Before & After, before and after, BEFORE AND AFTER.
Who has time for Before & After?

We do!  On this Before & After Friday I'm going to share a few
makeovers that involve ordinary homes.  We can all relate to that.

A plain blank room was rich in sunlight because of the

numerous windows and the fireplace had potential:

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Beautiful!

This family room needed an update:

 

There really aren't adequate words to describe how

much I love the wainscoting on the ceiling.

This tiny powder room was fine:

 

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But now it has a BIG personality.

The white blandness of this bathroom is blinding:

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So serene now.

A boxy bedroom, before:

 The same bedroom, after:

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When I saw this before, I thought, "The room looks pretty good to me."

And then I saw the after:

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Lesson learned:  subtle changes can make a huge difference.

Parquet floor.  Track lights.  Mirrored wall.

I miss the 70's:

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Such a sophisticated difference.  Bye-bye, 70's.

The only thing I like about this dining room

is the crown and baseboard molding:

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Gasp!  Stunning, isn't it?

Take a look at this dreary, dark dining room:

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This makeover is amazing but I would have replaced

the ceiling return vent.  Or spray-painted it.

I'm sorry these next two photos are so
small but you get the picture:

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If we hadn't seen the after photo we'd probably think the before
was okay.  Compared to the after it seems so dark and moody.

I would go so far as to say this farmhouse

eat-in kitchen area was dismal:

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Now it's delightful!

I feel claustrophobic looking at this crowded room:

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What a difference!  Removing that Titantic-sized
TV helped as did using a cheerful color palette. 

This transformation shows what you can

do with an ordinary apartment or condo:

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It's often easier to start with a blank canvas:

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Although rather boxy, this living room had good bones:

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Make that great bones!

Of course, I saved my favorite for last.  Why, you may
ask, is this room my favorite?  Because it's so normal:

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Right?!  I feel as if I'm at the beach.  Lovely.

Go out and have a great weekend.  Take a walk through crunchy
leaves and dodge the acorns as they fall off the trees.

Have you heard of collectible Dance Cards?

First introduced in the early 18th Century and popular until the
mid-20th Century, dance cards were used by women to record
the names of men who requested a dance with them at a ball.

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 The earliest forms of dance notations were sterling
silver pendants which contained small cards.

 Cards or booklets featured a cord which held a pencil or
pen and was worn on the wrist for easy reference.

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Some ladies used a question-and-answer game that required prospective

dance partners to answer a riddle before being granted a dance.

Finding a dance card with the original pencil
or pen attached to the cord is rare.

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Parisian dance booklet from 1909:

'7th Annual Festival
in the Rooms of the Porte-Doree
Saturday, February 13, 1909
275-277  Daumesnil Avenue
PROM NIGHT
Full Orchestra'

This is what the Paris address looks like today.


In 1926, Betsey Dunn attended a dance in Pittsfield,
MA, and made some interesting notes:

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She wrote that dance partner #5, Arnold Whitman, was
'missing a tooth' and #11, Ted Reynolds, must have been
short because he was described as a 'pip squeak.'

This flyer from the Philharmonique Society of Paris was sent with
the invitation so that attendees could plan their strategy for the ball: 



An unusual dance card in the shape of a shoe from a ball
given by the Twilight Social Club on August 14, 1874:

In place of a dance card a Victorian lady might have used a fan with
slots in which to write their partners' names beside a specific dance,
i.e., waltz, polka, quadrille, etc.

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Estate sales are good venues for finding mid-20th Century dance cards.
But to find a treasure like the Civil War-era dance card fan pictured
above, you'll probably have to work through an antique dealer.

Antique dance cards are definitely Romantic Collectibles.
Happy Hunting!