Antique spool cabinet.
After Paul carried in this antique spool cabinet, he stood back and looked around… He said – it’s getting to be like someone’s crazy great-aunt lives here.
I nodded with satisfaction. Because it’s true— I am on my way.
Also, let us be clear: a superior great-aunt who wears giant cocktail rings, enjoys martinis at noon, and keeps a twenty-something stable boy even though all the horses have died.
If I can get my house like that now, it will save me so much time down the road when I need to be arranging my hat collection and shaking my fist at the neighborhood children.
We put it on the dining room table until I figure out where it’s going; the base is pretty large and it does not fit on any surface I expected to put it.
This is my favorite kind of problem.
Up until now, I’ve been keeping my fancy bits in stacking mini cupcake carriers. They’re great for the dividers and organization options.
But I couldn’t see everything at once, and getting the bins out of the closet and unsnapping all the layers to look for something was decidedly UNfancy.
THIS IS BETTER.
I have been looking for an antique spool cabinet FOREVER, for exactly this purpose.
And although I was hoping for something BIGGER or BIGGEST… since I only paid $60, this will do just fine.
I LOVE the thick beveled glass and the little brass pulls and the “Belding Bros.” plate… ALL of it! Plus it’s nice to be able to see everything all at once!
Now. Transition to new topic.
I’m SUPER excited for my trip to the Autumn Spectacular Antique Fair… 100 booths filled with antiques, vintage and re-purposed dealers, in a huge Victorian barn… 20 minutes from my best friend. It’s like they created it JUST FOR ME!
I am presenting on Saturday and on Sunday… (Miss Mustard Seed too!)
I’m doing the same presentation both days (even though I was invited to present on two separate topics and even though I most certainly enjoy biting off way more than I can chew and becoming totally overwhelmed and regretting my own idiocy at every turn,) I decided to limit myself to ONE HOUR OF PURE GENIUS.
Do I have concern about this possibly-unreachable-bar-of-proclaiming-myself-the-Ludwig-Wittgenstein-of-antiquing?
Yes… That is why I have enlisted some professional help… they guarantee that their services are fail-proof.
I’ve structured what I have to say into five sections and sprinkled it with JAZZ HANDS and also some fascinating personal details that make me sound like I know what I’m talking about.
I’ve got my keynote slides all sorted out; because visual aids make everything more interesting!
Also because I am someone who needs a lot of structure.
A LOT of structure!
When I do a presentation, I need a clearly marked path… and I cannot deviate from that path or I will say something stupid.
Essentially, my brain cannot be trusted unsupervised.
I’m telling you all of this because I’m afraid I have overlooked something obvious… and I have always found that reading about other people’s experiences is a way that I process my own thoughts.
This is why memoir is my favorite genre. (Especially if the author has deliberately done very stupid things to ruin their own life.
So if you feel like sharing, I’d love to hear your thoughts on STUFF… Craigslist, auctions, estate sales, trash night… whatever you feel like.
Who/what sparked your stuff habit/what you’re longing for right now/your favorite place to score good stuff/mistakes you’ve made/what you’ve learned/what you think about your stuff/decorating with stuff/what you collect/why it’s interesting to you.
I think it will help me polish some of my segments by getting out of my own head!
September 14, 2016 @ 10:17 am
Great price on the spool cabinet and a great use for it. Maybe that is what I should use my empty spool cabinet for….
My husband doesn’t understand the “why have it if you can’t see it?” philosophy, but he so very patient with me. What has rattled my collector motivation right now is that I am having to disperse my antique dealer (hoarder) mother’s estate right now. Insanity…total and complete insanity. I think I need to repent right now.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:33 am
Oh. My. Gosh. SCORE! that chest is soooo beautiful and absolutely perfect for jewelry! I’m not sure how you have survived this long without one. Thank god you managed to live long enough to see this dream realized! (I’m not being sarcastic. I’m totally serious). AND, so excited to learn about the antique fair in NH and the chance to see you in person. Very cool.
