Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Y'all!

Halloween marks the first big holiday with our guy.   Here he is, our little chicken.

We recently discovered the street behind ours closes off for a large Halloween block party.  I spoke to a neighbor today who said they are expecting 1500 people.   1500!  

I hope you're having a great halloween yourselves.  If you need me I'll be trying to figure out how to make 100 pieces of candy stretch to 1500.  This could take awhile.

What I Found: Oct. 26th

We've got family coming to visit today and a house full of unpacked boxes.  Still.   I'm taking the morning off from sale-ing in an effort to get some art hung and boxes emptied .  Most items from this weeks post were thrifted.

Scheurich W. Germany Planter

Large Modernist Metal Lion Sculpture

Peach Luster Fire King Casserole

Tiki Mugs

Russian Nesting doll

So there you have it -not to bad for shopping the Thrifts this week.   Baby wearing right now makes thrift store shopping easy breezy... I know this wont always be the case and I'm taking advantage of it while I can.

Love seeing what others find? Be sure to check out, Nifty Thrifty, Sir Thrift a Lot, We Call it Junkin, Remnant

Another Dining Room Post, Now with More Pictures

My post yesterday didn't give a good example of the room we are fitting the dining set into.   Below are a few shots showing the entire space.  We've got a 6 month old who just started crawling so this is about as "styled" as its going to get.

This was how the table was set up for yesterday's post.  We got it centered with the light fixture and door to the kitchen.  What's harder to tell is that it is a very cramped fit between the table and the hutch. We're talking a, suck it in to get on by, sort of squeeze.

And now a shot of the table flipped the other way, more centered with the hutch.  From this shot it still looks like the table is centered with the light, but it's not.  Something about this positioning works better, but closer up the room still feels cramped over by the hutch and very empty along the back wall area.

A closer view of the new layout.  It was suggested we move the hutch along the back wall, so I'll  give that a go in a few days.   And then create a gallery wall of art around the hutch.

This sums up by biggest hitch.  The mismatched wood tones.  You see it best in the photo above.

So now that you see the entire space, any new thoughts?  Do you prefer the table placement in photo #1 or photo #2.    It's worth noting that the current rug under the table wont be staying there.  We just needed a place to throw it down when we moved in.

Thanks! ...oh and in case you live in San Diego and very much need this table in your life, we did throw it up on Craigslist with a, make me sell, sort of price.

What I found: Oct. 20th

Post move we've developed a list of items to be on the lookout for- mostly boring baby or home related things.  Things that we can get now that we have closets, a yard and an actual dining room.

Yesterday I brought home a dining table and 4 chairs.  In someone else's house I loved them so much that my first instinct was to lick them to claim them as mine forever and ever.   However, in my house I'm having a problem making them fit.

Look past the awkwardly placed rug and piles of artwork waiting to be hung.  It really is a gorgeous set but doesn't quite go with our hutch or at least the current placement of our hutch.  For one the hutch is a much more substantial piece and the wood is blonder.   When the table is centered under the light there is not much room between the table and the hutch.

The table has leaves that slide out or under.  We could leave it square but I think it does nothing for the room or table to leave it all closed up.

I love the shape of the chairs.  Since the current covers are not original and the foam is nice but a bit thick I've already started the process to remove and recover. There are no marking on the table or the chairs except for written on the underside of the table "IMP-51"  A Mid Century group on Facebook threw out the name Koefoeds Hornslet and these chairs are a close match, just not marked and the wood looks to be oak, not teak or rosewood.

So my question is...Does the table work in this room?  Do I keep the table and chairs and try to rehome the hutch.   Or do I sell the set and look for one better suited for this space?

*UPDATE*  new post HERE with pictures of the entire room and the table flipped around.

Love seeing what others find? Be sure to check out, Nifty Thrifty,  Sir Thrift a Lot and Remnant

What I Found: Oct. 13

Collections, that was the theme of this weekend.  Lots of collections that I don't really know what to do with.  

Behold the massive stockpile of 1970s and 1980s matchbox cars, hot wheels and the like.  A few of the highlights include the Greyhound Bus and the Hess Bus (located on top of the large truck)  These are all a bit worse for the wear and I think I will keep these for the boy when he gets a bit older. 

Below are two rugs I picked up.   I was told they were vintage Navajo rugs, but you've got me.  I am not a rug dealer, expert or up to snuff on Native American textiles.  I just liked them, and well sometimes you've got to go with your gut, even if it costs you, right?  If any of you kind folks have a hunch of your own, please let me know.   *Update* I don't think either of the rugs are Navajo now.  I did some further research, and Navajo rug almost never have fringe at the end like the red one does. The longer rug appears to be of great quality, but I can't find any Navajo rugs that share the same design or symbols.   

