Classical Furniture

One solution that brings relief from boredom is called "shift."

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My solution works, at least for a while.

The antique cherry dresser has been moved from one bedroom into the guest room. I have been squeezing by the dresser in the small room and stubbing my toe on in during the night for 10 years. Suddenly, a light went on in the old head and the idea of moving the dresser and saving both toe and temper followed.

The dresser is more handsome in the new setting because I made room for it by getting rid of wicker twin beds and matching wicker accessories. The beds went into the garage sale and sold in the first hour. That's when you are sure you should have put a higher price on them. But they are gone and in their place is another furniture shift. It cost more than the sum the sale of the beds brought, but it was satisfying.

Some shifts require help. As an example, it took two people to haul the three-quarter bed down from the attic. I had the good sense to save the bed for many years and through many house moves, despite good offers for it. It was in a bedroom my aunt had for me in her home during my teen years, and you know that makes it a genuine antique. It's rock maple and a good match for the old dresser.

But, three-quarter beds are about as obsolete as wood stoves and wringer washers. It is surprising that beds of that size are not making a comeback because of the large population living in apartments and condominiums. Smaller than a standard size double bed but larger than a twin bed, the three-quarter size is the right size for children or for an adult who wants more room than a twin. It measures 48 inches wide and 72 inches long.

I know the exact size because you can't go into a store and say," I am looking for a three-quarter mattress, what do you have?" Three-quarter mattresses and box springs have to be ordered and custom-made. You may or may not pay for delivery if you don't have a truck. The new mattress and box springs for the old bed was $475.

OK, what about the bedding for this bright idea that dips in the past for a new look?

Unless you are Martha Stewart and can whip up layers of bedding from mattress cover to bedspread and shams, it's tough. Standard sheets are too big; the old twin mattress cover was too small, as were the bedspread and skirt. But they match the bedroom curtains.

Call Eileen, the dressmaker 50 miles away who can work magic on her machine. Attaching a skirt ruffle to the twin spread made it wide enough for the three-quarter bed. I was in business for $15, plus gas mileage, which nowadays should be added.

Furniture shifting is good. It can be boring to always sit in the same chair and see the same wall hangings, even though both were exciting acquisitions. In the last two weeks several pictures have been changed successfully without pounding new holes in the plaster. Moving two table lamps to different places in the same room was one of the better shifts.

The pair of rocking chairs put together with wooden pegs that Grandma Perkins got with Pear soap box tops in the late 1800s has been moved from my second-floor office into the living room. To me, if to no one else, the antique rockers look inviting. I use the word "office" loosely. Actually, my computer is on a desk with a phone, lamp, and stacks of books and papers in one corner. That's the limited office space; the rest is a bedroom.

Shift! This room needs a change.