New Acquisitions!

Saturday was a great tag sale day. I knew it would be- the weather was just so perfect. I had the day off, and managed to hit about 10 sales before heading home. All in all is was very pleasant! I picked up some absolutely fantastic stuff, which is now available for custom refinishing, or I'll just do it the way I think it should look and then put it on craigslist. The star of the show is the beyond beautiful solid pecan vintage dining set with six matching chairs. It, and the coffee table set, were at the first tagsale I stopped at. Home run. I've already started working on the dining table. It's just a gorgeous set. I love that the chairs are somewhere between mid century modern and farmhouse. This is a really high style piece and I hope it finds a good home. I'll talk about the other stuff in the captions, and the pieces I'm keeping I'll tell you how much I paid for them. I hope you're enjoying this beautiful weekend- the weather in New England is absolutely perfect!

Nice antique arched top mirror with an old green paint surface- I mean, how could I resist? This one's going to go at the end of our hall in our upstairs ($8).

Lovely solid pecan dining table. It has an auto leaf, and this is the table with the leaf open. Again, it has an early American vibe while at the same time being a bit mod. Stunning.

With the six matching chairs. This dining set is a show stopper!

cute little antique side table. I didn't really need this, but it just was so adorable with those long bootjack legs. ($4)

Wonderful solid pine side tables and coffee table. I'm planning on refinishing the tops and painting the legs.

So I know these are a little cutesy right now, but imagine this- Barn board tops, re-do the hardware, paint the cases a dove gray...Beautiful right? That scroll work on the front will really pop. 

A whole table full of fun. Most of this I'm planning to keep.   The beautiful antique iron brackets will be great for supporting the overhang on my next kitchen island project. Two vintage mixing bowls in green and yellow. An antique ironstone plant, a theorem painting of bluebells, two pretty antique blue plates, a gorgeous antique green lamp, and a white linen table cloth. from about 4 different tag sales, but all together I spent less than $20.
Pretty good right?

I love this little theorem. I think it probably dates to the 20s. The real antique ones were done by schoolgirls in the first half of the 19th century. I don't think this one is that early, but charming none the less, and for $2,
how could I go wrong?

I saw this pretty engraved silver plate vase and couldn't pass it up. It was 75 cents and I thought it would be so pretty with roses or peony blossoms. It's tiny, only about five inches tall. 

A close up on my awesome vintage lamp. I'm going to put it in the guest room when its finished. I think a crisp white shade with dress it up perfectly. It reminds me of McCoy pottery. I think it dates to the 40s or 50s. 

Deconstructed rustic

As far as I (and google) know, this is not a real/official thing. I think it should be. There are a good handful of pieces in my decor rotation that I would consider deconstructed rustic, which is different from cottage or shabby chic in that it's legit beat up old chippy paint furniture. The kind that you need just the right spot for, but in the right spot....amazing. That dresser I picked up at the flea market on Sunday? Deconstructed rustic for sure. Some people don't get it, it's a little too rough around the edges, a little too grungy. For me, it's the best, and I would do my whole house in it, but my husband...and all his piano students... might be freaked out. So anyway, I'm making it an official thing today. Deconstructed Rustic. Boom.
Since I came up with it, I'm making the rules that define deconstructed rustic:
1. It has to be old (at least 50 years)
2. It has to show that age, a little beat up etc
3. You can't fake it, re-do the surface, in fact, it has to be untouched.
4. No fancy schmancy antiques. Just good old farm style furniture and decor

Without further ado, here are some of my own pieces,
and some others I found that fit the bill.


Enjoy ~

Just a nice little chair with a great old green paint. Add this to a kitchen or in the corner of your dining room for some instant style.

I love the chipped paint on the legs and the well worn surface on this table. So lovely.

Don't know about that weird hutch on top, but the dresser is perfect. It looks like someone started to refinish the drawer and then gave up. Just like on my green dresser lol. 

A coopala- get it?. Clever and gorgeous re-use of this little architectural gem. 

This table is soooooo chipped and interesting. Really delicious and wonderful. 

I think this is a genuine old surface on this dresser. It's a little hard to tell. I'm such a sucker for old green paint though, i had to include it!

This old hutch with the bead board and the make-do back paneling is so the essence of deconstructed rustic. Other people might be tempting to paint it- I love that the owner left it untouched. 

Nice old blue cabinet in an otherwise modern and sleek setting is a perfect balance. 

