Autumn Entry Table
As always, I shop my home when changing our decor. In other words, I walk through my house and glance around for something I already own to create a new vignette. Most everything I own was bought used, thrifted, and second hand.
A close up (below) of the right side has
I love tourist art but not the junk found at the ports, rather the stuff hidden in the seconds shops where the locals buy. I have some great vintage tourist pieces that are 30, 40, or 50+ years old. John Waters would certainly call some of it Kitsch. Every daytrip we would stop in at the thrifts and I've come back with some stuff that's so much better than any tourist art from the area. I have carved stone and porcelain busts from antiques malls in North Georgia that I found for $2 and $3 dollars. Vintage postcards and carte de visites are easily found for a dollar each. Then there are the books....early electric how-to manuals, art books, classic editions, books with wonderful edge art or book jackets.
I shop used locally. I jokingly call my style "Early Garage Sale, Late Thrift Store" as in getting the good stuff early from the garage sale and the things one finds later at the thrift store. As I've gotten older, I've realized that I really don't need anything else. It's rare that I second hand shop anymore because I already have so much good stuff to select from when shopping my home. But occasionally I will update my purse, buy a new used scarf, and find an art piece I just adore. In particular, I am always looking for miniature landscapes and sculptures--the small stuff like a Henry Moore style piece that I can caress.
This year's autumn entry table was entirely shopped from previous purchases.
Above- The mirror was a $25 find at a Goodwill store. It was an incredible find for a mirror its size with the extensive detailed gold frame. A mirror this size new could run $150-$500 easily. Art surrounds the mirror. The small watercolor landscape was found beneath another picture in a used frame. The large landscapes were $15 and less. The Mayan codex art over the mirror came from a National Geographic style book. The ceramic bowl was an antique from Archipelago Antiques in Five Points. It was around $30-35 and I'll never regret spending that much. It is beautifully painted and shaped. It is mounted on the wall with a modified plate hanger and rests on a $3 yard sale shelf.
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| Watercolor landscape and Nippon pottery with Horse Chestnuts |
The Craftsman slatted chair was found for $5 at a Habitat for Humanity store. The legs had been cut down about two inches to accommodate a smaller person so I think no one else thought it valuable but it remains beautiful.
a $5 carved wooden box,
a Floraline planter (which I own a nice collection of--all from thrift stores),
a $2 book by Teddy Roosevelt with wonderful art found at a library store,
four antique books from family and second hand shopping,
a lovely tea tin in autumn colors,
a metal bug,
and a knight from a soapstone chess set from South Korea bought during a two week National Guard duty trip. I used shoe polish to accent the carved parts. Rubbed it all over, then rubbed off as much of the brown shoe polish from the flat areas leaving the nooks darker. The soapstone was fragile and the pieces broke too easily so I was left with a partial set with some great tiny "sculptures".
Below is the left side of the entry table which is closest to the front door. The light pours in during the morning hours. A metal vase obscures the canes and umbrellas in their basket. The art was cut from a book bought just for the pictures. A small 50 cent cup holds pinecones and an acorn. An oval wooden Shaker box holds my children's old pacifiers. It is topped with a horse's tooth. The vase was bought at a consignment shop for either $5 or $8. It's been around 15+ years and I can't remember exactly how much. I do however remember the owner, Greer, and her dogs throughout the years, especially Jesse the giant Golden Retriever who somehow managed to never upturn anything in that very crowded little store. The table cloth is an old scarf/shawl.
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Long in the tooth
The metal vase was a 99 cent Goodwill find.
I love the aged finish. It's a great weight but not the kind of vase for flowers.
The small cup with miniature pinecones was half a buck.
The vase which I have used for years holds a $5 bunch of
pussy willow branches bought at a fundraiser for the Commerce Library.
Lance has complained about my keeping the dried flowers
and stalks but I like to mix in other flowers each season.
The real reason is It's one of the few times
my husband ever bought me flowers.
