Great idea! This lamp had its first life as a sconce in a church. A stained-glass company in Gloversville transformed it. continued from 25
The tone of the porch was set with the trunk that belonged to her grandfather. He shipped equipment all over the country, and this large trunk was just one of many used to send his company’s products around America. Vadney repainted the antique wicker chairs — which like many other objects on the porch were once at her grandfather’s Big House on Lake George — to match the trunk color. “When I design, I try to find one piece and build around that,” she says. Other elements from the Lake George house include pulleys and other dock
26 | Life@Home
ephemera once used to tie up the boats, and two rockers from the Lake George porch. Joanne continued her repurposing design elements in other rooms in the house. Take her daughter’s room for instance. The furniture was a mish-mosh of hand-medowns — the bed originally belonged to Joanne’s parents, who handed it down to Joanne and Dan when they married, who handed it down to their daughter. It was solid maple but the dresser was originally a mahoghany buffet and the mirror was from another family member and another wood as well. continued on 28