Fruity Finds For Flat Lay Friday

Many of my recently sourced finds have been fruity. Here are a few of these curated goods.

The two exquisite crewel stitcheries are an amazing find. They were created in 1965 and the stitcher's name is included with the date on the back.

They are beautifully framed and I love the colors and the fruit, birds, and bugs.

Strawberries are having a moment and here are just a few berry finds--vintage strawberry glasses, a small pitcher with strawberries, and sweet strawberry mugs. 

The vintage, hand-carved wood fruit came in the wood pedestal bowl. It was made in Gatlinburg, TN. The vintage Avon mug is perfect for tea.

A few fruity serving bowls and a cake tin (that doesn't have any fruit on it, but I liked it with this flat lay) are perfect for spring and summer. I love finding vintage goods that have a connected theme. These items will be for sale at my upcoming pop-up shop, March 28 & 29.

Thrift Store Chair Makeover Three Years Later

Some makeovers take longer than others--this particular one was three+ years in the making.

I probably bought this chair five or six years ago. I started working on it three+ years ago. I took the upholstered back off, which was quite the chore. The back was a frame with webbing in it and lots of staples to hold the piping around it. I knew I wasn't going to try and reupholster that, but wasn't sure what I would do. This week I have been on a "use what you have" kick so I decided to tackle the chair, and I love the results!

I had no plan and no idea what fabric I was going to use on the seat, but I started by painting the frame black. I then added reclaimed wood to the seat back, using a nail or brad gun to attach it.

Here is what the back of the chair looks like with the wood.

I looked at thrift stores for something that I loved to recover the seat in, but nothing spoke to me. I decided to go through my stash and found this piece of black and green plaid wool that I got at a thrit store a couple years ago.

I also recently thrifted this wood table. It had some deep water rings that took a lot of sanding. After sanding it and wiping it down with water, I could still see rings so I sanded more. Here's the before.

I left it natural and used a clear poly on it to protect it. 

Here are a few more recent finds--vintage art, a coffee grinder, a wood cheese box, a pottery vase, and a vintage, duck, Avon tray.

Most of these items including the chair and the table will be available at my next pop-up shop March 28-29. 

Mix and Match Curated Finds

“The shock of the way I mix patterns and fabrics can be disconcerting, but what I am trying to do is provoke new ideas about how pieces can be put together in different ways. ”--Jean Paul Gaultier

I love mixing patterns and trying different color combinations. It is a perfect way to add interest and color to a neutral background and it shows that a person really understands design and style. So when I spied this pillow and this plaid, wool scarf at the thrift store I thought they would be perfect together.

A few other recent finds include a vintage, Wedgewood, enamel tray 

and a sweet, small picnic basket painted green, holding realistic faux flowers. A vintage bird print in an antique leather frame that has a pinkish tinge sits on an old accordion case, which makes a fantastic side table.

Remember to check out scarves at the thrift store. The blanket style scarves like this wool J. Crew one make nice throws for a chair or bench, work as table runners or dresser scarves, or can be tied around a throw pillow.

I love the mix of patterns in the pillow and how the blues and pinks repeated in the scarf. Play with patterns, colors and decor. Take pictures and sit with styled spaces for a time before deciding if it works or not. Elevate your design with the unexpected. 

A Recently Sourced Curated Vignette

I love it when "new" vintage decor for the pop-up shop comes together to create a styled and cohesive vignette. Keep reading for the details and a few tips!

Vintage art, hand-stitched linens, old books, beautiful brass and bronze objects of interest--ahh, simply lovely! Notice the repetition of colors, materials, subjects to create harmony.

A vintage, bark cloth piece was framed by someone many years ago. The red in it repeats the red seen in the bowl of cherries art. The chalk or pastel drawing of turn of the century patrons on a trolly was sketched on a piece of green paper. It does have a boat on the ocean scene on the other side. I found it as just a loose piece of paper or art and framed it in a thrifted frame. Vintage bird frame from a 1968 book was frame in a sweet, very vintage, brass frame.