September 14, 2016 @ 11:16 am
ME TOO!!! Everything the person above wrote! Ditto!
September 14, 2016 @ 10:25 am
Here’s my story. It may sound familiar.
I found these awesome couches on Craigslist. They had mahogany frames that were visible and ornate. The set consisted of two large couches and one chair and a half done in fleur des lis.
We had to drive about an hour and, instead of pulling our horse trailed (you need one, by the way), my husband was just sure they would fit on our neighbors open-air flatbed. Not so much.
The largest is about 10′ long, the “loveseat” (ha!) is normal couch sized. The chair and a half is loveseat sized.
Thankfully, we got them home without incident. However, our door is not wide enough to accommodate the oversized frames. They sit in my carriage house, awaiting further action.
So I have a window removed and slide them in the house that way? Do I attempt the reupholstery myself? Can I even afford reupholstering of such large, fantastical pieces de lounge?
Someone suggested I reupholster them in a neutral in case I decided to sell them. Do you know what fabric sings to me? Schumacher Mai Dragon aquamarine, not that I can afford it.
Our house was built in 1905 so I expected the larger than average door to work. They were in a storage unit, by the way.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:35 am
It makes me itch that I cannot SEE THESE COUCHES.
Also that you have a carriage house.
September 14, 2016 @ 7:59 pm
Victoria,
Ensure there is an electrical plug and bring spare batteries for your laptop. Nothing worse than slide presentation that doesn’t work because of tech issues. Do not trust that they will have it sussed!
You are the highlight of the days that a blog arrives in my inbox!
September 14, 2016 @ 10:52 am
New item on bucket list: get a carriage house.
September 14, 2016 @ 11:19 am
Paint em? Chalk paint, sand paper and a little wax will transform your sofa and chair, especially if the old fabric has a patterned texture. I’m not kidding??
September 14, 2016 @ 11:43 am
They aren’t antique or anything, I don’t believe. The gentleman who owned them previously was very much into extravagant furnishings and the heirs who were selling his belongings after his death had no idea what they were selling. They were listed as “Louey Vitton” furniture.
https://goo.gl/photos/h4cF4Wfs3xY5a3Ru5
September 15, 2016 @ 2:25 pm
Fantastic pieces! Great score.
December 24, 2016 @ 1:02 pm
Oh, SCORE. That is awesome! 😀
September 14, 2016 @ 1:22 pm
We need to start a GoFundMe campaign to buy Schumacher Mai Dragon fabric for you! Who’s in??
September 14, 2016 @ 1:58 pm
It’s absolutely not the same, but for the price–Dwell Studios makes a fabric called Ming Dragon in Aquatint that you can see at Fabric.com. Here’s the link, good luck!
https://www.fabric.com/buy/0320076/dwell-studio-ming-dragon-aquatint
September 14, 2016 @ 6:12 pm
I have been really eyeing that fabric, too! I’ll probably go that route or just make pillows from my sample sizes of Mai Dragon and get the couch(es) done in a solid from the print. I love that fabric, toon
September 19, 2016 @ 12:37 pm
fantastic furniture AJ. you HAVE to find a way to bring them inside or remodel the carriage house to match the fabric. 🙂
September 14, 2016 @ 10:29 am
I wish I could go and hear your presentation. I love your blogs, so funny! Love the foster kitten pictures. I see you are partial to “Elvis” markings! $60 for a spool cabinet! I wish I had your penchant for bargains! I use my spool cabinet for jewelry. I, too, like to see it ALL! Will there be a place to go on internet to hear both you and “Miss Mustard Seed?” You’ll do fine! Sherry
September 14, 2016 @ 10:32 am
Wish I could come see you….when will you be coming to the South! This is a Mississippi girl, we love big antiques here, too.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:32 am
Kitties! Kitties! Kitties! No wonder you couldn’t choose just one photo. Once I could look past the kittens (hours!!), I looked at your spool cabinet and fell in love with it. If only my 1945 2-bedroom Cape were bigger…
September 14, 2016 @ 10:33 am
I almost fainted when I saw “Rochester” but then I saw Vermont. I am from Rochester, NY and would love to meet another hoarder of stuff. I am going to look at a giant industrial desk on craigslist. I already know that I am painting the bottom of it gold if I can get all of the grease off of it from the gas station that it sat in for 30 years. My biggest problem is getting it moved. It has a butcher block top that weighs a ton and I am old now and I don’t have a Paul. I have a guy who is not a hoarder of great sf his eyes at all my great projects that sometimes just don’t get done and then I have to SELL on CRAIGSLIST.
