by Carrie on August 27, 2009
Hand Built Vintage China Cabinet
Today I’m excited to share with you my latest in vintage treasures.
This piece is a china cabinet built by a family member in the 1800s and transported via covered wagon. We’re not 100% what the wood is but we believe it may be American Chestnut which nearly went extinct in the early 1900s due to a tree blight.
I’ve spent a good 10 hours over the past two weeks getting the china cabinet moved into my house and bolted to the wall (I’m in earthquake country) and hand washing and arranging everything in it.
Everything inside is vintage too save for the Peter Rabbit mug on the bottom shelf that I received as a baby gift and the glass pumpkin which I purchased at The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch which is a fabulous local art event that takes place in Palo Alto, California every fall (the event is free and worth seeing even if you aren’t planning to buy).
On the top two shelves we have my grandparents’ lead crystal. I only have champagne glasses (used as sherbets) and water goblets because my grandfather did not drink. I am planning to pick up wine glasses as well as they become available on eBay. (Because the pattern is hard to find and I’m still looking for pieces I won’t be sharing the name of it at this time.)
On the third shelf we have pieces from my grandparents’ fine china which I told you about when I go that a few months back.
On the bottom shelf is a variety of pretty other trinkets. On the left are some pieces from my Sharon Cabbage Rose depression glass set. Depression glass was the stimulus package of the 1930s, you’d get a bowl in your cereal box or a plate for seeing a movie. The set has no dinner plates (makes it less painful to be eating those smaller portions as you literally tighten your belt). All of my Sharon pieces were purchased at antique shows and shops or on eBay. I’ve also got a few cute salt, pepper, and spice shakers from my great grandparents and my two member glass menagerie.
There is a cabinet further below that contains the rest of my Sharon and a huge assortment of Hobnail and pressed glass platters and bowls from my grandparents and great grandparents.
I’m the second or third owner of almost everything you see here and what I hope you get out of this is that
- quality items that are well cared for can last more than a lifetime
- used doesn’t have to mean ugly or in poor condition
- these items don’t even have to be expensive (the vintage crystal runs about $10 a piece which is the same as new lead crystal at Target)
by Carrie on August 14, 2009
First things first this time around, make sure you check out my guest post at Saving Cents with Sense: Stockpiling within Reason.
Here’s the rest of the round up:
by Carrie on August 10, 2009
The more I try to make the numbers work, the more I see that it’s going to be at least 5 years from now before I can afford to buy a decent townhouse in the Bay Area on my own.
Since I’ve now lived in my current home for 1.5 years, which is longer than I’ve lived anywhere else other than my parent’s house as a child, I figure it’s time to settle in. The house I’m living in now is a townhouse that my parents purchased in the 1970s as an investment property and they’ve been renting it out ever since. I pay rent but it’s a better rate than I’d get anywhere else so I’m not inclined to move again unless I buy something of my own.
Almost all of my furniture is family heirlooms or hand me downs with the exception of my bed, my couch, and a few simple and highly functional pieces that no one else had to spare like bookcases. I think antique and used furniture is great if it’s solid but not so great for fabric and upholstered items.
I’ve been dreaming of a super comfy chair placed near a large window to make the perfect reading nook for over 5 years now so I think it’s finally time to go ahead and buy one. Because I want a squishy upholstered chair, I’ll only be considering new items (reupholstering is often as expensive or more expensive than buying a new piece of furniture). I’ll be testing out chairs when I’m out and about shopping looking for a comfortable and quality piece and when I find one I love I’ll be ready to splurge.
I’m also in the market for a pair of nightstands for my master bedroom. While window shopping at Anthropologie recently I spotted this piece which would be perfect. However, I am not interested in paying $698 x 2 for a pair. Since a nightstand is a solid item and I’m not concerned about bed bugs/mold/etc, I’ll be checking thrift stores for two nightstands that I can paint white and then stencil to create a similar effect.
by Carrie on July 20, 2009
Rather than buying wall art that’s marketed as wall art, I like to create my own out of stuff I’ve already got around the house.
I had picked up a package of Anne Taintor postcards at a local museum gift shop a few years back. I saved my favorites for myself and sent the ones that reminded me of particular friends to those friends.
I could have left the ones I wanted to save for myself shoved away in my desk, but I feel that if you’re going to spend the money on something and have it in your house it needs to have a use. Using the postcards I wanted to keep as decor is a great use.
The frames I used are the cheapest frames available at Michael’s in the smallest size and cost a dollar or two each. Instead of using matt board for the border, I used sheets from a small pad of scrapbook paper (I’m not a scrapbooker myself but I find plenty of other crafty uses for scrapbooking supplies). Check your Sunday paper for a Michael’s 40% off any item coupon every week or sign up for their email newsletter because sometimes they send out 50% off any item coupons via email.
All you need to do to put these together is cut the scrapbook paper to the size of the frame, center the postcard on the scrapbook paper (you could use some double stick tape if you’re having trouble keeping it centered while you get the frame put together), and then close up the frame and hang it on your wall.
Total cost of this project (7 postcard sized finished pieces like I have in the grouping above) including the postcards, frames, and paper is less than $30. You don’t have to use strictly postcards, take a look around and see what you have in terms of paper items that looked so nice you had to save them. If they’re special enough to keep, they’re special enough to have on display.
Here are a couple close ups of individual postcards:
Featured in Make It From Scratch.
