Rockin'.

Our lovely neighbor across the street is moving. She assured me it had nothing to do with us. (We seem to be losing neighbors like leaves off an autumn tree! I'm starting to get a complex...)

The one and only good thing about her moving was the sale of her house's contents. In addition to scoring a shelving unit for our basement and a much-needed dehumidifier, I bought this purple velvet rocking chair for $100:



I didn't buy it right away, but after seeing this Victorian glider at a local auction earlier this month...

...and falling for it but not for the $275 it sold for, I had vintage purple velvet rockers on the brain. So when the neighbor's rocker didn't sell the first weekend of her sale, I went back in the second.

The woodwork is in great shape, and has lovely detail:

And while at first I wasn't 100 percent sure where I'd put it (oops), after some shifting around it found a perfect home in our almost-completed master bedroom next to the dresser that is still one of my favorite thrifts:

This makes the MBR almost ready for prime time. The one "situation" that still needs to be addressed is the closet doors:

When we moved in the room was what I would describe as Very Dusty Rose, and the metallic lilac-washed (!) closet doors with lavender (!!) curtain panels seemed right at home in the pink palace. Mike's first reaction was to rip the doors off the hinges. But they are old and charming (I could insert "just like him" here but I will resist the temptation. Oops! It slipped out...). Just look at the doorknobs:

The people we bought the house from salvaged the doors and the knobs (separately) and built the closet around them.

I started my long-awaited door improvement project this past weekend by sewing new panels out of inexpensive white faux linen, which definitely softens them a bit:

Now, do I paint the doors white? That was my original intention, but with all the dark woodwork I fear they will stand out like a bad set of over-bleached choppers on a Hollywood starlet.

Any ideas? Stripping the doors is really not an option, I don't think. With all of the layers of paint on them it could take me into 2013 easily. As it is, scraping paint off the glass took me about six (wo)man hours.

Flea, glorious flea.

Well yesterday I hit a doozy of a flea.

My brother was staying overnight and when we rolled out of bed (dirty stay outs) we rolled over to the Atlantic Highlands Historical Society Flea Market. My expectations for the flea were low, but I love that my brother didn't even bat an eyelid when I asked if he wanted to go. In fact, we flea quite well together...I can't think of a better person to hit the asphalt with.

Things started out looking unpromising. While I was pretty happy with the antique postcards I snapped up at the first table we actually stopped at...


...I was feeling a little down when the bro walked away with 20 postcards for the same price as my five just two tables away. D'oh! At the brother's "jackpot table" I admired a dainty rocking chair, and bought an old green glass insulator (which has no use whatsoever but I've always loved these things) for $3. When I got home it joined my kitchen window vignette.

While my brother stayed at the table to patiently sift through a huge box of postcards, I meandered around. And that's when the magic happened.

It was later in the day so the Historic Society marked their table down substantially -- everything you could stuff in a bag for $1. I looked around at the table and figured that may be impossible...five hours in to the day, it was pretty picked over. But I poked around and pulled a box out from under the table. And, oh happy day, there was a box filled with vintage Christmas balls. I bought a bag and started scooping them in, only to quickly be boxed out by a nimble, well dressed woman eager to add to her busting-at-the-seams grocery bag. Had I not been hot and a little dehydrated, I might have had it in me to fight back. But truth be told I didn't need any of these ornaments so no big whoop. Here's what my bag looked like when I walked away:

Not too bad for a buck, right? Look inside...

They'll be piled up in a big glass apothecary jar that's holding seashells right now. I also stuffed these two lovely and delicate vintage floral pieces in the bag.

I mean, they were practically free (they were part of the "everything in a bag for a buck" deal). I'll likely use them as gift tags. They're a good size, so will dress up a package pretty nicely:

After my buck bag victory, I went to look for my brother and spied a covered glass cake dish. For $3! Quicker than I could say, "I'll take it!" that bad boy was bubble wrapped and tucked under my arm. I think it's a deal, and will be great for cupcakes and cookies, and maybe even mini pumpkins for a festive Halloween display:

The brother tipped me off to a vendor selling some vintage New Jersey bottles (the ones in my kitchen window are all NJ-based). I honed in on three small pharmacy bottles ($1 each) from my great state, which I'll put in the downstairs powder room. In the future, we're hoping to give the loo a "make under," so these will look great on the future vintage looking sink. Whenever it is that we get to that.


I was pretty much loaded down like a pack mule at this point, so we started to head out. I walked past that rocking chair that I had my eye on earlier (at the table I bought my insulator from), sort of strategically to see if the guy would come down on the price. It's a wee little chair, and we are not wee little people so I'm not sure I really need it (do I really need any of this stuff? Suze Orman would have my head.). But I figured I'd see what his "end of day" offer was (I'm not a haggler, so the haggle has to come to me. I know this is a little backwards but I'm just not good at asking people to knock money of their prices.). And when he said I could have it for $15 (!) that, too, got tucked under my arm. Check it out:


It is a bit small...here's a photo of it near a bed for scale...

...so it might wind up going to a friend with a little girl. But it's in fabulous shape (from the 1930s, I think -- and it has been re-caned) so I know it will find a great home, if not mine.

Final tally:

Assorted old postcards: $10 (Budget buster. Alas.)

Bag of glass ornaments and vintage floral pieces: $1

Insulator: $3

Cake dish: $3

Pharmacy bottles: $1 each ($3 total)

Rocking chair: $15

TOTAL: $35

Euphoric drive home: Priceless.

Rockin'!

Imagine my surprise when a small local furniture store actually called me yesterday, just like they said they would, and told me our rocking chairs arrived (just like they promised they would)! My faith in the little man’s ability to efficiently conduct commerce is restored. We'll be rocking this weekend.

We ordered three chairs similar to this one for our Little Porch of Horrors:
We’re kind of liking the way our little $20 teak folding chairs from the Christmas Tree Shops look on our porch right now (and my little bamboo table from the Ocean Grove Flea!) so hopefully they’ll pair well. I was shocked to even be in a Christmas Tree Shop, much less find perfect little folding chairs to seat guests (in- and outdoors). But I tell you what, don’t mock it ‘til you try it (like I did). Amongst endless rows of enough tchotchke and knick-knack to make your head blow off your shoulders are useful items at deeply discounted prices. I just hopped on their web site and noticed 72” bamboo torches for $1.99 and bamboo and seagrass roman shades for $16.99 (in 26”, 30” and 36” widths). I also noticed rocking chairs for $59.99 that are very similar to the ones we bought (for more than $59.99) but I’m trying not to think about that. Wait – it says they’re “indoor only.” There. I feel better.