These are big rugs. Huge. About 14 feet by 10 feet. We had two rugs of that size in the living room and dining room that were getting pretty worn out (they're over a hundred years old--you'd be worn out, too). So one of the new (except they're actually pretty old . . .) rugs was going into the living room, the living room rug was going into the dining room, the dining room rug was going upstairs to the master bedroom. It's like musical rugs! Except not fun. That's three rooms of furniture to be moved, three floors to be cleaned, three heavy goddamn rugs to be hauled around and put in position. That's why we've been putting it off. But yesterday, the MiL and I sucked it up and did it.
The MiL only remembers the floor under the rug in the dining room being cleaned once in all the time she's lived here. That was twenty years ago. You can imagine the fun awaiting us when we rolled that rug up. It was also apparent once the rug was up that someone had re-finished the wood floor in the dining room at some point. But they had only done the floor AROUND THE RUG. What kind of thought process leads to THAT? A stupid one.
Seriously . . .
Do you see that black circle in the floor at the bottom of the photo? That's a plug. For the bell. That was used to summon the servants into the dining room. My mind is regularly blown by this kind of evidence of Blackrock's past.
I wish we still had a servant. Then the servant could have lifted the ridiculously heavy mahogany dining room table. The servant could have rolled up and dragged the rugs around. The servant could have swept, vacuumed, and mopped the floors. The servant could have arranged the rug pads, centered the rugs, and put all the furniture back.
Sadly, the MiL and I are the only servants around here, so we did all that. In the end, we got the rugs in the living room and dining room (Duchess's rug looks great in the living room, Mom*). We still have to get the former dining room rug upstairs and put down in the master bedroom and the other one of my grandmother's rugs into the parlor. But that's for another day. Maybe by then we'll have a servant.
* Duchess is my grandmother. She is not a Grandma, a Nana, or a Granny. She is a Duchess. You'd understand if you'd ever met her.
12 comments:
Holy cow. That's amazing. Laura Winger Dinger independent, can do spirit at its best! So happy the rug works and is in y'alls house where it can be appreciated not only for its looks but its history. It's also good to see the north and south peacefully coexisting. You do your southern heritage proud!
First I'd like to congratulate the dumbass who did the floor. Still a dumbass, but apparently one who did the dumbassitude very well if no one ever noticed.
Second, OMG I would so re-connect that bell. Are you kidding me? That would be awesome! No, I have no idea what I'd use it for. But some things you just know are going to turn out awesome somehow.
Just as a point of interest, my husband is totally the type of person that would refinish a floor around a rug - and he'd find it as the most logical conclusion too. Drives me crazy...
Oh my goodnes...what were they smokin'? What kind of thought process brings you to the conclusion to only refinish around the outside of a rug?
Maybe the servents did it as an evil trick knowing the master of the house would never find out since he/she never cleaned the floors!
I want one of those bells...although my kids would find it and the ensuing racket would be enough to wake the dead. So never mind on the bell.
I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of the rugs in place...we are going to see pics right?
Some man must have done the floor while the woman of the house was away. Seriously, she would have returned and he would have proudly announced how hard he worked. I know this, cause it is something my husband would do.
This is only something you would do if you've never done any work on a house before. Painting, floor refinishing, spackling, wallpaper ... anything that involves large areas and precise edges, anyone who has done them will tell you that the edges take three times longer than the large flat areas.
This little shortcut meant that someone had two edges to worry about instead of one. The only way ...
Wait, there is one way this makes sense. You don't have to move all the furniture out of the room, just push it to the center. Still, lazy bastard should be slapped.
Every person who ever worked on this house was either a family member, or was employed by a family member. And we can't go around slapping family, now can we? Especially since they've all Gone On.
I want a servant.
And if there had been rugs downstairs, I'm sure we would have encountered the same thing here - the semi-finished floor, I mean, not the bell.
Aunt Elizabeth still exists, buzzer and all! Ask about the door bells. There was a device in the kitchen, which designated which door bell was rung. Something similar to an old cash register. Lance
They refinished the floor AROUND the rug?
I'd have passed away. That is ridiculous.
And I though *I* was lazy.
Meanwhile, your servant's buzzer is rad.
does the bell still ring? we looked at a house a month ago that all the floor bells still worked. i'd love that for my kids... shipped off your candy the other day too.
No, it was disconnected some time ago. And it will not be re-connected, because I know who would be using that bell (A.) to ring for who (me). That was atrocious grammar, but the point remains.
Yay candy!
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