Shortly after we took possession of Purgatory, it became apparent that we were going to need more furniture. Going from one master bedroom, two offices, a living room and kitchen in San Francisco to this place means that some rooms are devoid of furnishings even a year after taking ownership. We’re not super rushed about going out and buying random stuff to fill the house, so the great room only has the cafe table and chairs we got as part of the sale. We sometimes have dinner there, as it’s a nice spot to enjoy the view we never intended to have.
Anyway, we have a few pictures hung in the great room now. Nothing terribly grand, just a Alma-Tadema print I had in college that I had properly framed, and a print I got in Santa Cruz when I was there with my parents earlier this year.
Eventually we’ll sort out with to do with the lower half of the room, but we’ve been having more fun thinking about what we can do with the space than we would by actually going out and buying stuff to put in it. Once we’re more settled, we will try to have more friendly get-togethers, which will force us to sort out a dining room table and then eventually the rest of that room.
As for the rest of the house, the bedroom set that once belonged to my grandparents is in the guest room now, where it looks nice enough. My parents have a matching dresser that is more like a desk, and there is talk of them shipping it out to us for this room.
Since most of my furniture came from relatives, and Agent Smith didn’t have a lot of furniture (remember he’s Australian and crossed an ocean to get here), we have a random assortment of things. We placed the TV, and the couches and coffee table that were in the living room in San Francisco, in the Studio. The rest of that building is pretty empty; the elliptical machine is also in there but we haven’t plugged it in, since we now have a pool.
Then there is the kitchen table and chairs. I’m in the process of finding someone who can refinish the table and three matching chairs, which once belonged to my grandparents. The guy who was going to do the work had to have back surgery, and his recommended backup might not be able to do the work the way I want it it done, so I’m now looking for other options. When I do have them done, I also want to get the old cedar chest that once belonged to my grandmother refinished. It may not look like much in this photo, but the inside is pristine and once it’s cleaned up, it will be a pretty addition to whatever room we put it in.
So while we’re settled in a year after buying the house, we still have a ways to go in terms of using all this phenomenal space. To put the change in the size of things here versus San Francisco into perspective, our back garden at the old house is just slightly larger than the pool here, and the entire house in SF (not counting the garage) is as large as the south wing of this house. It really is a different world living here in the hills, and not just because no buses come up here.