Lucky ME!

Everyone drives in LA. We don't have much of a choice. Walking in LA is like walking in the suburbs, the blocks seems to go on forever, there's not a whole lot to look at, and barely a person walking beside you, it's cars just racing by. Cars with grouchy people in a hurry to get somewhere that barely have the patience to let a pedestrian pass without hollering *profanities, at least that was my experience today.

The surprising thing is people actually DO walk in LA. We walk through quaint neighborhoods with well landscaped yards to look at and we see other people walking too, walking home from school, to the Farmer's Market or their local coffee house, walking the dog. It's really quite pleasant when we get out of our cars and hit the pavement. But it's tough to accomplish much this way and so we're chained to our cars.


There is a great thing about driving in LA though. Driving in LA means when you pass by someone's "trash" and you see something you like, like say a really cool pair of retro metal lawn chairs you don't have to ooh and ahh over something you can't take home. Sorta like The Elegant Thrifter had to do just the other day on the streets of NYC! Instead you come inches away from causing a car accident, speed around the block and jump out of the car asking ever so kindly if you can take this person's trash home.


At least that's what happened to me today and it was glorious!

I had thought about refinishing the street finds but was convinced otherwise by my friends at the Antique Station where I was conveniently on my way to when luck came my way. Don't you just wish it had been you?! I know I would.

*slight exaggeration though profanities are easy to come by in LA

On the Lookout: CatherineHolm

The funny thing about this thrift shopping gig, at least for me, is that half the time I have no idea if I'm walking right past a lottery ticket or buying up everyone's trash. And as much as I love the act of digging through other peoples junk in search of my treasure, the real rush isn't even in sight.

I always thought it would be fun to act, I have no talent in this department -- let's be honest, I can cry on demand but that's as far as it goes; I have no interest in the celebrity of it -- well, there are those... gifting suites but other than that forget about it; what I envy from the outside looking in is the research that goes into becoming someone else, the hands-on education. That's the rush I get from thrifting.


I come home having bought up the goods that caught my eye, those I considered priced reasonably enough to make a profit from or to justify keeping. And even when I know what I have in my possession I promptly hit the web for a quick value search. Sometimes I score, sometimes I strike out and sometimes I find a new obsession. That's the real score, when I find something from a designer I have never heard of, someone whose entire collection makes me yearn for more, to learn more, and typically spirals into several new obsessions.


You've seen these orange striped bowls before, I found them several months ago during my "orange period". Like many of the items I found around that time they sat in my home collecting dust, I loved them so much I couldn't part with them. But I also have no place for them in my tiny little home so I recently decided to do it, I put a few items in the store and a couple on Etsy. It was hard, I was mellower but something like what I imagine a child is when you take away their favorite toy - resistant, and vocal. And not two days later did I sell these... TWO!


They're cool, but that's quick. I obviously didn't charge enough, but with no label I had trouble finding this one online... originally that is. I had learned about CahterineHolm maybe a week ago when I was researching Dansk, I hadn't come across this design and it didn't hit me until this very moment but THAT, that CatherineHolm that I had just been obsessing about slipped right through my fingers. I would've had to let go anyway, right?! I mean, they were just collecting dust. But still, I'm sad.


So, I introduce to you what will be a fairly regular post, "On the Lookout". You can learn from: A.) My mishaps, B.) My research, and C.) I can learn from you - feel free to write in with designers you'd like me to know about, ones you're on the lookout for!


*All designs on this page, to the best of my knowledge, are CatherineHolm designs by Grete Prytz Kittelsen a Mid-Century, Scandinavian designer. All photos that are not mine (mine are the orange striped bowls) link to the web page I "borrowed" them from.

**In the future I'll try to share more information about the designer and less about me!

Needs Improvement

For a while, I’m talking a while, now I’ve been meaning to post about the Antique Station. In the beginning days of our booth I spent time browsing and snapping photos (with the handy iPhone) of booths in the mall with the intention of highlighting this space to share with you, and for inspiration in my own endeavor. In the end I posted these images on Flickr, linked my Flickr account in the sidebar here and called it a day. I’ve failed you in this endeavor until today, today I post about the Station.

Regretfully I honestly say that we by far are the winners of the Ugliest Booth Contest. Of course there’s no such thing as a booth contest, there should be but there isn’t, but in my own mind there is and we LOSE. After all that’s what I do to facilitate improvement on my part. I compare my blog to yours, I compare my booth to yours, I see things I like in mine and in yours, and I improve, that’s my intention anyway. So in this non-contest in which I am the only judge, the winner of the coolest, what I aspire our booth to achieve is - da…dadada….



S/he conjures within me a longing to sit a while, a miniature of how one may desire their living room to appear, if said living room was say in NYC and a closet. In my opinion it’s possible that a person could walk into this booth and walk away with practically everything. They would most definitely need to reupholster those chairs, and it helps that I aim to collect just this style for my own home, but admit it they created a real good retail space in this little 10 x 10 square.

