I’ve been incredibly busy with important end-of-summer projects:
However, I’m never too busy to look on Craigslist for a new, unwieldy object of desire that I cannot live without.
Brian lives across the street from me. He ran an antique business for a long time. Now in his eighties, he’s pretty much retired… Although once in a while he buys and sells things that cost more than my car.
I’ve waited patiently to see inside his house. When I finally did, THIS is what I coveted most.
Paul was on vacation last week. A luxurious time of non-stop projects and all-day banging, sanding, sawing, powerwashing, and twenty-seven trips to Home Depot.
At the beginning of the week, he sat down to make his list of things to do. I was excited, because there was a project I’d been waiting for him to find time for. I must have been hanging around his list-making too eagerly because he looked at me, looked back at his list, and immediately crossed out the first item. He said—hand me that marker. I was delighted! My requirements were getting top billing and in the bold sharpie they deserve. He wrote:
This vintage, Art Deco flower marquee is making me crazy. I have a spot all picked out for it… but despite scouring the web, I cannot find anything to tide me over until I can go steal it.
More vintage flower signage after the jump…
This bench is one of my favorite finds. I was lucky enough to get it with all the pieces intact, and I love everything about it. The tufting, the curved legs, the claw feet, the decorative fencing.
I wandered over to Apartment Therapy this morning and saw this:
Hey!! That’s my Bench! Except the green upholstery is so much better.
Mine was recovered at some point in utterly hideous fabric. My plan was to redo it myself. Probably in white linen. But it was one of those projects that became overwhelming just contemplating it—that’s a lot of tufting for a novice.
So rather than spend a week in the garage— exploring my limitations as an upholsterer… I made a slipcover. It took about twenty minutes and involved nothing more than some scissors, a measuring tape, and my sewing machine. It was supposed to be a temporary fix, but here it is nearly a year later. As long as you don’t look too closely at the wompy corners, it’s delightful.
Last night Paul and I went to the Philadelphia Antique Show at the Convention Center.
If I had a spare $15,000… this is what I would have bought:
“Buy Now Bring Back Prosperity” Ephemera: $2,600
I love anything Art Deco, depression-era, industrial… and I particularly love the orangeish-background, screen-printed skyscrapers, shipping, automobiles and factories.
Imari vases: $4,200
I love anything Japanese. Particularly the blue and orange combination of Imari porcelain.
Mahogany Slipper Chairs. England, circa 1840: $4,800
Victorian, tufted, mahogany, unusual… all my favorite things.
If I’d been able to buy anything at all, it would have been these petite chairs. They were a pair, but the lighting was terrible, and the photo I took of both doesn’t show how beautiful they are.
There was only one dealer with modern… I generally deny myself the challenge of combining it with Victorian, but something about these chairs made me reconsider.
