Thursday, August 27, 2009

Well, it's been another busy week, and I find myself stuck in the grind like everyone else, of running here and there and everywhere, running errands and doing the things to maintain my daily family life. How is it possible that I get to the end of the day and I still have a list of things to do? Talk about burning up daylight. I just sat down to take a break after making what seems to be 3 gallons of salsa from a batch of garden fresh tomatoes. Why don't I just buy the ready-made jarred stuff?? I guess it's for the same reason that I just can't bring myself to buy a factory finished piece of furniture from a furniture store. There's no challenge in it for me. I just love finding that piece of furniture, at a thrift store or auction, or CSI (curbside item) that everyone else has looked at and passed over, except me. I see the architecture of the piece, the good bones of it's make, the unusual hardware, and the solid wood casing with dovetailed drawers. I can see past the chipped veneer and the scratched initials on the top, left on it from two owners ago. And darnit, it's only $30.00...what a steal! Then I get a rush. I feel the tremble in my fingers, the hair up on the back of the neck....creativity is stirring in me and I can't wait to get the piece home and figure out how i'm going to reinvent, redesign, and recycle. And what a sense of satisfaction when it's all done. I did it. I did this. I just gave this piece another 30yrs of life. They just don't sell that in a jar.

Friday, August 21, 2009

trend follower or trend setter?

I usually sit here at my computer with my four month old son on my knee, never knowing what i'm going to write about. But today, when i asked him for any suggestions, he said, "Aahhh oooh ah ooh ooh ooh." Right. Thanks AJ. That was helpful. And then I looked at the picture on the upper right corner of my blog, and admired the Periwinkle vanity with the trifold mirror. I just love this piece. I love it because it's rustic and vintage, but the color is so so fresh and different. I got this piece at auction and couldn't decide how to paint it. And then I came across some "oops" paint at the local Home Depot. These are the cast off paints that either people don't want, or the sales people make mistakes with when mixing. Oops paints are super cheap, so if you find a gallon of a color that strikes your fancy, you only spend $5 on it, rather than the expensive $15-$25 per gallon. So, I grabbed what looked like two different tones of blue and took them home where they collected dust in my garage for about 3 months. When I carted the vanity home, i couldn't bear to paint another piece in shabby white ( i do a lot of white for my store). Rummaging through my cluttered work room i saw two paint cans peaking out at me, looking abandoned and neglected. Light Bulb moment! With feverish energy I pried those cans open and started painting in the heat of the summer afternoon. Whoosh and swish, I had that piece primed and painted in an hour. and I was in love with Periwinkle. Swooning, sweeping, heavenly periwinkle. It looked so fresh and nothing like i've seen before on a piece of furniture. And I thought, this is a way to be a trendsetter. Playing around with ideas, color, objects, going out on a limb and trying anything with playfulness...never knowing what good things could come of it. I could just worship the home decor mags and copy what's in there (and sometimes I do! I have to admit it!). But I'd rather be a trendsetter, and go out there on the edge and try to get others to come with me...let's have some fun with paint today!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

funny thing today...I was taking a break in the shop, with AJ doing a balancing act on my left knee, when i began thumbing through a rachel ashwell book that I hadn't looked at in quite some time. Off of the page popped a photo of stacks of vintage linens. And i felt the warm fuzzy glow of how much i love them. Do people not realize that in the dark corners of their closets lay a treasure trove of one-of-a-kind pieces of art? Time worn and stained, they still stand the test of time, with their woven handiwork giving a history of a time in our country before texting, internet, and bluetooth. A simpler time when we sat in the quiet of the home and tatted, knitted, and cross stitched to pass the hours away. And what was left behind after the maker of these items had long since passed, was a legacy of the work of careful hands, the sentiment of a monogram or a stitched rose, the beauty of a woven damask table cloth, the value and sturdiness of a good piece of woven cotton. These remaining works will not be replaced once they are gone. So pull them out and show them off! In a room in our store, we have stacks of these wonderful pieces (doilies, runners, table cloths and quilts!) that are brought in by my wonderful vendor, Judy Serrao. She is the finder of these desirable items, and carefully soaks, cleans, and presses each item from hankies and doilies, to large quilts. What a treasure! Looking for a particular kind of linen? She probably has it...so contact us if you want to know about our vintage linens and how to care for them.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Well Hi out there to you all! Just back from a mini vaca here, and i'm feeling refreshed and ready to roll. If you're like me, you're wondering where this summer has gone. I can't get over that i'm seeing back-to-school commercials already! it's insane. I used to laugh when my folks said that the older you get the faster time flies. Don't you just hate it when you grow up and find out they're right???
But I did take some time this summer to go to the movies with my stepdaughter. Escaping from the heat and the perpetual rain, i guess. But we went to see "Julie and Julia" and I just loved it. I'm not much of a cook, but I could relate to the theme of finding your passion in life. and I think I have found that. My passion is taking old furniture, and turning it into a thing of beauty. It does something to my soul. It's like rescuing something that has been abandoned...something that was once loved, but now is not, and has been thoughtlessly discarded. It's a thing of beauty to give new life to things with just a little hard work, love, and TLC. it's a thing worth doing. It's good to the earth, to the soul, to our recession, to our community...it's all good. Let me know...don't you just love it too??

Thursday, August 13, 2009

new to the blog world

Hi all of you out there..this is my new blog and i'm excited about my new adventure! I have a great shabby vintage furniture store in West Point, Pa and i'm looking forward to blogging about our passion for vintage, salvage, refurbished furniture, and all of us creative folks in the shabby world.

Keep your eyes posted for our stories!