Balanced

Reader, it's not that I don't think of you, it's just that life gets in the way.  I feel like I am always making excuses for not writing and I know that you sit at home nightly with your box of tissues crying your eyes out for a new post from MTSS, but I don't have time to shop or a place to put all of my finds.  Please rest assured, when I do shop, you are the first to know!  There isn't some secret blog where I am posting for some other readers about things you aren't seeing, I promise.  It's only you, it's always been you, it will always be you.

But, this past couple of weeks have been insanity.  It is just one of those time with lots of balls in the air and tons of things happening.  I am surviving and I felt the balance last weekend with a little shopping...

I have to say that one of my favorite new tools for shopping estate sales is estatesales.net.  It's great in that it tells you where the sales are, plus has lots of photos of what they have.  You can see if there is anything you might like or discover instantly it probably won't be worth your time...this one was!  The issue of course is that you see things you want, but then you get there and they are already gone.  But, I guess it was my lucky day as the two footed bowls (the same, but with different china markings) were still there and I got them for half off since it was Saturday morning.  They'll be perfect with all of the other white dishes of mixed pedigree. 

Shells.  Faux shells.  You know about my obsession (here, here and here), so I was more than thrilled to add these two, lovely specimens from Wedgewood cast in the bone china to the collection.  It grows, its shifts...it expands.

I always eye salts at the antique store covetously because I want them so badly and they are always fifteen to twenty dollars EACH.  Is the market for salts really that strong?  I guess so, but I was very happy to find four lovely little specimens at the estate sale for next to nothing.  They remind of little crystal urchins and next time I have a little formal dinner I will serve my very exquisite salt in these little guys.

This little matchbook was not priced, but the woman at the checkout was so delighted we wanted something "from my era" that she threw it for free!  From Japan, it opens out the end and has a different little house image on both sides.  It is kind of the palette of our kitchen in Terre Haute and the hanging objets above the sink, which is not to say the same as the palette in the Texas kitchen, although close.  These things are always changing and evolving.

These glasses have been following me all over the country!  I'm sure they're just something basic from Libbey that was just sold everywhere, but I have managed to find them in Wichita, Terre Haute, Madison and now West Texas, amassing quite a collection.

These, on the other hand, I have been hunting forever and have never found.  Until now.  What are they, you ask?  Stemware from Russel Wright for Morgantown Glass, eight goblets and seven sherbets in chartreuse, for a song.  Scott at Ars Longa seems to stumble over a few of these every time he turns around, but for me they have remained elusive.  I'm not a big collector of Wright, but I do love these glasses.  Unlike plates and ceramics, they're unmarked, so you really have to know what you are looking for.  And be lucky!

Plant stand?  Or modern sculpture?  Either way, it is going to look lovely with pots in it until I convert it a serving piece by attaching plates some way to the little pot circles.  Hmmm...

...and then felt revived and restored, with some wonderful finds and a chance to share them with you, my dear reader.

Sympatico

Stephanie, the muse of MTSS (You did know there was a muse and inspiration, didn't you?), delivered some beautiful things to yours truly. Every time I see her, she has a goody bag of selections from her own thrift shopping.

Two of my favorite things: faux bois and a tidbit tray in one amazing combination. I can't wait to bake some delectable treats and show it off at work.

She sells faux shells in the thrift store. As Stephanie said, there are lots of faux shells out there, but most of them aren't worth owning. This one is a beauty.

There was also another treat, which is holiday specific and I'll save for a you as a special treat on a later date.

Thanks Stephanie!

The House That Thrift Built 2

I've been promising you a tour of the front room for a while, and I guess the space is finally finished. Finished in that there are curtains up and all the little knickknacks are where they'll be--for a while anyways. Finished in that I finally found chairs and a chandelier (which you, reader, already know about). And finished in that I've started to think about changing it. Nothing major, I'm very happy with the colors, the furniture and the fact all the little bits have come together into a somewhat cohesive whole. I suddenly have a fantasy of ditching the dining table and arranging it salon style, a la Pauline de Rothschild's famous drawing room in Paris. (Do you know it? I couldn't find a photograph. If not, imagine pilasters faux painted to look like green marble, chairs scattered about loosely and lots of light.) But right now that remains a fantasy.

Looking at the photographs of the room, they seem to reveal a lot of imperfection. I wanted to evoke the act of coming in and examining certain aspects of it in greater detail as you move through the room. I'm afraid the result is more choppy and not as seamless as I imagined, but I hope you enjoy it. If you visit, you'll find the colors more muted than in the photographs and the space very soft and relaxing. Come see for yourself...

It's been a while...

...so a whirlwind update. Computer & camera problems (plus life in general) have kept me away from Blogger, but here is a short and sweet update:



In November, we painted the 'front room' (Since I'm living in the South, I enjoy using the phrase to describe the living room/dining room combo which is located at the front of the house.), and in the process had to remove things from the china cabinet. The color we chose is at the edge of the table, and I promise a nice video of the finished product soon. Can you spot Heidi-Anna at the back? And the blue bird of happiness?



As noted before, I love faux and nothing is fauxer than a faux shell. Right? I was delighted to find this smaller ceramic shell which sits nicely next to the giant conch planter I showed you a while back.



Deers, dear! These two lovely deers have a deco feel and a glaze I couldn't resist. It's kind of egg shell and they are part of my latest obsession: white accessories for the front room. I'm not denying it and I don't care what everyone says. I ignored white for a long time, and now I'm making up for it.



Chairs. A simple thing right? Wrong. They are hard to find. Next to impossible. The table is my grandmother's, but she sold the chairs when she moved to Texas. Why? No one knows why. I wanted to use the multicolored plastic Eames chairs in the kitchen, but had to find something to replace them. Something a little more matchy and formal. These are difficult to describe, kind of Asian-ish, but modern too. The upholstery (it's vinyl!) will have to be replaced, but I am loving the black.



Chairs. Sigh.



I tried to resist this Ben Seibel bowl from his Impromptu pattern, but just couldn't. I waited until first markdown at Next-to-New, but then had to snatch it up. Of course, I really needed another bowl. I was running low. You know how that is, right/



Victory! The Nike of Samothrace, to be exact. From the Louvre? Funny Face? It was a treat and looks great on the coffee table. It's made from some sort of resin, but looks pretty close to marble. The little blue object in the foreground is a glass caster in a lovely peacock blue. I found a set of three and they look interesting just piled up one on top of the other.



Cookbooks. More cookbooks. How many do I have? About 230-something. Counting little paperbacks, etc. Old and new. About 230. It could be slightly higher. That's not too many is it? How many do you have? Probably about that many, right?

Keep shopping!