There are many people selling kitchen-wares, same as me which may contribute to slow booth sales of my stock (Scott’s stock lacks nothing, we’re killing it with the Star Wars toys and Baseball cards). But the Station is stocked through with Pyrex and kitschy 50’s thingys!





Though I aim to bring home mid-century furnishings I still lean toward loving the “Shabby Chic” look and I’m not the only one. Ever since I made a small, very small, not even close to a fortune, off of that blue Shabby Chic picture frame I’ve been on the hunt for more.

Shabby Chic can be modern and it can be cool, and I don’t think this booth pulls off either of those adjectives. But if you’re going to buy one of these pretty in pink items you’re probably going to buy a few, and that my friends is a great sales technique.



I’m going to follow that last paragraph up with an, I realize this is for a little girls room, but I don’t have kids and when I do I don’t plan to create a little princess.

Something else that we’ve recently come into way too much of is stuffed animals, and that something is something that does not sell. We’ve not sold one and it’s a little upsetting considering we have two HUGE garbage bags full at home. Cute too, real cute, charming and old, Disney, exactly what you may guess someone is looking for but nope, whatever it is it’s not enough. Others sell these as well, others sell baseball cards too but those sell, and in all of these other booths that sell stuffed animals I see a good set up. Which leads me to wonder what am I doing wrong? Why, oh why must we win the Ugliest Booth Contest?




With all this talk about how ugly our booth is you may be thinking, it can’t be THAT bad, but trust me, it is. And you may wonder, maybe you’d like to see a photo of the booth as of late, but I will leave you to imagine if you can, a booth overflowing with junk, lined with bookshelves, filled with junk. The Star Wars toys neatly fill half the back wall, and Scott is proud and they do look nice. No furniture fills the space, a suitcase full of tee’s sits on the floor beneath our “Shabby Chic” (there it is again) table, yes we have a table but it doesn’t help. The floor is lined with junk (there it is again), hanging from the Baker’s Rack is a dress, sitting in a pot there are many ties, and in a basket some belts. The only item in which I have to be proud is a white bookshelf that presents itself outward to passersby in the aisle, with my goodies and my goodies alone. There is a lot to be desired of this booth, and though I will be critical of myself no matter, I know it's bad when my buddies who work the station confirm it's truth. And so my friends that is what you have to imagine.

What I have to imagine is what it will be.

A Mint Condition

In the previous post I highlighted passes for last week, yes, I'm a bit behind on my posts and as you can see from the passes I was not busy last week therefore... I don't know, the dog ate my homework?

Under normal circumstances I would wait to post about a pass and I'd do it with many more, but I'm finding it difficult to wait on this one because I cannot get it out of my head. I really like this table, on the verge of mint condition it was way worth the $46 The Salvation Army wanted. I'm sure it will be gone when Friday rolls around and I make my way back to the OC but I'll check - should I buy it? Remember, I have to "try" to resell it.

Finds from the week.

It's been a busy week scouring thrift stores and Craigslist, and more thrift stores - determined to find more than one go to. I'm ruling out the west side, though I will give it another go in the coming weeks, and I'm prepared to say that the Valley rocks, yes that is right, The Valley has a haven of thrift store finds. But enough talk it's time for some pictures of the goodies I picked up this week.

THRIFT STORE FINDS:


I actually picked up two of this cute little container last week at a thrift store in the OC. The thrift store turned out to be a real dud considering it's size but this find made it was worth sifting through the junk. One at home, the other at the station - $20.




A sturdy little suitcase, my guess is circa sometime in the 70's. I've yet to decide if I'll sell this or the pretty blue one below which was bought off Ivett when she moved to Spain.




I actually use this suitcase and the wear is beginning to show - it may be better at a home where it's only use is as decoration.




LOVE!




I may just hang on to these little beauties for a while but if I keep this up there won't be much for the already empty booth.




Walking around and around the UCLA Thrift Store with nothing much to look at I debated these surfboard coasters for a bit, it turns out I'm pretty happy with the purchase. Maybe I can make $15 or $20 off of them, we'll know soon enough.



YARD SALES:


Considering this was a yard sale find it was way overpriced, I was able to talk them down to $10, it's crystal, very pretty and came in the original Joseph Magnin black and white checkered box - cute!




The booth needs more clutter and this was practically free.




It's a nightlight!




I still can't decide, is there anything special about this wine rack?





MY OWN COLLECTION:



There are four of these pinkies, I love love love them but I'm running out of room since I decided to part with the table to make room for the dog crate. The question is whether to let them all go or only two with the preference leaning toward two - sad.

All of these goodies are going into the booth next week. It's going to be exciting to see if anything sold - yikes!

This weeks pass.

