The living room is the warmest room of the house—not temperature-wise, but it has the couch and a bunch of blankets and looks the most polished. The first picture is what you see if you’re standing in the entryway peaking in the living room door. The below picture is centered on the couch. We bought the tansu (the thing the TV is on) right after we moved in. Tansus originally went under the stairs. Right now it’s in TV stand mode, but that’s a base three pieces that reconfigure to the traditional stair step formation. .
Left: bookshelf detail—one of a pair of jade lions Chris haggled for in the Pearl Market in Beijing. 
Here’s the entryway before…….
And after!
The after picture is at night, so it doesn’t give a good sense of space. Before, the entryway felt cavernous. It’s all dark wood paneling and there’s no way to heat it, so it’s always cold. Now it’s more colorful, anyway.
Back to the point: Chris and I fell in love with this antique Chinese cabinet at a bazaar while we were still living in the Navy Lodge in November. We had neither the money nor a home to acquire it, but imagine my delight upon discovering it in Ichiban Collectibles on base. The seller had to pick it up this month so she slashed her prices and I swooped in and bought it! Actually it was Chris who said, “Hey! I saw a sign saying the furniture at Ichiban was on sale. Go see if our cabinet is any cheaper and buy it!” I swooped, I bought! It’s 120 years old from northeast China and has no metal in the joints, only on the drawer pulls and door clasp. The seller owns an antique shop in Singapore and went to China and bought it herself. “Look, no metal! Excellent craftsmanship!” she said, pulling the all-wooden door off to show us. Sure enough!
Here’s the entryway before…….
And after!
The after picture is at night, so it doesn’t give a good sense of space. Before, the entryway felt cavernous. It’s all dark wood paneling and there’s no way to heat it, so it’s always cold. Now it’s more colorful, anyway. .
The cabinet will fill in for the absence of shelving in the bathroom/laundry area to its left, thank goodness. Everything that used to be in two bathrooms and a laundry room is now stuffed into one tiny box with a single under-the-sink cabinet. I had to give up my Seashelf for q-tip and cotton ball storage…sad.
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Back to the point: Chris and I fell in love with this antique Chinese cabinet at a bazaar while we were still living in the Navy Lodge in November. We had neither the money nor a home to acquire it, but imagine my delight upon discovering it in Ichiban Collectibles on base. The seller had to pick it up this month so she slashed her prices and I swooped in and bought it! Actually it was Chris who said, “Hey! I saw a sign saying the furniture at Ichiban was on sale. Go see if our cabinet is any cheaper and buy it!” I swooped, I bought! It’s 120 years old from northeast China and has no metal in the joints, only on the drawer pulls and door clasp. The seller owns an antique shop in Singapore and went to China and bought it herself. “Look, no metal! Excellent craftsmanship!” she said, pulling the all-wooden door off to show us. Sure enough! .
The front is chipping a bit and is hand-painted scenes of Chinese life. The landowner tossing gold coins to his workers, a vendor selling stuff. But my favorite is the one on the far right which is accompanied by a poem that roughly says, “When it’s the dead of night, the water’s rising, the bridge has washed out and there’s no one to help, a lamp will appear to guide you.” The picture is a man shining a lamp on the raging river looking toward another man on the opposite side, who is looking toward him with joy and hope. That pretty much sums up how I feel about living here on a semi-daily basis—surrounded by the flood but straining toward the Light. 
And this is the downstairs tatami room attached to the kitchen. Ahhh, home.
The Full Circle of Fish
Let’s lead a happy day today.
High Times in the Tidewater
Snowflower and the Secret Tea
I am RSVPing for 2010! I love your ginormous TV 🙂 All the furniture you have acquired is gorgeous and are truly one of a kind!
Gasp! What happened to your seashelf? I hope you still have it in storage somewhere. I’m glad that your kitties like your new cabinet.
Your place is gorgeous! All looks quite “polished” to me. I really appreciate that you kept the toilet paper visible in both pictures, for relative spacing, you know? 🙂
Mari,
Nice house!! But where is Chris’ wall of manhood that you had in Jacksonville, or was it Pensicola. Also where is the Texas Star that is supposed to proudly displayed where your home is so you and all your friends know where your REAL home is???
First of all, the star of Texas is the only thing on the wall behind where I’m taking the picture. Nothing else fits next to it! I believe you can see it in all the Christmas tree photos I should have posted in Dec. And have no fear—Chris’ wall of Texas and Manliness is upstairs in the office with his “I love me” wall. 🙂 Hannie—the seashelf is in the bathroom holding cotton balls instead of displaying my books and seashells upstairs next to my desk, that’s all.
Great! I cant wait to see it in person soon. Your house looks so Japanese inside and mine does not! We have one japanese hallway thats it! I gotta hit more of these famous shrine sales!
See you soon!
Very nice! I bow to your awesome Japanese house. I appreciate how you cope with your military life! It gives us all inspiration!
It’s amazing! Thanks for sharing those photos 🙂