These things find me...

What can I say, these things find me.
Yesterday I was on my way to pick up one of my son's friends from a camp in Webster, a area in town that I don't spend a whole lot of time in. Mapquest had giving me really poor directions, and I was a little afraid with the detour I had to take I was going to be late. As we cruised down the street out of the corner of my eye I thought i spotted what could be a cool lamp in a trash heap. I had no time to investigate and we were on a busy street that had no shoulder. After we made it to pick up our friend, I decided to go and take a closer look. I had to actually pull into the driveway to get off the street and I jumped out, picked up the pieces and just threw them into the back of the car, all while trying not to embarrass my son. He is used to me grabbing things out of the trash, but I didn't want him to have to explain to his friend it's a regular occurrence.
When we got home I was very excited to pull all of the pieces out of the car and see that not only had I just found one amazing lamp, there were TWO lamps that needed to be reassembled. I wiped them down with Goo Gone and Magic Erase, There were a couple of bulbs broken in the sockets, so I carefully removed those and replaced with 4 small nightlight bulbs for each lamp. Both lamps still work without having to get into doing any repairs, one lamp as a crack in the shade, which I used Mighty Putty to fill the crack so it won't get any larger. I think they will go on either side of my sofa, but I will need to do a little rearranging first.
So there we go, these things find me. I sold 15 lamps over the weekend to lighten the load at the house, and quickly these lovely lighting beauties knew even though they weren't perfect, they could find a loving home with me.

Nessen Lamp

I keep bringing home more lighting. I can't stop myself. I may have a problem. I may not have enough outlets.
I found this Nessen swing arm lamp yesterday at the thrift store. $5 and a very long frustrating wait in line is all it took to make it mine. It still has the Nessen sticker attached to the bottom. The linen lamp shade and cord are what gave away its age, but the body of the lamp looks like it could have been made yesterday. I believe that's the point to modern design. The lamp still has the diffuser at the top of the shade, which helps cast a beautiful glow.
Doing a little research shows that this exact lamp resides at MOMA and was first produced in 1927.

Finally feeling loved

Bertoia in good company

I was out of town all last week, so I didn't have any time to work on projects, but right before we left town I decided to do a little rearranging of the kitchen.  I decided I would move our stainless steel table out of the kitchen and in its place put our old pedestal table back in, and group my new Bertoia with the pair of Eames wire chairs I had bought a couple of years ago at an estate sale. I love the Eames chairs, especially only having paid $3 a piece, even though at the current time they don't match.
When I found the Eames pair they had been used as patio chairs, and one had breaks in the welds so bad it was no longer attached to the base. I took that chair to have it welded, and when I picked it up the man doing the work took it upon himself to also paint it. I'm sure he did this to cover up what mess the welding had made, but I wasn't sure I was going to paint them. Now, I like the contrast between the two but maybe someday I will paint the other one.
I do think the new Bertoia chair is enjoying the company he is keeping, and I hope he is finally feeling loved.

Pins and needles

Just needles really. I had a friend teach me how to knit while i was pregnant, and its been something I've really fallen in love with. I've made lots of scarfs, cowls, fingerless gloves, and some beanies. I love to work with chunky natural yarns, and big projects can quickly add up $$. I recently at an estate sale was lucky enough to find a bag with 3 skeins of undyed natural wool from Mexico for $6. I felt like it was a total score, and couldn't wait to start making a throw I had pined on pintrest. I didn't have needles large enough for my project, so I borrowed a pair to try out for size. While the size of the needle was large enough, they weren't long enough. At this point most would just get online and order the size needed. I like to make everything harder, and decided I could talk my husband into making a pair in the right size and length for the project in mind.

We went to the hardware store and purchased two dowel rods 48" long and matching the same diameter as a size 35 knitting needle, and two rubber plumbing washer type things(sorry I don't remember the exact practical use) but they fit snugly to the ends without have to use any adhesive. Then he send some time with the dremmel tool and me hovering over his shoulder to get the point at the end that i needed. Then comes in sanding with extra fine sand paper, to make sure the yarn didn't snag and would move easily from one needle to the other. That's it. Pretty easy. I have started working on my throw, and I have to say the huge needles are a little hard to work with, but I've found the perfect perch in the house to work with them. I do have to take breaks because its a bit taxing on my shoulders, But I think it will only take a couple of days to get the project finished.