What to buy is never a sure bet, either the price tag makes me question the likely hood of a profit or I'm not 100% about the item all together, sometimes it's a question of both, and every now and then size really matters. Although I am working on some ideas about how to overcome the storage obstacle, I've yet to figure out the pricing obstacle, which I imagine will come in due time.

I've decided to post a weekly blog highlighting items I've passed on, but due to the fact that I only decided this yesterday this weeks blog is going to be a bit slim. I'll do my best to take pictures and remember the cost, but every now and then I'll probably slip up - it's what I do. And I would love to hear your thoughts - tell me, do you agree with my decision or are you in love, should I have jumped?

The first item here you saw highlighted on yesterday's blog, this is a white Formica (I think, I'm no expert) table that seats four with two additional leafs to seat six or eight, the number of pretty blue chairs it comes with. One chair had a big gauge in the middle, another had a small one on the side, and the third was taped with green duct tape where it was coming apart on the bottom near the seat. All of which could be covered with a little creativity. Asking price - $125.



Here we have a hanging wine rack - $10 at the Salvation Army.



Today when I was out and about I decided to skip on this cute little lamp shade that was going for $3 at the UCLA Thrift Store.



I also passed on a pair of 70's style sugar and flour containers, white with a brown floral pattern ($5), a rough piece of desk with great form that had seen better days ($10), and due to transportation and fear of breaking glass I had to let the sweet little vanity that I probably would've kept go ($150). But I did get this adorable scallop chair that fit it perfectly.



More to come on the things I actually did buy tomorrow.

The piece that got away

It's almost been a week since I started to blog, and I've found that it can be a tough business coming up with something worth putting to text on a daily basis. Fortunately, a day hasn't gone by that I haven't visited a thrift store and so those nights that I've gone to bed wondering what I could possibly blog about again the following night have easily been put to rest.

Today was no different, I headed to the valley to pick up some free hooch that was sent to my boyfriend's old place of business and thought I'd hit up some new thrift stores before floral class. The hooch happened to be on Victory three long blocks from Sepulveda where my all time favorite Salvation Army is, naturally I stopped by for a visit, and by-the-way tomorrow (Friday) is 50% off day. I left with some Bric-Brac and a couple of skirts and I found that I really prefer it on Tuesday when the entire store is 30% off, and even more on the first and last Friday of the month when the entire store is 50% off.

It's a semi-tragic experience to find a piece of furniture that makes your head spin it's so good and to come to the conclusion that you simply cannot buy it. This happened today 30 seconds after I walked into SAVN. There it sat, a long, white table with eight perfect floral print blue chairs gathered around it, looking like the only table I want to sip champagne at during afternoon brunch, and yet I could not buy it. This has nothing to do with money, although if it had then money may have been a problem, and it has nothing to do with size, I would've made the two trips it would've taken to get it home, it has to do with... size. There is no way I could fit that pretty piece in my little 8x8 booth, just no way. So I took a picture to share with you and maybe find out what you would've done - would you make it work?

I thought I could store the piece, in fact, maybe I could store a couple of pieces and keep a book in my stall with photos, that way if anyone were interested they could just give a call and set an appointment. Maybe I'll work on that. Maybe I'll head back tomorrow when the store is 50% off and buy the dang thing - I'll let you know.

Day One

A couple of things: one, I don't know what I'm doing and two, it's fun. I started this blog four days ago and for you eleven readers out there, thanks, I'm having a blast. Initially my plan was, well, non existent, but it certainly did not involve sharing my ventures, but thanks to the one person that randomly commented on my blog I became motivated to tell my friends, and friends, I love you.

Today was the day, I woke up early, 6:00a.m. early, for reasons that don't pertain to this blog and I headed to The OC, car loaded with goodies. Fortunately for me my uncles employ a lovely man named Tony who unloaded that awfully heavy desk from my car and kindly moved it to my "antique" stall. Not only did he do all the hard work but he even cleaned the desk up for me and filled in that nasty gauge with something that made it not-so-nasty.

I made two trips to Home Depot and both times I bought items that need to be returned. Not only did I not know what I was buying but I don't know that I have ever felt so out of my realm - "I don't know, I need one of those L things for a bookcase, you know, they keep it steady against the wall" - seriously, the looks I received were priceless.

But everybody was so helpful and so nice, from Tony, the guy who sells goods he finds on the street in the Antique Station alley way, and who used to "live on the street", to the dude with Ray-Bans and a Hawaiian shirt directing me to pegs, at "the end of the isle and three bays down". Jason found the proper L-thingy (yes, L-thingy) and steadied my bookcase and Mary, the manager, seems like a pretty nice lady.

My booth is sparse. I'm shocked that my car packed full with nearly everything I have barely made a dent in that tiny 8x8 booth, but really, it barely made a dent. Check out the photo above, that's only HALF the booth, and it's nearly ALL of my stuff. I still need to bring some clothes, shoes and purses down, a couple of home ware goods and the Baker's Rack, but for now that's it.

