Point of VIEW

This is not your grandmother’s rocking chair. That’s because it’s my grandmother’s rocking chair. Aside from the facts that (1) I’m shamelessly sentimental (2) value is subjective, and (3) the value in that chair is the familial heritage it represents, I couldn’t part with that chair because it’s simply beautiful. And its beauty notwithstanding, that elegant piece of furniture has not outlived its utility.

It’s soundly constructed. It’s been well cared for. It’s surprisingly comfortable. And, exactly as its makers intended, it manifests its utility by providing a place to sit. Much like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, all it needed was a little love.

It Depends How You Look At It

Since perspective is everything, I decided to coin a term for my perspective. Combining the first two letters of vintage and the second two letters of new, I call it VIEW. Since we apply VIEW to all of the the work we do in The ArtFitters, I decided to apply it to my grandmother’s chair by doing three very simple things:

1. I oiled the wood to bring out its sheen and to prevent it from cracking.
2. I purchased a new seat cushion to provide a little extra comfort.
3. I purchased a new throw pillow to give it additional character.

I always expected my grandmother’s rocker to be usable. What I didn’t expect is that its utility would increase to the point at which it’s now the most-used prop in our residential-staging inventory.

What a Difference an Attitude Makes

It’s helpful to remember attitude has more than one meaning: It can mean your manner, your disposition, or your feeling about something. It can also denote the way you perceive or behave toward something. And that can make all the difference, especially as you determine the beauty, the value, and the utility of things.

You can call things old, or you can call them vintage. You can call things new, or you can call them un-used. It doesn’t matter. The only things that matter are your attitude toward those things and the way you use them.

It’s all in your point of VIEW.