Arabia planter

I found this planter at an estate sale, and it was the only thing there that I brought home, but I felt like it was a real score. I paid a dollar for the pair, and with it being in perfect shape, I couldn't have been happier. I had seen this type of planter in a couple of blog post on other blogs, but figured it wouldn't be something I would run into. It's a beautiful matte black, and the simplicity of the pot really lets the attention be on the plant. I have a hard time finding planters that I can live with and usually just pot stuff in plain terracotta pots. I do have a bullet planter that I refuse to plant in, being afraid it was deteriorate the fiberglass.

The Arabia planter was designed by Richard Lindh and made in Finland.

Does anyone else have a hard time finding nice pots to plant in ? Has anyone found a good source for nice simple, modern pots ?

Lights of my life

All of these lamps have been brought home since my blogging hiatus. I have a thing for lighting. I feel like great vintage lamps are easy to come by for a good price, and I've recently had to stop myself from bringing any more home, unless there is something really special about it.

The first is a little guy, that came with a perfect little shade made of a taffeta like fabric.

The second was found at an estate sale, and at some point someone had made this decanter into a lamp, and then painted some sort of landscape scene on it. The paint was flaking off, so I just used some striper and steel wool, to get it back to the simple glass. I also rewired it with a cloth covered black cord.

The next pair I found at a flea market for $2.95 each. I love them! They didn't come with shades, so I topped them with simple linen covered drum shades.

This isn't the greatest shot, but this came from the basement of an estate sale, its some kind of super heavy work light. I had been hoping to come across an industrial light on the cheap, and when this was found for $10, but was too heavy to cart around the rest of the sale, I gave my 4yr old a sucker, and told him to guard my lamp.(bribes always work). It is currently being used as a grow light for all of my succulents that were seeking shelter for the winter.

This sweet guy was also bought at an estate sale, and I feel in love because of 1.) the color 2.)the leaf cut outs 3.) the finial is a ceramic leaf. It wasn't in good shape, besides the ceramic having no chips, so I rewired it, repaint the base black, and added the burlap shade.

This monster was found at a thrift store, its super heavy. I almost squealed when I found it and for $10, it was mine. I also added a modern drum shade, made of linen. I feel that unless a vintage shade has some special quality to it, its best to update with a modern one, and it keeps everything looking modern, and not dated. That's just me, I'm not a purist.

This little cypress knee lamp came from some sale, but I'm having a hard to remembering which one, or what I paid. Its not real big, and super light, and I was having a hard time finding a shade that was the right size, and shape so that it wouldn't cause the lamp to topple over. I finally found this perfect one at the goodwill for two bucks, and I loved the matte black with the shiny gold interior. I think these pieces were made from each other. I really can't tell if the shade is vintage or not, but that's the great thing about modern design.

And last, but not least, this behemoth, Is one that I just made myself. I had seen a huge vintage decanter lamp at Anthropologie, That I loved, but in no way could pay $495 for it. So this is my own rendition. I found this carboy in an alley, and picked it up, since I had never seen such a large one before. We have a few of the 5 gallon ones, but I think this is probably 10 gallons. I used a cork in the opening, used one of those lamp making kits from the hardware store, I had a beautiful brass acorn pull socket made by Hubbell, and then wired it with another black cloth covered cord.I also took a old drum shade and covered it with black burlap,which was a simple way to update this also huge shade. I'm super happy with how it turned out, and its now one of a kind.
These are just the lamps on the main level of my home. We live in an old house, and have very few outlets, trust me, if there were more outlets, I'd have more lamps.

These things find me...

I had to pull a quick u-turn as soon as I saw this guy sitting next to the curb, on my street. I caught just a glimpse out of the corner of my eye, but sometimes I believe I have a trained eye when it comes to finding treasures in the trash. There are plenty of times when I turn around to find that it really , truly , is only trash. But, I've also had plenty of finds that are trash to one person and a treasure to me.

In this case, I grabbed this clock of the curb, and knew It had found a good home. There is one spindle broken, and the hands and face need some love, but with the amount this clock is worth, I am going to get him to the clock doctor asap.

New Rocker

My Valentine gave me a new rocker base on the 14th. It was very simple to remove the old base and attach the new one. I know these are seen everywhere, but its been a wish for a long time to own one. This shell chair is the one I bought out of someones backyard, for $25, before it slowly rotted away in the elements.