September 14, 2016 @ 11:01 am
Victoria Seeber, The show is in Rochester NH not Vermont and I myself am from Rochester NY
so I can confidently tell you this is a great place for a girl’s weekend away and it’s only about a 7 hour drive. Treat Yourself 😉 😉 !!
September 14, 2016 @ 11:14 am
Oh good catch yes NH not Vermont. Got so depressed that the state no longer mattered since it was not NY!
September 14, 2016 @ 1:24 pm
I also got so excited when I read “Rochester” — then realized it was a totally different state and not New York! Boo Hoo……. 🙁
September 14, 2016 @ 2:58 pm
Me too. I was already planning the one-hour drive to Rochester, NY and about to go online and get my tickets. They will sell out for sure.
September 19, 2016 @ 12:40 pm
i knew not to get excited because i highly doubt the rochester, indiana by me would host just an event lol.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:37 am
Glad to see you are enjoying the kittens. Do you still have the foster adult cat with health issues? Just wondering how she was doing. Many years ago I knew a cat with extra toes, his name was “Thunderpaws!”
September 14, 2016 @ 10:44 am
Thank you for asking! I meant to include that she is all healthy and ready for adoption! She went to the Plymouth Meeting Petsmart adoption center… I’m getting ready to call and check on her. I miss her! and I was sad to leave her and felt horrible that night worrying about her!
Trying to embed an instagram photo, let’s see if it works.
September 14, 2016 @ 11:35 am
So glad to hear she is healthy. Paws crossed that she gets adopted soon!
September 14, 2016 @ 10:38 am
I don’t collect furniture as our house is basically a Hallway once there is a couch on one side and the all-important electronic sewer device on the other (t.v.) , but I do know what it is like to not have room in ones domicile for basic important stuff as Sewing Tables and all that wonderful Fabric I need in order to clutter up the Sewing Tables.
The original portion of our house was built in 1903 but it is far from a Victorian home, in fact rumor has it that at one time it was a House of Soiled Doves, or for Ladies of the Night. It has served our purpose well, we raised our five perfect children in it and now are settling down to fill the empty spaces with things we don’t really need. My husband has prepared ahead of time the wall spaces that are not occupied with important stuff by placing Bookshelves along them, hiding all the lovely wainscotting he put up twenty-six years ago. I think he should go back to school to become a librarian.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:52 am
But are you keeping the kitties?
I collect gurgle pitchers and am very particular. I also collect antique jeweler loupes because they are impossible to find. It keeps the collection contained. I haunt antique shops and markets wherever I travel.
We have cleaned out a total of 4 homes for our parents and that process makes one come home and edit, edit, edit.
I want to see carriage house lady’s couches too.
September 14, 2016 @ 3:42 pm
She posted a link to photos of the couch, etc.
September 18, 2016 @ 11:54 pm
You had me at “important electronic sewer device.”
September 14, 2016 @ 10:38 am
HAH! This is genius! I keep trying to find a nice cabinet like this, but when they’ve popped up at tag sales, someone has always beaten me to it first… sadness! Love how you’re using it.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:39 am
I’m coming just to see you. I don’t even care about antiques or shiny stuff you could be speaking about cats and that would be alright with me.
