Going Vintage

This post originally appeared as a guest post at Meridian Road in September.

Once upon a time, I used to go to Rod Works or Tai-Pan Trading and drool over the pretty home-décor items there. But then I was bothered that I would see the same things repeated in houses up and down the neighborhood.  The “blog world” has opened my eyes to a new kind of decorating, and over time, I have learned that I prefer to have unique items with a history in my home, rather than cookie-cutter tsotchkes!

Today I wanted to share some of the vintage treasures I am slowly collecting for my home. They are probably old, usually imperfect, but definitely loved!

I found these two pieces of baseboard at an architectural salvage stop. There are at least three layers of paint on them! I like to imagine what kind of building they must have been in…something very grand to have 12” baseboards!

I have a very small collection of doorknobs. Yep, those three are the entire collection! I found the little wrought-iron piece at an antique store for $5. I don’t have a clue what it was originally for, but it makes my tiny collection a real conversation piece!

The three jars are vintage European canning jars. There capacity (in liters) is pressed into the bottom. Yes, these are the same jars that Pottery Barn sells for a couple hundred dollars. I found mine at a flea market for considerably less! Inside the smallest is my set of letterpress blocks. If you could see all the way around, you would see that they spell out “Harvest” on the bottom. I absolutely love typography (I don’t supposed that’s a big secret anymore)!

My rustic wooden bowl was a belated birthday present this year. My husband had tried to buy me something I wanted at a local vintage consignment shop, but it was gone by the time he got there. So he gave me a gift certificate instead! About a week later, this small dough bowl came home with me!

The bowl is filled with four hand-knit pumpkins I made a few years ago. I like the juxtaposition of textures.

My newly-created suitcase wall is a collection in and of itself!  But it’s also a fun place to display other treasures—like the folding yardstick I got from Suzanne that sits next to my grandfather’s cloth-and-metal tape measure.

If you thought three items was a small collection, how about two? To this day, my husband cannot remember what these are: wire flower frogs. And when I tell him, I think he’s still at a loss as to why they’re sitting next to his lamp.

Because I like them, that’s why!

The big wooden “pedestal” is actually a leg off an old German piano. It’s another treasure from my favorite consignment shop…it spoke to me! What’s a girl to do??

Oh, look, another collection of three! I found three glass insulators FOR FREE on my birthday! They’re probably not real collector’s items…but they were obviously meant for me.

Oh, that enamelware pitcher in the back? Well, you caught me out…it’s from IKEA!

Thanks for sharing my treasures with me. I’m curious…has the blog world affected your decorating style? I would love to know!

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Linking up at The Shabby Nest, My Repurposed Life, Simple Home Life, Coastal Charm, From My Front Porch to Yours, House of Hepworths, No Minimalist Here, 2805, A Little Knick Knack, Common Ground, and My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia.

Wouldn’t you rather have something pretty?

There is a Savers store just around the corner from our local Deseret Industries (both are like a Goodwill store). I don’t check it quite as often as DI, but I try to stop in fairly regularly to look for furniture. They don’t have good stuff as often as DI does, but what furniture they do get is usually a great price!

One day a few weeks ago, I walked in the front door to see this table staring back at me:

Oh, I swear the heavens opened and angels sang! Look at those gorgeous legs!

Sure the top was a little worn…but that just meant it had been well loved!

And there were two chairs to boot!

Their legs weren’t half-bad either!

The only problem was a sticker marring the top of the table:

SOLD. Hold until 11 a.m.

I was crestfallen. Sadly I walked away, hoping that the person who purchased these lovely pieces would truly appreciate them.

I continued my rounds, stopping in at DI, then on to Wal-Mart. But I couldn’t get the little table out of my head. When I finished my errands at 10:50 a.m., I decided to stop back by Savers—just in case.

I walked in the door, and the little table looked at me hopefully (or so I imagined). It was still there! I walked away a few feet to keep an eye on it.

A store employee walked by the table and glanced at that tag. He called out, “What’s the story with this table? It’s almost 11:00! If that lady doesn’t come back soon…”

I saw my opening, and leaped in… “I’ll BUY IT!” I said with ill-concealed glee.

Then the wait began. 10:57. 10:59. 11:01! RING ME UP!