Stunning island. JUST PERFECT. 

This is a beautiful kitchen. I think both the island and the cupboard on the back wall are deconstructed rustic. The rest of the decor has been left simple to allow these pieces the space they need to be appreciated as both furniture and art.

This little vintage green footstool is currently in my dining room. Got it last year at the flea market for  less than $10

This is currently the side table to my family room couch. Every time I look at it I smile. I think it was about $12.

And of course my new dresser. 

Flea market finds

Sunday was a rushed flea market, but I still enjoyed myself and managed to score some cool stuff included the one that got away (thank goodness). Two weeks ago I got a dresser, a sideboard, and dining table. There was also a GORGEOUS antique green dresser that I just loved loved loved. The price was $20 and I wanted it so bad, but I ran out of time and had to leave it behind. I thought about that dresser all week, and felt sure I would never see it again. But the flea market Gods were generous, and when I got to the market on Sunday, there was my dresser, waiting for me. I bought it straight away (not taking any chances). The dresser probably dates to about 1850-1870. It's solid pine. It's had a hard life, which I love about it. The green paint is chipped and grimy, and the dresser just has soooo much character. Here are some pics below, as well as what else I've gotten this week. When I got the dresser home my husband immediately over ruled bringing it into our decor in it's current condition. He didn't see the charm the way I did. It's in my basement now. I'm battling with whether to fix it up, or just ignore my husband and put it in my dining room as it is. What do you think?

The ugly drawer pulls will need to be replaced.

even the back is beautiful

I also got this cute vintage travel bag for $2. Perfect for over night trips.

I got this coffee table for $15. It's solid wood (maple?). I'm going to refinish it for our practice studio.

Even my husband got in the spirit and found these fabulous vintage side tables with inset marble tops. Sooo cute!

He also found this cute little bench. I'm going to paint it white and reupholster the little seat,
 and it should be fresh as a daisy.

Dining room table and chairs

Project finished, and it took me exactly one week to complete both the chairs and the dining table. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had two pieces of upholstery fabric which I simply could not choose between. Once I finished painting the chairs white (can we talk about what a pain in the butt painting cane is??) I spent some time just staring at the chairs with each of the fabrics and eventually decided on the cream colored neutral fabric. I had been leaning towards the cream all along, even though the mint floral matched perfectly, I don't usually go in for florals, and I felt that it locked me into the color scheme a little too much. The neutral chairs are more flexible. So wanna know how much I spent?
Solid oak library table c. 1920 - $50
Set of five vintage dining chairs - $55
Upholstery fabric - $10
Total for a new dining set - $125
Oh and I should mention- there is a fifth chair in the dining set that I did not include. I only need five dining chairs, and the fifth one is going to be painted and upholstered separately, and is going to be used as a side chair in our guest room.
So here are the pictures!

A pair of chairs before and after

*Phew* I literally jogged through the flea market this morning (had to be at work at 10am) but I still managed to score some good stuff that I'll show you this afternoon when I get a chance to photograph it. The last couple week's I've had the pleasure of designing a batch of custom furniture for a client who had cause to start her decor from scratch (a house fire). Rather than allow this to be a stopping point for her, she's got the world's best attitude, and is using the experience as an opportunity to re-invent her interior design style and create a space that makes her excited and happy. Here are some of the before and after shots for her furniture. (Can you guess her favorite color is blue?)
Pair of chairs

I loved these chairs as soon as I spotted them. Such great lines, and the seats are super comfortable.

I painted them a crisp white and reupholstered the chairs in a deep midnight blue velvet

It's so rare to find a matched set of five dining chairs, especially in this must-have school house style. The chairs probably date to about 1910- all solid, all in great condition. 

I painted the chairs a high gloss cobalt blue, which looked unbelievably sharp. I sanded, stained, and poly'd all the chair seats. 

Soooo handsome.

I was so excited to find this antique solid oak dining table. C.1910. It's in perfect condition,
the top just needed to be re-done.

So I sanded, stained, and poly'd the top and cleaned the base.

pretty right?

And here's the dining set all together. What's wonderful is that the table and chairs were probably made within just a few years of each other. It's almost like they were meant to be together. A perfect set.

So I showed you this nice little desk a few weeks ago. I re-did the top and painted the base a peach blush color. We decided to repaint it so it would match the rest of the furniture.

I love it in the cobalt blue. To bring art the beautiful carved detail I first went over it with white and then back over it with a deep midnight blue.