In our farmhouse, I try to stay true and show allegiance to the age of our house.  In its 194 years of life, it certainly deserves and requires such reverence.  But, at the same time, I like to bring in some of the comforts of modern day living, and display a little of the lifestyle that we lead.

Sean has a really fun and rewarding career with many perks.  He is an electrician for Broadway shows, and not only does that mean we are fortunate to see many shows, but it also means that he has access to some of the show’s discards at the end of the show’s run.  And since Sean works on Broadway, and I love Broadway, of course we would welcome random cast-off props and set practicals to the decor of our home.

Case in point, this New York sign.

This sign was a prop in the Broadway musical Ragtime.  Sean was packing up the show at the end of its run and this way cool sign was in the dumpster.  He “Tom Sawyer-ed” his friend Steve to go in and pull the sign out of the heap.  True friend, right there.

Sean enlisted Mac to help him bring it home, and we hung the sign last night under the big window in the den.  Honestly, our possibilities of where to hang the sign were limited, as we don’t have many walls with a 10 foot clear span of wall without bumping into a door or a window.   But we love the sign where we hung it, and we feel it works so well in that spot.

We also pay homage to Broadway in our kitchen.

This light fixture came from above a ticket window in a theatre box office.  I saw this light fixture in a theatre salvage store in Manhattan that  rents and sells to the trade.  And, being that I’m not “trade” I begged the owner to sell me the light fixture.  When he agreed to sell it to me, the price was stupid expensive.  So, I had to walk away, but I kept talking about that light to Sean.  But as luck would have it, Sean uncovered 3 light fixtures at the theatre where he regularly works, that were in the garbage pile.  He quickly grabbed them up, ran to the salvage store where the tickets light lived, and finagled a trade.  He walked in with this light, and I was singing All That Jazz and waving serious jazz hands in excitement.  We had to run electric down to the breaker, because where we decided to hang the light in the kitchen had no electric running to it.  Now it does, but the plaster around the light needs some finesse.  All in due time.

The rest of our theatre homages don’t have dumpster-diving stories, but rather continuous searches and orders from ebay and flea markets.

I tend to collect old marquee letter F’s.  We have lots f’s that I found on ebay in our budget price range, and I found this gem at a local flea market.

I saw it and I stopped dead in my tracks.  And that one line from “Sex And The City” where Carrie sees a pair of perfect shoes in a store window, popped into my head:

“Hello, Lover!”

And I think the guy selling it to me wanted to keep the good jou jou going, and gave me a good price.

Just in case we forget our last name starts with F, this bright light will remind us for sure.

Albeit eclectic, these theatre throw-offs have become our treasures.  Although none are as old as 194 years, they certainly do have some age, and certainly add some welcome quirkiness to our beloved old farmhouse.