So here's a tip or a preference--use a pretty tray as a tray, not propped or hung as art. I like using utilitarian items as they are intended. Putting a few things on the tray, but letting the pretty peek through gives those who look closer a nice surprise. An engraved brass vase, a brass candlestick, and a brass and lucite candle snuffer sit on the floral painted tray.

Next to the tray sits a dovetailed cigar box, with a gold bell tied with thrifted velvet ribbon on top. A vintage, chalkware plaster, art deco, cherub book end with a bronze finish holds old books. Another vintage bird print is framed in a carved wood frame. 

I picked this art piece because I love its muted tones. It is vintage, but mass produced. It had a very shiny finish that I did not like. Here's a tip to remedy that, brush matte Mod Podge over a print to give it a less shinny look and to add brush strokes. 

Most of these recent finds will be for sale at my upcoming pop-up shop. I love helping customers discover new to them decor pieces that they love and sharing how to use those items in their homes. 

Curated Lodge Style Decor

I had a fantastic pop-up shop a week ago and sold lots of vintage home decor. I had so much fun meeting new people and sharing my curated finds with them. Good sales mean lots of busy sourcing before I open again at the end of the month. I have been hitting tag sales and the thrift stores and have found some wonderful decor items. I styled some of my newly curated goodies with a common lodge style or Montana style.

Let's start with this table--it is solid, reclaimed oak and has a bottom shelf. I sanded it as it had some water stains and then clear coated it to keep the lighter oak color. 

Wool pillows, original art, and a chunky wood candlestick all convey a cabin feeling.

I love these vintage western style glasses and the brand new MT tea towel.

Vintage art propped on the table, a tin fly mug sitting on stack of Louis L'amour books, and a brown ware pitcher with greenery completes the styled table.

An old, green picnic basket adds color, storage, and texture to the vignette. Most of these items will available at my next pop-up, March 28 and 29.

Decor Staples and a Spring Entryway

Do you have wardrobe staples that you add to seasonally? A favorite pair of jeans, a cardigan, a blouse that you might wear year round? Did you know that you can use decor staples in your home that you can add seasonal items to? 

Four years ago, wanting fewer storage boxes, I pared down my seasonal decor to just my favorites for each season. My front entryway is styled with certain elements that remain year round. I then add and change out small objects for the seasons or holidays. 

I decided it was time to get spring springy in hopes to encourage warmer temps, if not actually at least mentally. But, before I talk about the spring touches I included, let's talk about the staples that live in the entryway.

The bench, gold metal suitcase, and bamboo caned stool stay year round. The shelf is permanent and the leather cases and wood bead garland stay year-round. On top of the shelf the basket tray and the mirror and the gold jug are staples too. The wool, floral rug stays as well.

The chalkboard always hangs here, but I do change it with the seasons. The candle sconce and love spoken here needlepoint stay year round. The winter basket with hats and mittens sitting on the stool was replaced with a thrifted sisal bunny.

I keep most of the entryway seasonal decor in this metal suitcase under the bench. The linen blanket I have used since Christmas. I replaced the plaid winter pillow with this flower one from the thrift store. (Do I need to say these items are thrifted if they ALL are? 😄) The books in the binocular case were changed out and I tucked a few flowers in there as well. 

I change out the artwork seasonally and added a vintage McCoy planter with fake daffodils to the shelf. This floral watercolor will stay through the summer.

On the other end of the shelf I added a vintage art piece of an orchid. The greens and whites in it repeat thoce colors seen elsewhere in the entryway. A white bunny and white flowers in the green jug finish the spring look. 

The rabbits and white flowers will be put away after Easter, but most everything else will stay through the summer. 

Using year-round staples that have texture and warm colors has really simplified my home decorating. Adding little touches for the seasons freshens my decor without being complicated or without having a lot of items to store.

Upcycled Vintage Thrift Store Books

Vintage books are plentiful at the thrift stores. I often find them in the free boxes at the shops. Some are damaged, outdated, in a foreign language, and not worth keeping as a book to read. I always look through the book sections for vintage books I can either add to the library in my old schoolhouse or that I can upcycle. I recently did just that with a couple thrifted books.

Both the vintage bird art on the wall and the book art "planter" were created with thrift store books.