The little table…and the chairs…came home with ME!

And we were very happy!

Lest I sound like a true ogre, an effort was made to locate the original purchaser. As far as the employees could tell, she had left the store.

I found a remnant of a beautiful green bird print that was perfect for recovering the seats, and it set the tone for the rest of the makeover…green it would be! I took the fabric in with me to Home Depot and purchased a sample of Behr Ultra in a shade close to the birds. However, when I got it home I decided it was going to be a little too in-your-face green, so I lightened it with some white paint.

On the left you can see the unglazed chair; on the right is with glaze. It mellowed the color just enough, and brought out the interesting details.

And here’s a newly recovered chair seat. I love this fabric!

I sanded down the table top and re-stained it in my favorite Minwax Antique Walnut.

There’s a 14-inch butterfly leaf tucked away inside.

One of the things I love about this table is how narrow it is: only 31 inches. It would be perfect in small quarters.

I still love these beautiful double legs!

If I could, do you know what I would use this table for? A craft room. What a great place to spread out your projects! (I coated the top with 3 layers of Varathane just in case!) A seamstress could extend the table and cut out an entire dress. A scrapbooker could assemble a whole vacation’s worth of memories!

After all…wouldn’t you rather have something pretty to work on? Who needs that old folding table, anyway??

…And when the work was over

…maybe it could just be a nice place to enjoy a glass of lemonade with a friend.

This project has been featured at Beyond the Picket Fence and the DIY Home Sweet Home Project.

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Linking up to these great parties and Saved by Suzy.

Bird on Blue

This post has been featured at

I'm So Vintage

&

Thanks, ladies!

I am not a squealer. Really. But I almost squealed with delight when I cam across this dresser at Deseret Industries (that's Utah's "Goodwill") a month or so ago.

Isn't it cute? Despite the nasty orange color, I mean...and yes, it was really that color in real life.

The top drawer had a problem. There had obviously been water damage, and one of the layers of the drawer bottom was peeling up.


...but...it was up on legs! And there was another treasure in the top drawer:

Casters. I love 'em.

So I brought it home with me. What I hadn't noticed in the store was this little problem:


Yep. I whole corner was missing. How did I not notice that?? I blame the casters.

So it sat, and sat, and sat in my garage....until the glorious day that Twice Lovely introduced me to Kwik Wood. It's an epoxy mixture that you need together to form a shapeable putty to fix those missing chunks and pieces.

See?

It wasn't perfect...but it was heckuvalot better than what a had before.

Then I used my handy-dandy Harbor Freight Multi-Tool (it was my Mother's Day present from me...to me) to scrape away and remove all the veneer from the drawer bottom.

It worked like a charm! You may wonder why I didn't just replace the drawer bottom. I had intended to, but it was GLUED in place! There was no way to get it out without some serious damage potential, so I chose to just remove the peeling layer. The drawer bottom is sturdy enough without it.

Finally...on to painting! The dresser was gray...briefly. But I wasn't feeling the love.

Bleaahh.

What do I love instead? Blue!

...and of course it needed a little something more on the decorative front panel. I painted a bird in antique white, which matches the paint job on the knobs. Everything is glazed with Jacobean stain to bring out the details. I only did a very little distressing...I didn't want the orange showing through!

Don't you love the legs?
What?? No casters?!
That's right. I'm keeping 'em!

What I got !

I promised to show off what I got in exchange for my Divine Dining Table. I couldn't be happier!

Ta-da!

Isn't she pretty??



I used to have this little table in that spot:



It was fine, but I have since decided that I prefer color in my accessories rather than my furniture.



This new-to-me little desk has history! character! It has a slide-out writing surface!





Perfect for a lap-top!



My grandparents' trunk still fits neatly underneath.



I love the top folded back, but it can also close if wanted.





Actually, that part is a little tricky, as the original hinges are broken. I'm on a hunt for new ones, but I haven't had any luck yet.



Other than that, this little desk was in remarkably good shape. There were/are definitely some dings and scratches:



...but I used a little Walnut "Restore-a-Finish" on it, and while it isn't a magical ointment, it does do a pretty good job of hiding minor defects.



Here's one last pretty picture:





I'm so glad it's mine!