September 14, 2016 @ 1:28 pm
I agree! She could just read her blog aloud and I would be happy.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:45 am
Oh how I look forward to your posts! No other blogger is so passionate, so funny, so true to themselves. I love your ability to make a purchase on Craigslist into a full three act drama. I live through your (mis) adventures.
The current obsession of mine is to get a booth at antique mall and unload some of these treasures that I obsessively hunt at estate sales and thrift stores. I am sure that my taste and ability to find fantastic and let me add cheap vintage objets de art will make me a sought after dealer. If only one of the malls would call me back.
And my other obsession is to try and start a blog. I have the website and now I just need the technical computer things that saavy bloggers seem to have.
Thanks for a bright spot in my day!
September 14, 2016 @ 10:46 am
Please keep those pictures of the adorable kittens coming! Just post pictures of them with all your pretty finds and your posts are written. And how can you still be calling them foster kittens? They would all be members of my family by now if I had taken them home. Here’s hoping you do the same. They look so happy.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:47 am
Just where is this presentation happiness going to take place? I searched + searched in your flyer, but nothing! Yes, I’d rather type a comment re: said happiness than actually click on the website to find it. Where it is, enjoy!
September 14, 2016 @ 11:04 am
Rochester, NH at the Fairgrounds. October 7th-9th Victoria presents the 8th and the 9th.
You will have to go to http://www.sagefarmantiques.com for any info you don’t see on the cardVictoria
photographed but, honestly, it’s all right there.
September 14, 2016 @ 11:06 am
October 7-9… Rochester fairgrounds, Rochester NH.
p.s.- thanks for pointing out that I should probably INCLUDE the salient information!
September 14, 2016 @ 10:50 am
Here is my story, I saw a piano on craigslist, had to have it, had it moved. Called a tuner, he said he couldn’t do anything with it. Emailed the manufacturer to see if they could give me advice on tuning it or any more information about it – they said…
“Put it out on the curb and hope that somebody steals it!”… not kidding…Needless to say, my husband was not pleased.
My neighbor gutted it and uses it in his haunted house…It was a very cool looking, very old piano, it even had candle holders for light on the front of it.
September 15, 2016 @ 8:44 pm
I bought a house to get the piano I fell in love with it. I wanted to restore it but 3 years of my in laws complaining about how much space it took up in my house finally caused me husband to give me the ultimatum to sell it or he would wreck it. I couldn’t even give it away for free. The people who called about decided the piano from the “1885 Antique Piano” ad was too old. It now resides in small pieces in the shed for my husband to make it into other projects. I had to leave the house the afternoon they wrecked it though cus a little piece of me cried.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:51 am
Ah, I wish you lived in England, I’d come along and share in the “need it now, what do you mean I don’t actually need it, of course I need it” joy. If you’re ever passing through Warwickshire (superb castles, top notch antiquing), drop me a line, I’ve got a glass of chilled sauvignon blanc with your name on it.
September 14, 2016 @ 10:54 am
When I am out and about my husband will ask “What are you looking for?” I will reply,”I don’t know til I see it!” Sometimes I just don’t know that I need it til I see it. Then I’m sure…….☺️
September 14, 2016 @ 10:58 am
Great idea, great find, great price, and KITTENS! Best post ever.
As for your questions:
I don’t know who or what sparked my stuff habit but I suspect it’s genetic with a sprinkling of learned behavior. My grandmother and mother are stuff-averse, but my crazy great aunt who watched over me when I was a child was a totally deranged hoarder of the sentimental variety. She saved every memento that crossed her path and labeled every piece with a tiny slip of paper detailing who gave it to her on what day and what she was doing at the time. It was awesome. My idea of a fun time at her house was examining and playing with all her figurines and enormous salt and pepper shaker collection. These things were my Legos and Barbies. When she passed away she bequeathed me said salt and pepper collection, a million knick-knacks and a lifetime of paper scraps of information.
