Down Home Country

Staff photo by Mark Czajkowski Antique lighting, a hand-sewn quilt and crocheted doily, and bits and pieces of Americana adorn the living room of the Tuliszewski home.

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   "DO you have three cleaning ladies to dust all
this?" visitors often ask when they see the collections of Americana that
crowd her table tops, spill out of hutches and even hang from the ceiling.

   Terri Tuliszewski says no. She cleans her Hightstown house
herself, and she enjoys doing so because each piece in it is a joy to handle
and each evokes a memory.

   She began collecting primitive-style furniture, farm tools
and old utensils 31 years ago, after she and her husband, Dick, were married.
The rustic yet whimsical look that she was creating — what one might
call farm-style country or Americana kitsch — was unknown then.

   "Friends poked fun at me," she remembers. "What’s that?"
they would ask when she brought home a new treasure. "Kindling wood?"

   But she liked her crates, hooked rugs and advertising
signs. And she continued to search for more.

   She went to garage sales in the 70s and early 80s, before
they became a popular method of home decorating and before a market developed
for old tools and the everyday objects of the 20s, 30s and 40s. Now many
people realize they could get more for their grandfather’s harness and their
grandmother’s board games by selling them to antique shops or offering them
on E-bay.

   She went to flea markets and to auctions antique stores
in New Hampshire, where she and her husband vacation. Prices were usually
lower there than they were locally, though she also frequented Alfred’s
Auctions in Hightstown.

   In New Hampshire, she bought her first antique, a pie
safe. "It was all original," she remembers, "even the paint." Best of all:
its top and bottom shelves had been gnawed by mice trying to get to the
fragrant pies that used to cool within it. "If a piece doesn’t have a mouse
hole or a worm hole, it can’t go in the house," her husband jokes. "Rust
is also important," Mrs. Tuliszewski adds.

   "Looking for curbside appeal" is what she jokingly calls
another of her methods for finding decorative objects. She drives with one
eye on the side of the road, scanning for discarded items. The roughly hewed
white cupboard that stands in her dining room was found in front of a house
in Hamilton. A quick word with the owner, and the piece was hers. Smiling,
her husband claims he rues the invention of the cell phone because of the
countless calls he received beginning, "Honey, bring the truck. I’ve found
something."

Staff photos by Mark Czajkowski

Above, top two, Americana collectibles fill corners and cupboards; fragrant herbs enchant hungry breakfasters in the nook, middle; and favorite cuddly pals are displayed on a daybed, bottom.

   Her
friends are also a good source of cast-offs. Many years ago, when the Department
of Weights and Measures in Trenton was remodeling its offices, a friend
who worked there told her that she might like some of the things it was
about to throw out. She brought home an oak bookcase and coat rack. Her
30s kitchen table with a metal top and a slide-out leaf was a gift from
another friend.

   Each time she handles one of her treasures, Mrs. Tuliszewski
remembers how she got it, who gave it to her or how her father or husband
helped her to restore it. Her father passed away many years ago, but she
thinks of him when she sees his old machinist’s chest, which she uses as
a jewelry box. Her husband has refinished, repaired and rearranged countless
pieces for her. Just ask him. He has a hundred stories. There is the hutch
that did not fit through the front door. He cut it apart and reassembled
it inside. And the gas stove covered in rust that they eventually painted
red and installed as a decorative piece in the family room. To resurface
it, he had to buy a sandblaster and wear a biohazard suit.

   Together, they tackled the oak table that now sits in
their office. It originally served as a dining hall table in a Canadian
summer school. Mr. and Mrs. Tuliszewski thought that the initials and declarations
of love carved on top of the table were charming. But when they got it home,
they found hundreds of wads of gum stuck beneath. It took hours to scrape
off these delightful mementos of camp life.

   Mrs. Tuliszewski has also made a lot of changes in the
house on her own. She has stenciled every room and painted the bedroom floors
in decorative patterns. Her general aesthetic can be summed up as: light
walls framed by woodwork in dark greens, blues or reds; brightly colored
furnishings and decorative objects; and lots of sun light.

   Of all the Tuliszewskis’ furnishings, only the upholstered
ones were bought new. Everything else is an antique, a collectible or at
least a fun memory. Nevertheless, their house is not a museum. Nothing is
wrapped in acid-free paper and hidden away. Everything in it is used. A
weathered grain bin stores wood pellets for the couple’s wood-burning stove.
The old scales, funnels and scoopers displayed in her kitchen are used daily.
The carpenter’s boxes next to the TV store CDs. Old quilts hang from walls
or lie appealingly on shelves. Tattered ones have been turned into table
runners or Teddy bears.

   Outside, sap buckets, a wheelbarrow and a vertical log
splitter all serve as planters. A farm cart is usually filled with potted
flowers, and an old iron bed frame has become a fence.

Staff photo by Mark Czajkowski

Of all the Tuliszewskis’ furnishings, only the upholstered ones were bought new. Everything else is an antique, a collectible or at least a fun memory.

   It
seems that Mrs. Tuliszewski’s ability to find new uses for old objects is
endless.

   In recent years, however, she has become more selective
in her acquisitions. She has even begun weeding out her collections.

   She and her husband still enjoy the hunt, but they look
for items for family and friends.

   "It’s an excuse to travel," says Mr. Tuliszewski with
a smile.But no matter where they go, Mrs. Tuliszewski is always happy to
come home. "I love coming through my front door," she comments, and her
face lights up.