I haven't decided if I'll head down again this week or if I'll wait until next, but I guess that's the beauty of it - it's for me to decide.

Salvation Army

I realize that what I'm buying I am significantly marking up, but as with any art (yes, I consider a good eye an art) there are those times that you just may not make a dime, today was not one of those days. Today I hit up the Van Nuys Salvation Army and let me tell you, it kicked ass. I left with a bag, a big bag, full of goodies and a pretty blue, round lamp for $20.08.

It's safe to say that if you're looking to turn a buck thrift stores are not the way to go - wake up early to hit the yard sales, head to a flea market, or as referenced in last nights blog scour the free section of Craigslist, but as a friend who's been doing this for years told me "thrift stores SUCK". That is except for the Salvation Army - the Van Nuys Salvation Army.

The most expensive thing I bought today other than the mid-century style desk with lock and key in-tact for $28 from the gold mine that is VNSA, was the retro cup holder pictured above - it was $8.40 and it came from a not as great Salvation Army in Canoga Park. Please note that it came from the "collection" section, a different cash register, a different room, displaying over-priced items. Fortunately this little treat was discounted 30%, the entire store was discounted 30%, in fact both Salvation Army's were discounted 30% - it was senior day and apparently I'm a senior!

I should probably explain that I did in fact leave thrift store heaven with a big bag and a round lamp, during which time I kept asking myself if I should return for the desk. Return for the desk I did. After much questioning, after sending a picture to my good friend and vintage connoisseur Julie Gollins and deliberating with her via text I decided I could throw the $28 down to see what comes of it. So far, no regret.

Tonight the desk sits where Josh left it, in my car, waiting for miss muscles here to make it magically appear in my stall. Tomorrow is it, I pack up and head to The OC with my VW treasure chest loaded to the gill, and then I wait.

Free

Another late night weeding through Craigslist, this time I went for it - FREE. What I thought would be complete junk resulted in some interesting finds, some good, some strange, some good to know and others... junk. I found free yarn, a lot of it according to the women who never followed through with her soon faded passion for knitting; free used doggy chew toys, I understand that it's a dog but something about that is gross to me; a free BOAT, it doesn't come with a trailer and there's no picture but it's a boat; and if you're looking to landscape your yard go here first there's sand, and gravel and dirt - tons of dirt, and plants; and plenty of wood, I feel a beach bonfire coming on soon. And then there's the "curb alerts", people just toss their stuff on a curb and hope it finds a new home, they post the address on craigslist and the race is on.

Around 10:00pm this evening I fell for a curb alert posted only 15 minutes before, I begged my boyfriend Scott to go with me, after all I would need help loading that "Trunk (Heavy, dark, antique looking)" that I was certain would still be there. An hour after the post we pull up at 1522 Michigan avenue and nothing. I am shocked, I circle the street like a stalker, creeping around until finally I'm convinced that someone beat me to the scene. But I'm not the only one, in the two minutes it took me to leave I saw two other cars creeping and turning, stopping and going, and I realized then that an hour is a long time in the "CL" world.

Stuff

I love stuff. Specifically old stuff, stuff for the house, designy stuff, cute stuff, 50's stuff or anything with nostalgia. I recently got a stall at the Antique Station in the Orange Circle, in the city of Orange, in the county of Orange just off Glassel. My stuff is being sold there. Here I am blogging about my stuff, stuff I keep and stuff I sell. It's not easy for me to sell my stuff, everything I buy I love. I've vowed to only buy stuff that I would keep in my house, stuff I would wear and stuff I hate to part with, that way if I can't sell my stuff at least I'll be happy with what I have.

I question myself a lot so even if I love my purchase I may still be nervous about it, and I'll blog about that and we'll see what happens. And if I love something too much I may just mark it up like crazy, and we'll see what happens - like the kick-ass fondue pot I recently bought, really, I don't know how I can part with it. Or the chipped pottery - I've never owned pottery. And if those camel suede shoes fit it'd be very, very tough.

I'm always on the hunt, for cool, for kitschy, danish modern, great dresses and shoes, and kitchen stuff, I love that nostalgia 50's mom with the apron and the dress, I love my apron, I love to cook and to entertain, and to be crafty. My Nana and I have the same style, what I have of hers I am fortunate to have - I wear my Nana's jewelry, I use her vases for my flowers, and her dishes for my food. I like birdies, and bright colors, and clean lines.

I like to hear what people think and get ideas from them. I'm always looking for a good thrift store, a good yard sale, a deal. I'm blogging about my stuff because I think it'll be fun, and if anybody decides to read this and wants to buy my stuff let me know. Some stuff I sell, some I could be persuaded to sell and there's some I just can't get rid of.