At the same sale, the basket pictured below is supposed to be a navajo basket - again, I have no idea. To the far right is the most amazing souvenir drum from the Petrified Forest National Park. This I'll be keeping for the boy and I have some guilt about this because it feels more fragile than a "toy"should and he'll probably end up ruining it.  

Right before I dropped and broke my camera I was able to snap a shot of the most cheerful orange bowls made by Knobler and an old set of salt and pepper shakers from the Bali Hai restaurant. 

I hope to be back to post a few more shots of some of the other collections I found, including 40 or so small old glass jars and a set of science posters produced by Chevron Chemical Company (part of Chevron Gas).

Love seeing what others find? Be sure to check out, Nifty Thrifty,  Sir Thrift a Lot and Remnant

What I Found: Oct. 6th

A new house (read more about that here) and we are finally moved in, means I've allowed myself to check out the local thrift stores and visit yard sales again.  These are the items I found this week.

First, this amazing 1930s globe.   I scored this 9 inch Cram Terrestrial globe at a thrift store which is in walking distance of the new house.  I'll be keeping this beauty for now to add to my own personal collection.

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I paid $100.00 for the Midwinter Stonehenge Sun Dish set below- and I'm ok with that because we plan on keeping most of it for our own personal dishes.   After setting aside a few of the cracked pieces the set came with 20 large dinner plates and the rest is a service for  8-10.  It includes dinner plates, salad plates, bread plates, soup bowls, cereal bowls, mugs, saucers, plates for the soup bowls, a large serving platter, a covered casserole dish, a creamer and sugar bowl and 6 small shot glasses or sake cups.  I'm hoping to sell about half of the dinner plates to help cover the cost of the set - wouldn't that be nice.

I practically threw myself on top of this horse when I found him yesterday.  I'll be saving this for our little boy to love and enjoy.  

And finally, I believe I have found and brought home all the wicker baskets.   All of them.   The ones I don't fill with plants or toys I will be selling. 

Love seeing what others find? Be sure to check out, Nifty Thrifty,  Sir Thrift a Lot and Remnant

We Moved

I'm going to have to update my "About Me" section.  Long gone are the days of bragging how we've fit our family of 4 into a 600 square foot home.   We are now the proud owners of a much larger, family friendly space - A home with more square feet, more closets and more yard.

Don't get me wrong, I loved that house.   I will always love that house.   It's where me and my husband first lived together, it's where I was proposed to.   We adopted our first pet, got married and had our beautiful boy while living in that house.  It was amazing- I mean, just look at those windows!!

For all the items the old house lacked for our growing family, the new one hits almost every mark.

• Closets, lots and lots of closets (we had shared 1 closet for the 3 of us)
• A yard so big, Daisy has a section we refer to as her dog park
• 3 bed/2 bath...yes you can now come visit AND stay with us. 
• a garage that can easily handle the "shop"
• Safe, quiet streets (aside from the much better schools, this was the number 1 reason for the move)
• good schools
• Front porch
• Original charm - ok, our last house had a lot of this as well and it was very important to find another with the same good feeling.  

Our new home was built in 1957 and we purchased it from the original owners who took excellent care of their house.   We've got many of the original features still intact (some good, some bad)

The Good

• unpainted wood trim
• hardwood floors that had been covered with carpet, so are still in excellent condition
• original tile counters in the hall bathroom and kitchen
• pocket doors and built-in shelves

The Bad

• Wallpaper over wallpaper over wallpaper
• Old plumbing
• Old electric
• Old windows

We've got our work cut out for us but couldn't be happier.   Right now we are living in a sea of boxes (just moved last week) and I don't have many pictures to share.  

The back yard actually extends back past where you see that first fence, to almost double the size.

The kitchen has the original tiles, the original cabinets and some not so original laminate flooring, fluorescent lighting, off white appliances and an awkwardly placed dishwasher.  (This is the listing photo, the items on the wall are not ours.)   It's huge.

The hall bath- check out those tiles. Swoon! (Handicap bars have already been taken down and blue walls repainted a crisper white.)

Because I know you are dying to see that wallpaper, this is a shot I took to share a find of the day (the awesome rocking horse!)  You can see the wallpaper in the background.   It looks much better in this photo than in real life.   Trust. 

That's what I have been up to for the past few months.  If you ever want to test the strength of your marriage (we survived!)  sell, buy and pack up a house, with a newborn.  I hope I never have to move again.