UPDATE: Grandma's Cup Shelf...

Brynwood Needleworks - Farmhouse Cup Shelf

   Well, this certainly didn't take long, did it?

I showed this cup shelf to you yesterday, with my post about how I wasn't sure whether to leave it the way it is, or update it with sanding and paint. I've made my decision already.

 

Yesterday, I also posted this image to my Facebook page, where my aunt (Grandma's daughter) saw it. She told me that it used to belong to her grandmother (my great-grandma), and she remembers seeing it in Great-Grandma's house, filled with lots of cups and saucers. She also said that she thinks it older than our farmhouse. Grandma was 97 when she died, and it was her mother's before it came to her.

You know how much provenance and history means to me. That's all it took for me to decide that it's going to continue its life looking just as it has for the past 100 plus years. I know those of you who commented also agreed that it should not be painted. We're all of like minds. 

 

I'll cherish it just as it is, with all the history it holds on those rusty cup hooks, and time-worn boards. I'm pretty sure my great-grandmother, my late grandma (and I know my aunt!) are happy knowing that. Who knew my decision would be that easy?

Grandma's Cup Shelf...

Brynwood Needleworks - Grandma's Cup Shelf

Not too long ago, I was given the cup rack/shelf that belonged to my paternal grandmother. I remember it hanging in her kitchen when I was just a girl. I'm not sure, but I suspect it once belonged to her mother.

Brynwood Needleworks - Grandma's Cup Shelf

I've been spending too much timing trying to decide whether or not I wanted to sand it and then paint it, so I finally got out my tools and hardware, and hung it on the wall yesterday. I'm still not sure if I want to leave it this dark color, but I do know that I wanted it up while I was thinking about it. Having it on the wall might help me decide.

I hung my Memory Lane cups, saucers and platter up, along with one white, stoneware platter I bought at Pottery Barn years ago. I like seeing my acorn embellished cups hanging from the same, old hooks Grandma used.

(***Thanks again to my girlfriend, Denise G. for starting my collection of red and white Memory Lane acorn transferware a few years ago. I love them!)

Brynwood Needleworks - A Corner of Our Farm Kitchen

 

So, while I'm thinking about it, here's my view of the shelf, newly mounted in our farmhouse kitchen. I'll enjoy thinking about all the fun times at Grandma's house whenever I look at it. 

What do you think? To paint or not to paint?