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Bedroom

"Tell me what you like and I'll tell you what you are." —John Ruskin

Notice how closely the structure of the room mirrors that of the parlor directly beneath it, but in a simpler style.  As a private area of the house not shown to guests, the bay window lacks the extra ornamentation and plasterwork seen in the parlor.    

Chair: Eastlake style with carved beasts, circa 1890's.  (Note the similarity in style to the parlor chairs downstairs.)  Purchased from a second-hand store.  This poor chair was sitting outside in the snow when Sarah rescued it!    

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Armoire: Late 19th-century.  Most Victorian houses had no or minimal closets because of a legal quirk involving tax technicalities: houses tended to be taxed according to the number of rooms they contained, and for tax purposes, a closet counted as a room, so builders kept closets to a minimum to reduce tax costs.  Thus, armoires such as this one were necessary for storing clothing.    

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Wedding ring quilt: Gabriel bought this quilt new in the year 2000 when he and Sarah became engaged, and gave it to her as a Christmas present that year.    

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Vanity dresser, circa 1890's.  
Sarah had dreamed of having one of these from the time she was a small child.
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Buttonhooks add leverage when buttoning shoes and gaiters.

"...Survival bias works overtime on buttonhooks. In a toiletry set, the mirror will be broken or lose its silver over time, the brush will drop its bristles, and the comb’s teeth will be broken, but the buttonhook will survive. They are practically indestructible. They became obsolete when functional buttons on shoes and gloves fell out of fashion; doubtless some of the plainer buttonhooks were melted down over the years for the sake of the metal they contained, but count- less numbers of them were spared for the sake of their handles. Their handles are often ornamental—either by being made of a decorative material such as mother-of-pearl or by being artistically fashioned to resemble anything from dragon scales to flowers; these were often pretty enough to spare the scrap of metal (the hook itself) from the crucible. Buttonhooks were a de rigueur item in ladies’ sets of various kinds from vanity sets to traveling étuiles, and they tend to be one of the last items remaining from these collections. We had acquired our traveling buttonhook early on as an impulse buy at an antiques store. It had charmed us because it folded so neatly from an open position where one end was a shoehorn and the other end was a buttonhook. I wanted a shoehorn anyway, and since this two-in-one item was priced lower than a cup of coffee, it seemed a worthwhile deal. My vanity set had come with a buttonhook whose handle was etched with flowers to match the handles on the nail file and the various brushes..." —This Victorian Life, Skyhorse Publishing, 2015, pp. 264-265.

Sarah's wash-set (bowl and pitcher) circa 1890's.

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Details on our bed

The headboard of our bed is carved with Hera, Greek goddess of marriage.  At the foot of the bed are carved harvest fruits: a pomegranate, peach and cluster of grapes.  Such classical images were very popular in educated Victorian households.

Other Rooms in our house:
Kitchen and Dining Room
Parlor
Sarah's Writing Den / "Tillie's Room"

Back to Everyday Life

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​Tales of Chetzemoka ​

First Wheel in Town:
A Victorian Cycling Club Romance​​
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Love Will Find A Wheel:
A Victorian Cycling Club Romance
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A Rapping At The Door:
A Victorian Cycling Club Suspense Story
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Delivery Delayed:
A Victorian Cycling Club Romance
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A Trip and a Tumble:
A Victorian Cycling Club Story
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​Non-fiction:

Victorian Secrets: 
What A Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present, and Myself
(Non-fiction)

True Ladies
and 
Proper Gentlemen:
Victorian Etiquette...

This Victorian Life
(Non-fiction)

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