Going to an auction on a rainy morning

The dresser I bought at the auction 

The problem with buying a country house is that the rooms are just too big....

I know I have always wanted a large house, with big spacious rooms and  high ceilings, but the problem lies with finding  furniture to fit them.   Now, for the past 10 years we have lived in a modern house on a main road.  Two 2 seater leather DFS sofas barely fitted in the lounge, and we had to take the front door off its hinges and do a 3 point turn in the porch to get the pine welsh dresser into the dining room.  My kingsize bed looked quite snug in the bedroom and 66 wide x 72 inch long curtains fitted most of the windows.

The welsh dresser, now stands in the annexe kitchen...looking rather small and lost....

So I heard on the grapevine that there was a furniture auction in a nearby town on New Years day and in the auction was furniture and effects from a large manor house in Looe and a flat in Notting Hill.  I looked them up on tinternet and found the online catalogue.  One item that particularly interested us was a dresser.  A big solid dresser that had been made specifically for the kitchen of this manor house in Looe. It was 7ft 6inches long and the same in height.  The bottom part was cupboards and drawers and the top shelves, with a carved finial at the very top.  It was bespoke made and had cost over 3 grand originally.

On New Years day the weather was absolutely atrocious.  The sky was black, the rain was heavy, non stop  and vertical.  The lane outside had turned into a river.  Then the wind began...the southwesterly's blew in and the oak trees were waving their boughs furiously.  The shops were all closed, so I couldn't go shopping. There was nothing to do except collapse on the sofa all day, and attempt to empty the tin of Quality Street.  ''Right that's it" I said "...I'm off to the auction!''  Stevie was running around with buckets and polythene sheeting, so Mum and I decided to go for a drive and 'just have a look' in the auction room.

It was very exciting...I registered and got my bidding card,  an A5 laminated sign with the number 63 printed on it.  We made our way through the packed room and squeezed into a aisle, between an oak sideboard and a modern metal shelf unit.  I moved the taxidermied owl to one side and we rested our bottoms on the edge of the oak sideboard and listened intently.  Lot number 1 began with a blanket box, then 2 balloon back chairs, a drop leaf table, a glass cabinet, a Queen Anne style chair..and so on.. and so on...until we reached lot number 54

lot number 54 was the big dresser...

I fingered my bidding card with anticipation

''I have a commission bid here of £270.00'' said the auctioneer....My card went up in the air ''£280''...

he came back sharply "£290"

my card was still held high "£300"

All done at £300.00?  he asked the room...?

My card was still in the air...

''SOLD... bidder number 63...thank you '' he said

I couldn't believe it!   It was mine... I won the bidding ...I am absolutely thrilled with my purchase, its huge.  Its going to become the centre piece of the kitchen. It will hold all the crockery, cutlery, glassware and cookware.

I'm having it delivered tomorrow, so I will take a photo to put on this blog.  

x
Jo