West German Pottery

I have started a small collection of West German pottery. I prefer the more subdued colors, rather than the bright ones. I have not invested much time or money into this collection. All of the pieces were under $5 a piece, and were not sought out, but stumbled upon. I love the texture of the lava glaze, which are the two light colored pieces on the left.

Morrocan rug

The last two pictures here are of a new rug that I got off of c-list. I actually ended up buying two, after I brought home the first one and loved it so much. One is 13'x7.5' and one is 11'x6'. They are antique and made from goat leather and river reed. They both have such great character to them and great texture. They were listed for quite some time and the price slowly continued to drop. Finally at $40 each I couldn't pass them up. The pictures that were on the listing didn't do the rugs justice, and I have to say i hadn't ever seen this type of rug before to compare them to.

Once I brought the rugs home and got them into place, I started noticing them all over. The first three pictures are from Roman and Williams, but I just noticed this rug in an old Domino, and in a Living Etc.
I will try to post a picture of the other rug in our entry way, it has a different design.

New Flatware

This is our new set of silverware. We always end up missing pieces, ending up with 3 knifes, or 2 spoons.

This weekend we went to a huge indoor garage sale and brought home this set 62 piece set. It goes well with the dishes we use, which are a vintage brown drip glaze.

Your thoughts please...

I know the upholstery choice is awful, and it is not original. But, if you look past that, aren't the bones beautiful? This sofa at one point was webbed, and most likely when the webbing started to go they replaced it with plywood. I was not able to find any sort of makers mark on this, but I believe it is designer. I love the way the top of the backrest, widens and curves slightly in.

I'm torn.

Does anyone know anything more about this sofa? Can you see past the awful fabric? Or am I just looking too hard, and this is nothing more than thrift junk?

Danish modern lamps

We picked up these Danish lamps yesterday at the salvation army. I thought the pricing was a little high, marked $9.99 a piece, but the current sale was 50% off electronics, so a deal was had at about $5 each. They have modern fittings and cords, and I believe that they are dated '92. They are very similar in design, yet the differences let me know they are handmade. Both lamps are signed, and still have stickers in tact that read, Made in Denmark. I can't find anything on the web about the artist, but I'm sure its because I'm not sure of the signature. If anyone can steer me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.

( I don't want to sound cheap when I say the price was a little high, and if these were at a dealers, they would have been a lot higher. I believe as thrifting is becoming more popular, the thrift stores are hiking up their prices, and most don't know the difference between the lamps I bought and lamps from Target.)

* I am also still trying to work on my photography, if you have any suggestions i would love to hear them, try to think of these pics as product shots. I'm trying to still go for something a little more interesting, not just a bright light and a black velvet backdrop.

Faux Go

At the Goodwill in south county, I have always loved this sofa. I would love a nice chocolate brown leather 3-seater. Where you don't have to do any of the breaking in, where parts of it, like the headrest are so deep and dark in color, that you know its had years of love.

I at one other time have come across a Faux Go, at an estate sale, in a off white leather, priced at $250, but it was a much larger sofa than the one shown.

This sofa got my attention, but once I started to look it over, I just felt cheap. $50. Not a bad price, but some things you pay more for to get the quality you were expecting. This sad, dirty sofa only made me feel the same as it looked.

Rearranging

I like to rearrange the furniture. Tossing the tree frees up space, and gets me thinking about moving stuff around.

When we went to replace the laptops that were stolen we decided to go with a refurbished desktop instead. So, that meant finding a desk. I love when we need a piece of furniture, because normally, I just shop in our basement or garage. But, I have been trying to sell more and hold onto less, and that had left us without a desk. When we were passing through Rolla MO, we stopped at the Salvation Army and found a great old tanker desk for $20, fitting it in the car proved to be quite a task. My determined husband made it fit, and we've been happy with purchase ever since. We were using a cool Goodform clerical chair, but it didn't prove to be the long term comfort I was looking for.

Christmas day, at my parents I noticed a new-to-them black leather executive chair and immediately began to question where it came from, and why I hadn't seen it before. I'm not even sure that my mom offered it to me, but we brought it home that day. (the last thing my husband wanted to do that day was move more furniture) but you have to strike while the iron is hot, or before your parents decide they don't want you rolling their new chair out the the front door.

These pictures were taken this afternoon with my new Christmas tripod, still trying to figure out the best way to shoot interior photos.