Smoke and Mirrors................

Good morning everyone!

I love molding - it reminds me of old Parisien apartments and I've installed it in the last 2 homes we live in - it's such an easy way to dress up a room - especially a 100 year old room where you may have expected to see original plaster moldings anyway...............

As most of you know our current home is a Victorian flat in the heart of the city - some of the architectural details are just gorgeous ( if you're into that type of thing - if you're not - this post is NOT for you lol )

I fell in love with the exposed brick wall in the living room the moment I walked into this place - but to be very very honest with you, it gets old fast.   Because it's a row house there isn't a lot of natural light in here and the brick tends to make it look even darker - I switched out 3 prints we had hanging on this wall - for 3 large mirrors - when the chandeliers are turned on it's magical - you can see them shimmering and sparkling in them all.

There's a little " window nook " in the dining room

The ceilings are high ( 11 feet ) and doorways are filled with detail like this

The ceiling moldings are pretty special too - all in plaster

as are the plaster medallions

in the entrance way you are greeted by Cherubs - in each of 4 corners on the ceiling

and the baseboards are almost 8 inches in height

BUT nary a wall molding in sight - so I decided to add some in the dining room -

Please don't look at the mess inside my cabinet - I'm trying to declutter because this is going to be listed for sell soon - so I'm cramming everything into as many places as I can lmho............but anyway you can see the molding - I had John size them to the exact width of the wallpaper so there was no cutting involved - made life a lot simpler let me tell you.

Although I put them on another wall ( also in the dining room and there was a lot of cutting on those )

The wallpaper ( a metalic paisley )  ties in with the hall ( did I ever show you my hall DOPPELGANGER in Brooklyn?  you
can see it HERE )

Ok - ok - enough already Suzan - get to the POINT of this post already!

We have a small wall that connects the living room to the dining room ( sort of ) and leads you to the office
And there were 2 small damaged sections on it - now I could plaster them up obviously - but that involves painting and I no longer have the recipe for the wall color ( that never happens to me - well obviously it does but normally I keep every recipe for every wall just in case )
And since all of the walls connect in some fashion or another it would have meant a lot of painting -
I decided a quick fix was in order.................

Suzan says - John can you make me a molding on that wall in the dining room
John says - Why?  We're selling the place
Suzan says - Well that's exactly why - we have to put a little work into staging you know
John says - I don't understand why  you would want to go to that kind of work
John says - It's too much - just leave it
John says - It's not necessary

BUT he did it
and after he did it - I looked and hemmed and hawed and

Suzan says - can you make another molding going all around the perimeter please?
John says - are you nuts?
Suzan says - I think a double molding would look good on that wall
John says - I AM NOT doing another molding - it's just over kill - why do you ALWAYS HAVE TO TAKE IT ONE STEP TOO FAR...............

BUT he did it

John says - and before you even think of asking - I will definitely not do a third one inside this

I was also out of the paisley wallpaper - so decided to paint the outer space with some dark grey I had on hand - tying it into the color at least

taped it all up and started on the white

Tip!  Always remove your tape when it's still tacky - not dry - especially if you've just painted a color ( in this case the grey )  or you risk removing paint.

All the moldings - ceilings / walls / baseboards will get a fresh coat of white paint this week - but I'm not painting walls - most of the house is different shades of grey so I think they're neutral enough..................

Suzan says - I just LOVE it John
John says - Good - I'm glad
Suzan says - It makes the rest of the moldings we made look boring - do you think
John cuts me off - NO - NO WAY - LEAVE ME ALONE - I'VE ALREADY MISSED ONE HOCKEY GAME...............
Suzan says - Well in the next house - there's going to be some double molding happening - I can tell you that

This project cost under 20.00 -
But the change is priceless ( in my most humblest of opinions )
Doesn't it look like it was always there? ( God it makes everything else look dingy lol )

Ok - off to start painting all the trim -
Have a great Tuesday all!
Big hugs,

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The Rag Trade..............

I'm not just a blogger.

John and I also have a fabric business - we represent European textile mills for the North American market.

It was a great business for a long time.....................until China took over the market and customers now, for the most part, " knock off " European patterns and have their clothing lines produced in China.