Right now I am longing for a GFT in which to display all my SFTs. But I also dream of acquiring two things in my lifetime – an antique wooden apple tea safe, and one of those old music box automatons with the wonderful mechanical singing birds. Yes, the kind that costs thousands of dollars.
I have randomly scored good stuff everywhere. Flea markets, yard sales, thrift stores. The only place I haven’t tried is Craigslist but you have inspired me to start thinking of that as a possibility. (Don’t worry, I live in VA – no competition!)
The biggest mistakes I make occur when I rush to buy before closely examining my find, and completely miss the giant MADE IN CHINA sticker on the bottom of my (reproduction) antique. Sigh.
I collect Russian enamels, wooden apples, and asian art. Sometimes my stuff feels like treasure and sometimes it feels like clutter. When it starts feeling like clutter I pare it down. Why is it interesting to me? I’m not sure. Part of it is a love of design, of texture and color and beautiful things, but especially of the unique and different. Sometimes my houseguests say my house reminds them of a museum. I only pray they mean it as a compliment and aren’t secretly planning an intervention behind my back.
Knock ’em dead in New Hampshire!
September 14, 2016 @ 10:59 am
I can only add that three is the perfect number of cats.
We always had 2. Then we achieved the title Failed Fosterers. Then there were 3.
Now we highly recommend 3. For a multitude of reasons all which I’m sure you could guess.
September 14, 2016 @ 11:00 am
I just love being asked for my thoughts!!!! this is what popped into my mushy brain regarding being a lover of anything with age regardless of need, purpose or affordability. I’ve found that a lack of any or all of those three things will prevent me from obsessing about it until I own it.
1. Storage. Importance of it can’t be underestimated. I have two areas my main squeeze isn’t even aware of (!!!) I think of them as my ‘triage’ areas, where I either fix something, stash it until I have a good place for it, or slowly realize it was a huge mistake to buy and then it becomes either a hoarding item or I find someone to give it to. Ive collected many things over the years that don’t fit into my current decorative life style but I’m just SURE they will someday when I have that On Golden Pond cottage or ocean front cabana home. Someday. Storage only becomes a big issue for me when a) I need to relocate it for some reason or b) my husband sees the bill for monthly charge and wonders why we need to spend that much to store two 1940s barber chairs, etc.
2. Hoarder label. I’ve chosen to proudly embrace this label applied to me as a critique too many times to count by family and friends as I love to point out to them that I’m always the first one they depend on for unique things they can put in their living spaces.
3. Kindred spirit friends, (aka co-rationalized) Important to have at least one who really ‘gets it’ and will support your vision when you absolutely need to have that 200 year old door from Pakistan or that Eastlake fainting couch even when you have no place to put it and it costs a ton of money.
4. CraigsList tip: suck up to the owner from the get go is my mantra. Chances are you’re not the only one inquiring about an item, so I always let them know how very important something is to me (insert minor tear jerker issue of choice) and make it as easy as possible for them to sell to ME.
So that’s it, that’s all I’ve got right now, reporting live from Rochester, Michigan. I doubt you’ll need much input, you’re always just chock full of great ideas and even greater taste. Have fun, your wit and charm will carry you through regardless of content!!!
September 14, 2016 @ 11:03 am
Correction: a lack of need, purpose or affordability will NOT keep me from obsessing.
September 14, 2016 @ 11:01 am
LOVE your spool cabinet, as I am a sewing hoarder! Love fabrics, doodads, fringes, buttons, etc. I admit I don’t do much with my hoard, because then I would mar its perfection as it now stands. I only take things out, fondle them, then put them back and sigh. Some day I will have to do some project with it, so I may be able to move on to new and exciting things….or maybe just leave it for some next gen fancier of my things to discover in the yard sale that will ensue when I pass on to the pearly gates!
Your kittens had me smiling. The thing about kittens is that they are so interested in any thing we do, and want to be in the mix always. Dogs, not so much, although there are exceptions, they just seem to want food and squirrels.
Hope you have a great presentation, and more importantly, that you find some GFT’s while there!