China Cabinet

Nearly five years ago I purchased a nifty mid century modern china hutch for $25.00.  I loved this cabinet and have regretted leaving it behind when I moved to Middle Tennessee.  Since my move to Tennessee I have continued collecting china and crystal as the thrift stores in this area usually have a remarkable selection!  The need to replace the china cabinet I left behind has reached critical mass.  For a few months I have been cruising the Craig's List adds in Nashville in hopes of finding a cabinet.  Last month I found just the one! 

It is currently just housing various glassware and dishes.  I need another cabinet before I can begin sorting, organizing, and presenting my grandma's Candlewick, Osage Clayworks pottery, my silver rimmed barware, my mom's (now mine) Midnight Rose Bavarian China and much, much more! 

Thy Neighbor's Goods

So I was hanging with my friends Jen and Aaron (and I am kind of long term hanging with them now) when I discovered that they had a most righteous, plastic, orange strainer (pictured above). I was jealous; literally green with envy. I offered to buy it. I begged to buy it. The price ($1,000,000) was a bit steep. I couldn't swing it. I had to place the beautiful, orange strainer in the cabinet. I was feeling bereft, dejected, hopeless.

These feelings did not last. Just a few days later I found an amazing, gorgeous, green strainer (pictured below). The price tag ($2) was closer to my budget. And the green totally goes with my new kitchen decor. Woot!

Score!

Look what I found! Well, John found them... We stopped by my favorite antique shop in the 'Burg, Highway 13 Antiques, where I found my $25 china cabinet, on the way home today. I love looking at all their goodies: glassware, china, linens, and more. Well, John walked up and handed me a long, thin, leather wallet and to my suprise and delight, it contained 24 pairs of knitting needles ranging in size 3 to 15! The price was $20, but this package (Susan Bates Knitting Needles) retails for $59. That was less than $2.00 a pair!

Now I have just the right size to use on the gorgeous Burly Spun wool that I found earlier this summer! I can't wait!

The Library

The library is a quiet and dark place. Just like a library should be, I think! It is probably the second largest room in the house with the basement "playroom" coming in first. The library is adjacent to the dining room and the foyer and most likely served as the formal living room. It is a large rectangle with two windows on the exterior wall. There are no overhead light fixtures or wall switches. Perfect for nine six feet tall book cases and then some.

I'd like to say that the library contains all of our books, however there are two bookshelves in John's room and two in Orion's room. And if I recall correctly, there might be two or three boxes of books left in the garage. (And a whole bunch more in my office at school!) At one time I could give you a precise number of books owned, but not any more. With every move I have given several boxes away. With every trip to Half-Priced Books in Overland Park a few more books find their way home. To limit my habit, I try to purchase only hard back books. This new approach is working and my book whoring had slowed considerably.

In addition to the innumerable books, the library contains two comfy chairs a floor lamp, a roll top desk, the dissertation table (ugh!), and a lot of tchotchke. One of my favorite items is pictured left, a wind chime from S. Korea that Tree and P.D. sent to Orion when he was born. Below are some additional pictures of the library.

(Letter writing central)

(Children's literature corner)

(Wall of books and dissertation table; view from the dining room)

(Looking toward the foyer from the dining room)

With the dissertation and so many of my favorite items residing in the library one would think I would spend more time there. I wish I did.

Thrift Store Finds

Much of my house is decorated in family hand-me-downs or thrift store finds. And I like it that way. Each of the items that I choose for my home has a story and purpose. I just might not know what that story was or what the purpose is. Eventually it is all revealed.
The awesome lotion and soap dispensers were found in Harrison, AR at the Junk-Shun. It's a big red barn filled with amazing treasures. My friend, Shannon, recommended it. The first thing I noticed was how well lit the store was. The second was how clean everything was. These groovy retro bottles (and they're glass) were $4 for the set.

The plastic cracker tray came from the Leslie Antique Mall in Leslie, AR. It was a $1.50 and so dirty I wasn't certain I wanted to pick it up to bring it home. It cleaned up nicely and will make a great addition to my collection of Crazy Daisy (a.k.a. Spring Blossom Green) Corelle that I am collecting.


Shannon came up to visit the first part of June and one of the things we always try to make time to do is to visit the antique stores and flea markets in the area. One of our favorites is Those Were the Days- a three story flea market! There I found something I couldn't part with! And at a $1.00 who could blame me! Clothing for my toaster! Don't you just love it?

25 Bucks!

Shortly after Mother's Day we headed up the road a few miles to one of my favorite stores in the area, Highway 13 Antiques. I have found all sorts of goodies at Highway 13 Antiques: Candlewick glasses, embroidered pillowcases, cast iron, Corelle dishes, and so much more. On this particular day the boys found goodies for their blacksmithing endeavors and I found a CHINA CABINET!
I wasn't looking for furniture in particular. But I did need to find something for my teacups, they were stacked up on the roll top desk! I had looked at a wall mounted curio-type-shelf for $25 on previous visits, but didn't want to commit. On this particular day I found a lovely hutch of sorts, for $225. A rich maple with a honeyed finish tempted me; the "no-lay-away" sign depressed me. But one booth over I found another hutch. This one looked like some sort of office piece with blood or barbeque sauce all over the front of it. Honestly, it was beat to hell. (I wish I had taken a before picture...) The price was marked down to $25! Could that be right? I took the ticket to the cashier to ask if it was correct and to inquire if the seller of the maple cabinet would do a lay-away.

Long story short, the ugly, blood/barbeque stained cabinet was indeed $25. The owner of the maple cabinet couldn't be raised to answer my question so I left my number and bought the $25 cabinet. To my pleasure I discovered that the glass doors were intact and safely stored between cardboard. We were in Grace, the Kia, so we headed back home. Orion and I returned with Maggie, the truck, loaded the cabinet, headed home, and just about the time I finished the second cleaning (about an hour after I got home), the shop called and said "yes" to the lay-away. I was so tickled with my cabinet that I passed! Besides, the storage capacity of the blood/barbeque stained cabinet was twice that of the $225 maple piece.

So I cleaned and I scrubbed and I gave it the once over, twice over, and thrice over with Murphy's Oil Soap. The previous owners left a few wedding or anniversary napkins. While the hutch dried, I scrubbed the glass doors. A few passes of Old English Lemon Oil and I was looking at a nice piece of furniture.

It was so nice I decided to display my china, originally my mom's china from the early '60s, Midnight Rose! Take a look below. It's gorgeous!