Montreal was Canada's equivalent to the U.S.'s Manhattan for the " schmatta " or " rag trade " as it used to be known in the industry.  The ironic thing is, it was called the rag trade when clothing was actually being produced in North America - when quality control meant something - when people took pride in the finished product - when a small piece of fabric sewn into the interior of a garment stating " made in Canada " or in your case " Made in the USA "  was a " given ",

Now that it's made in China or India -  and is clearly inferior ( in most cases - certainly not in all - but it's safe to say in most ) it's the Textile Industry.

I loved everything about this industry..............from the bolts of fabric to the design rooms - from the cutting rooms to the sewing tables.............but mostly I loved the atmosphere in the factories. In Montreal it was mostly Italian first generations that ran the factories and these people had such a sense of pride in the work they did.

They sang, they hummed, they screamed, they fought and they laughed. A lot.  They brought life to the old brick buildings that housed them.  They sat at their machines from 7.30 in the morning until 4.30 in the afternoon - making beautiful garments.  And through their efforts they bought homes - educated their children and took trips back to Italy. Often.  These people were the back bone of an amazing fast paced energized thriving industry.

I would sit in the office sometimes giggling away at their antics - as they forced home made delicious meals upon the young office staff.

Most of these companies were owned by 2nd and 3rd generation families - Jewish families - that started off as a tailor working from his cold water flat here in the city - fleeing from a war torn Europe - they worked until they were able to bring their families over - they worked until they were able to build their businesses up,  they hired hundreds of thousands of immigrants and were a real force in this city.
We actually had MILLS in this province - as I know many Southern States did - where North American fabric was made.

I'm in my 50's now - I know that everything changes - it's the way of the world - we must always be evolving  

as a people -  and as a planet - but I also know that some things simply shouldn't.  And that losing this sector was not a good thing.  Not a good thing at all. When hundreds of thousands -  millions actually - are left scrambling around looking for an alternative job because in the the middle of their earning years - their job is made redundant because a factory in India or China was able to to reduce production by 75%.  This is NOT evolution - this is regression.
For me this was the biggest sin committed against the North American people ( of both Countries ).
What built up our middle class was completely wiped out with both our governments standing idly by while companies scrambled to find cheaper methods of production.  This was not a " left " or " right " decision either - both sides of politics share equal blame in this.
Sears almost single handedly destroyed a company I worked at for many years - a 3 generation company - a thriving manufacturer of higher end ladies coats - while I worked there they employed 180 factory employees and well over 200 in total employees - ( and that amount was already almost half of what it had once been )  I took care of payroll and watched over the course of 10 years or so the dwindling names on my weekly list.
There were hundreds if not thousands of factories here in Montreal - and these were not the sweatshops of the old days - these were Union run clean honest factories that filled a social need of keeping people EMPLOYED.  Of keeping people with enough earning power to keep the rest of the spokes in the wheel turning...............to keep a city - a province - a country - a continent with a strong middle class base.

The company I worked at was forced to close it's doors - it just couldn't compete - and could not offer the same high quality by having the coats imported.  After 80 years - 3 generations - and a reputation as one of the best in North America - the doors closed - and the building now houses condos.  I watched as one by one people lined up to receive their last pay cheques - tears in their eyes taking them - tears in my eyes giving them - tears in the bosses eyes as they shook hands with them and thanked each one individually for the work they had done over the years.

This was a good thing?

I personally chose to not shop at Sears - I personally chose to boycott Walmart's - but at this stage I'd be walking around naked if I boycotted every business who prefers to resort to slave labor.  ( and I'd be driving around in a horse and buggy ) You simply can't beat a dead horse I suppose -

And you most certainly cannot beat a dead employee now can you?
After all at 14 cents an hour they're not such a great loss?
Even when it's 400 human beings - they can most definitely be replaced can't they?
Have a look at progress folks........................

BANGLADESH CLOTHING FACTORY COLLAPSES KILLING OVER 400 EMPLOYEES

Heartbreaking - on too many levels,
And it will fall into the archives of yesterday's news before we know it.
" MADE IN BANGLADESH "
" MADE IN INDIA "
" MADE IN CHINA "
For 14 cents an hour.