Curio

We bought a curio cabinet the other day. When I say we, I mean me. My darling husband has wanted a curio for the livingroom for ages but, well, let's just say he's a wee bit tight with his money. I am too--to an extent--but it's not like we're paupers and why not have something special to display our collectibles in? Right? Right.

So the curio was delivered last Friday. The first thing was to polish the glass, mirrors and wood. Polish until it shined. Um. Anyone who knows me also knows that I'm not Susie Homemaker. Not at all. Oh, I manage to keep up with the housework but, really, there are more interesting and usually important things to do with my time.

Anyway, my husband works midnights so he's used to sleeping during the day (kind of like a vampire, LOL). We had planned to put my crystal and collectible plates in the cabinet as well as the miniature figures we both collect. Being a typical woman, eager to see the cabinet filled with all my glorious items, I went to work.

This cabinet has five shelves. I'd filled three of them with just my things before I realized it. But generously, I put some of the oriental styled figures and plates on one shelf so my dh could put his miniature oriental figures (they're only about two inches tall so they need something in the back--that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Then I realized he had once collected miniature houses from Lillyput Lane. These little gems come in a variety of sizes from golf-ball to the size of my two fists put together. They're so full of detail too! You can almost identify every leaf, blade of grass, pebble or rock in the landscaping. For sure you can see the bricks or pieces of thatch on the houses themselves. Truly, you need an hour just to sit and study them before you've seen every detail.

I'd filled, or planned out, the top four shelves when I remembered the Lillyputs. So I went to find them and did. The poor things were dusty beyond belief (I wasn't exagerating about housecleaning, you know) so I washed them and dried them and put them on the bottom shelf. Meanwhile, my husband who'd become alarmed when I'd come into the bedroom looking for the Lillyputs (especially when I answered that I was playing 'decorator') decided he'd better make an appearance. I get the feeling he doesn't always trust me, silly man.

I'd put the now quite lovely Lillyputs on the lower, wood shelf but, to my mind, they faded into the wood even with the light on. But I'd already done enough. I didn't want to further impose on the two shelves I'd generously given him, ahem, and explained my thoughts about the 'oriental' shelf. After he agreed, he started placing some of his figures on the shelf interspersed with the other items I'd already put there and it looked good.

The Lillyputs, however, seemed drab and a bit lonely down on that bottom shelf. It took about half an hour, but I convinced him that the oriental and the Lillyput needed to change places. When we got those little houses onto the middle shelf where they'd have more light and be more visible they just bloomed.

It's hard not to look at this new cabinet filled with our small collection of treasures. It's quite lovely.

But it does make the rest of the room look a little shabby.

I feel another spurt of housework coming on. This can't be good.

I wonder if there's a medicine for it?