What I Found: Dec. 8th

Half of doing well at a pick is timing.   This week I had very good timing.   Below are just a few of the items I picked up from one sale Friday morning.

Some of the artwork I might be keeping so I'm trying it on for size.  Our weather has been cold and rainy most of the weekend so everything is still hanging out in the garage... I tried to style them a little for you, but well for the most part my photos this week are crap and I can't figure out the lighting in the house either.   One day. 

I don't think this photo captures how very big this abstract oil painting is.   Neither me or my husband could fit it in our cars. He ended up walking it home about 1 mile.  Thank goodness this sale was in our neighborhood and that they lived at the top of the hill, and us at the bottom.   He's a good man.

This is an original serigraph by Victor Vasarely - considered to be the leader of the Op-Art movement. Unfortunately there is a little water damage to the lower right corner which has caused the paper to wave a little.  There is also a small puncture in the center of the piece.   Im going to guess these 2 flaws destroy any value it once held. 

I love the shape of this mid century chair and it's found a nice home for now in the boys room.

Our newest Eames style lounge chair.  We've already got a brown one in the living room and a camel colored one you'll see poking out a few photos down.  Time to make some decisions and let one or two go.

My vintage luggage hoard continues.   Luckily I found this cheerful Steelcase swivel chair so i'll be able to fill a room with all the luggage and spin around to my hearts content.  I also picked up that square mid century table holding the luggage.  It is teak and much nicer than the above photo implies.

This is where I just got lazy.   What I am trying to show you is the beautiful and very long Lane Coffee table full of all the smalls I picked up, including some more pieces of the Midwinter Sun plate set.   There are also a few more pieces of art behind the Vasarely that you can't see.  Oh and a white feather Christmas tree, but that is already inside by the fireplace.  

Love seeing what others find? visit: Nifty Thrifty, Sir Thrift a Lot, We Call it Junkin,ThrifterMakerFixer

What I found: Nov. 30th

Nov. 30th...as in one day before Dec... as in the last month of 2013.  Oy Vey!

I'm not sure how sale'n around the rest of the country was but the sales were few and far between for us this holiday weekend.  Below are a few things I picked up for the Etsy shop.

This 1920's Kodak No. 1 Pocket Camera is in remarkably great condition even more so when you consider this beauty is almost 100 years old.   The leather carrying case she came with is a bit worse for the wear, but she did a bang up job of protecting this camera so I'm not so concerned.

Pro Tip: Always grab one of these metal storage containers if you find them.  If you're looking, they will be in the garage, usually full of nails, screw and other garage type bobbles.   I've had about 5 or so listed in my shop over the last few years and they always sell quickly.

This Dorothy Thorpe lunch plate is the real deal- complete with original foil sticker label.   With the success of Mad Men and the obsession created over mid century barware the vintage market is flooded with Dorothy Thorpe "style" plates and glasses.  It's tough to firmly identify if you don't know exactly what to look for, mainly that the sterling silver rim should be approx. 1 inch thick.  And sterling silver.

Love seeing what others find? visit: Nifty Thrifty, Sir Thrift a Lot, We Call it Junkin, ThrifterMakerFixer

What I Found: Nov. 23

After a few weeks off it felt good to stop by a some sales over the weekend.   With the exception of the 2 paintings below, read more about those here, all items were purchased at 2 estate sales.

I love this 1960s Panasonic Radio.   It's clean as a whistle and works great! If it was blue I wouldn't think twice about keeping it.

This wood table lamp is almost as great as the gold metallic shade.  The lamp was hand made in the 60s by one of the sons of the lady whose sale we were shopping.

I will always pick up brightly colored pyrex.  Always.

And I won't shy away from picking up vintage luggage either.  I guess this means it is time to plan a weekend get-away to palm springs ;)

How great is this old chinese checkers board.  I'm thinking it will be a fun decor piece hung up in the boys room.

A jar of old buttons is always nice to have around.  Full of hidden (sparkly) gems.

This chair. THIS CHAIR!  The owner was in her 80's and it was hand carved by her grandfather. It is soooooo good.  Oh, and it was only $10.00.  Yeah, I know!! It's so good, that I will probably devote an entire post to just photos of this chair.

I love finding old Fire King mugs.  Some are super valuable, most are not...it's a fun gamble. 

These are the 2 painting I picked up at the SD Vintage Flea Market, where I was also a vendor.   I still have piles of art waiting to be hung, but that will never stop me from buying more.

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

San Diego Vintage Flea Market

Last Sunday I had the honor of participating in the San Diego Vintage Flea Market.  The market is hosted 3 times a year and is amazing.  Seriously, if you live in San Diego and you love vintage/mid century/industrial you must go.

I was able to unload so many amazing items I'd been hoarding but weary of listing online because I didn't want to deal with shipping.   We more than covered our entry fee, start-up costs (pop-up tent and tables), lunch and had much left over to pick up a few treasures I was eying from my booth.   Sadly I have no pictures to show of our booth but feast your eyes on the two paintings I picked up.

It turns out I collect nudes now.  This is my 4th nude painting, 6th if you include 2 I've sold in the past.

You'll get a slightly better idea if the size in this picture, it's a statement piece for sure. The frame is separating from the canvas a little along the top which should be an easy enough fix.

And then there is the painting of the rooster.  There is a really raunchy pun in here somewhere...but I'll leave that alone for now.  I love so much about this rooster.  Mainly the bright colors and the thick textured paint.  

I can't wait to get these guys hung up.  I've found a great place in our living room for the nude.  I don't know if its frowned upon to have so much nude (this chic is large and in charge!) greeting visitors as they first enter our home.  What do you think??

What I Found: Nov. 3rd

I've committed to unpacking and hanging all of the things until I go out on the hunt again.  We've got grandma coming into town this weekend and I'd like to get the place feeling a little more lived in before she arrives.

This weeks post is sort of a cheat.  Instead of shopping yard sales, thrifts or estate sales this week I've been shopping my own stock.  So much stuff!  I've been having fun rediscovering items I found weeks, months...years ago.  Seriously, so much stuff.

Various artwork, a bowl given as a housewarming gift years ago and recently rediscovered, assorted milk glass and the lion I found, mentioned here.

This Ikea mirror was hung in our old house and had found its way to the yard sale pile.  Luckily we never had that moving/yard sale as it seems to fit nicely in its new home by the front door.

An assortment of thrifted books, skulls, globes and toys decorate Arlo's shelves.  It's still sort of a hot mess over there - a work in progress.

A fabulous buffalo print, the Tree of Life rug mentioned here, and our bedroom set nightstands which never fit into our last bedroom.

A Blenko glass decanter missing the stopper, a small Nymolle plate and a very ghetto DIY framed set of footprints are on one side of the dresser.

This industrial fan is on the other side.

A number of items were left behind from the previous owners, including this brown barrel chair.  A few colorful vintage pillows help to lighten it up.

An old metal plant stand now houses our router (along with a very sad succulent.)  Ignore the blinds and wallpaper, there is still so much to do.

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

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