To make the book planter, I used a free book. after finding the middle of the book, I cut five pages at a time, horizontally or perpendicular to the spine, cutting each five page section at different heights. I then rolled each five page section toward the middle and hot glued it to form a tube.

I added small pieces of floral foam to the tubes to keep them more rigid and to help hold the faux stems. I also traced the bottom shape of the tunes onto a piece of cardstock and cute it out and hot glued it to the bottom.

I added three types of thrifted faux greenery, using some hot glue as I placed it. This stands up beautifully and would be fun with seasonal flowers or dried flowers.

A 1970 Audubon Bird book is providing me with all kinds of lovely bird art that I am enjoying framing up. I painted a thrifted frame and mat to frame this particular page. 

I am a reader and I love books, but sometimes they have lost their usefulness as a book to read. When that is the case, I love upcycling them rather than letting them go to the landfill. 

Three Ways to Use a Wood Garden Trug

I found a wooden garden or tool trug at our local Habitat for Humanity Restore and thought it could use a little upcycle.

I painted the outside and the edges a fresh green color, stained everything, and added a matte clear coat. Trugs are traditionally used in a garden to hold pots and gardening tools and to collect produce or flowers. I am sharing three different ways to use one in the home.

It makes a fantastic coffee table organizer. Use it to hold remotes, tissues, coasters, reading glasses, and books.

The remote controls are in the McCoy frog planter that a propped up on the edge of the trug. A favorite rock and piece of driftwood, greenery in a basket--all add natural, organic, and decorative elements. Readers are easy to find when kept in their own space. A sketchbook that I use often also sits in the trug.

The wood garden trug also makes a fun, portable bar cart, perfect for an impromptu, outdoor cocktail party or an indoor game night. Include your favorite alcohol, stirrers and shakers, glasses and mugs in the crate.

There's even space for a cutting board and knife. Just add ice and mixers and you are set.

A wood trug is the perfect way to organize items on the kitchen counter. 

Tea and snacks, dessert plates and herbs all look less cluttered with corralled in one container. 

There are so many other ways to use a tote like this--in the bathroom, a kid's room, a craft space, or as intended, in the garden. Organizing utilitarian objects in a pretty way is a design tip that any home can put into practice.

Curated Spring Vignette

We are in the middle of an endless winter measured in feet of snow and temperatures below zero for days (we got down to -31 last week). Another 8 inches of snow is predicted over the next day or so and then we will see some warmer temps. I have been in deep hibernation mode, not leaving the house often. But, when I have been venturing out, I have been all about curating SPRING decor for both the pop-up shop and my home. 

I styled some of my favorite finds to create a spring vignette. Keep reading for the tips and details. This vignette started with an embroidered runner or dresser scarf. The orange and green is perfect for spring.

Vintage art always helps to set the tone in any vignette that I create. Four different pieces of art are displayed in this vignette. The larger, vintage, oil, floral, still life is a lovely way to include the yellow, green and orange colors repeated in the display. The fabric mat was water stained and couldn't be cleaned so I painted it a flat maize color. The print with a textured finish is a humble Woolworth piece from the fifties. By tucking it behind items, it is not the focal point, but it adds color and pattern.

A small, oak, side table acts as a shelf and draws the eye upward. The warm, organic texture grounds the vignette. On top of the table sits a white, ceramic bird that is a chopstick holder. I put some moss in it. A yellow vessel (that came with a cork lid) holds faux snowdrops--often some of the first flowers to bloom in the spring or late winter. 

An oil painting of a Rome cathedral, which reminds me of Easter, is the third item on top of the oak table. It sits in an old, metal, industrial clamp.

Under the table on the rung sits a nest.

A vintage, signed, duckling print, a wood bowl with a yellow flowers and a green book, and vintage, jadeite salt and pepper shakers repeat the vignette colors.

This spring vignette exemplifies the same "rules" that I have shared before: repeated colors, textures, and materials, varying heights, odd numbers, layers, and utilizing objects with a common theme that I love. 

And while it blizzards outside, I will continue to dream of warmer, spring days. Are you ready for spring?