grey goose

It's Thrift Store Thursday,
only I don't have time to shop,
so I'm going to show you something
I bought at Goodwill
a couple of years ago.

Remember, I love unusual baskets,
so when I saw these
I knew I had to have them.

I guess you wouldn't call these "baskets",
but they are matching rattan suitcases.
How cool is that?!
They remind me of the kind of suitcases that
might have been used in the late 19th or early
20th century, by some rich people going on
safari, or to some exotic locale.
Since the style in my home is what I call
Old World Tropical,
these fit in perfectly.

I don't remember exactly how much I paid,
but it wasn't more than $10 each.
I didn't know what I was going to use them for,
but they were just too cool to pass up.
It turns out that these are great for storing those
odd items that don't really belong anywhere else,
such as items you're just holding
onto for sentimental reasons.

So....just today I decided to look for some
sort of label on these, to see where they were made,
or to get a clue as to how old these might be...

this is what I found....

Ha! So funny. Grey Goose Vodka.  I don't drink,
and I have no idea why they have this stamp.
There is nothing more to tell me anything
about them, so I'm going to assume that these
were made in France, but the rest is a mystery.
Oh well, they are still a great addition to my home,
and a really cool thrift store find.  

It's all in the details

While waiting for hubby to finish painting one of "my" projects (I guess I could do it myself :),
I thought I'd write a little something about the little somethings, that make a house a home.

I'm talking about the details, the accessories that seem to be the hard part
of decorating for most people.

Every good color scheme needs an accent color.  An accent is the little splash of color
that you throw around the room, to catch your eye, such as in.....throw pillows
(Ha, I crack my self up :).
It will usually show up in small items placed on coffee tables, end tables or shelves.
You don't want to use too much of it, or it ceases to be an "accent",
and will overwhelm and ruin the look you are going for.

My living room/dining room color scheme is sage green and tan, with an ivory background.
My couches are made from a weave fabric that is all-over tan, but if you look closely,
you will see tiny red threads.  Since green and red are opposite on the color wheel,
red was the obvious choice for my accent color.
Don't worry, it looks nothing like a Christmas theme, because the sage green is used on
large areas and the red is used ever so little.

So, if you remember, it was the details that were missing from my home when my daughter
and her family moved out a couple months ago.  Around the same time, my other daughter
was moving out of her place and was getting rid of lots of good stuff, which she offered to
me! Yay!

She had some glassware that she was going to throw away.  Naturally I brought some home,
fancied them up, and now I pass by them everyday on my way to the kitchen.

You can probably find lots of things to put in glassware, like smooth glass pebbles,
but I have no money, so I ran to my studio and grabbed a few lengths of sheer red ribbon
and swirled it into each glass.
Ta da!  Accent color!

These looked kind of bare, sitting on the piano alone,
so I added some red glass candles that I've had in my bathroom forever.

Here is what it looks like now.

So, I got these champagne glasses from my daughter, but you can find tons of them
at the thrift stores.  I think I bought the glass candles at Walmart for a couple
bucks each.  The ribbon came from Michaels, a spool for about two bucks.

Thrift Store Thursday

There are probably alot of people who have never shopped at a thrift store before.
If you are one of them, then maybe it's time to check it out.
My favorite one is The Goodwill Thrift Store in Santee, CA.
Whenever I am nearby and I have some extra time, I head over there,
just to see if there is anything that I have to have.

Since starting this blog, I thought I'd make a point to go at least once a week,
or at least post about something that I've bought in the past.

Today is my day off, so off I went, with a twenty dollar bill in my purse,
just in case there was something that had to come home with me.
When I got there, the parking lot was so full, I almost had to turn around.
Luckily there was one spot open!

When you walk in, there are racks and racks of clothes,
but I head straight to the back where they keep all of the furniture.

When you're shopping at a thrift store, the trick is to find something
unusual, something that you just can't find in a regular store.
It must be of good quality, such as solid wood, and something that is
either perfect the way it is, or can be painted or fixed in some way,
so as to make it great.

You should also make sure that you can actually use it
 in your home.
Don't become a junk collector!
(this is what I tell myself all the time :)

So, if I find something that fits all of these requirements,
I still won't buy it if it's over-priced, and for me,
that's got to be pretty low.

Here are a few things that I would consider buying:


 Night stand - this wasn't priced - see the solid maple stamp?

 

Unfinished coat hook shelf - $2.99

This would need to be primed, then painted,
which would be pretty easy.  It was a great
price too....but I just couldn't think of where
I would use it...darn!


        
                                                    
 Palm tree plate - $3.99
 This would look awesome sitting on
  the night stand in my guest room, but
  I thought that the price was a little
  high. I really love it though,
  and it was super hefty.
                                            
                                                    
                                                     
                   

This is a really nice, full set of china,
with an unusual print.
At $59.99 I thought it was a good
price,  but I'm not in the market for
dishes right now. 

I love baskets, but not just plain ole
every day baskets that you can find
anywhere. I always look for the most uniquely
 made baskets I can find.

Here are some of the ones I liked.                                   
They were priced from $2.99 to $3.99                 See the one on the left?
I was racking my brain to figure out what
I would use it for....but I couldn't think of anything,
so I left it for someone else to take home and love.


 By the way, if you're a reader like me, you'll want to
check out thrift stores for books. At these prices,
you'll never have to go without something to read.

 So, I didn't buy anything great today.
But I did pick up a VHS tape of An
American Tail.  It looks brand new,
and at .99 cents I couldn't pass it up.
We may be the last household in San Diego
 that has a VHS player, which is in the playroom.
My grandkids will like watching it the next time
they come over.

So if you're new to the thrift store thing, try it,
you might like it. Go in sometime when you have
about an hour to kill.
Walk up and down the aisles, then walk up
and down them again.
With so much stuff it's hard to see things the first time.

HAPPY SHOPPING!