrived in the autumn glory of a September afternoon.  And, very soon after, there stirred in me a love of vintage lace, ribbon, sand, flowers, birds, chintz, velvet, crinolines and deep peony pink.

My precious family and my dear friends who have partnered with me, crafted with me and pushed me to try this, all have a part in Found, as I would not be who I am without them. 

Found is the sieve that has caught all that is good of 35 years of wandering.  But it’s not too refined.  I am still that girl who returns from a walk in the woods with pockets full of treasures and head full of ideas. 

Welcome to Found Decor Company.  May you find what you are looking for.