Treasure Found Running Fall Roads

Running fall roads in the literal sense is not a part of my workout routine.

I prefer to burn calories and run up the pedometer by running fall roads in search of seasonal and holiday decor pieces to pull the fall~Thanksgiving decorating theme beautifully together.

running fall roadsElle Decor 

You’d be surprised how many steps you take walking around antiques malls, curiosity shops, and the local pumpkin patch.

pumpkin=patch=Wednesday

Getting into the spirit of Halloween and Thanksgiving decorating when the crisp fall temps and colors continue to elude Central Louisiana is challenging.

Are you seeing and feeling the fall of it all in your corner of the world?




pumpkin=patch=Wednesday

I spent the better part of last weekend scrolling through ebay and Etsy listings in search of a vintage James Keiller & Son’s Dundee Marmalade crock and other vintage items currently on my wishlist.

I absolutely hate when a seller lists an item with a decent price only to make up an insane profit difference by charging a ridiculous amount for shipping.

Dismayed, I gave up the online search and set my sights on visiting two new shops on the local scene.

vintage-rolling-pins

I set the alarm for a crack of dawn a.m. ready to roll wake-up call.

The weather was set to nasty; the effects of Hurricane Nate in the air.

I was armed with short sleeves and an umbrella.

Where is this fall season you speak of?

vintage-Jergens-lotion-bottle

The first shop was booming, loaded with merchandise, and one I will return to.

I did not know I was in the market for a vintage Jergens lotion bottle, but when I saw it I just had to have it.

That happens a lot in my antiques and vintage shopping.

baby-shoes

Our nephew and his wife became first time parents in August.

With that in mind, I snapped this pic, added a couple of special effects in PicMonkey, and sent it to the parents of Wyatt James.

Dundee-Marmalade-Crock-Jar

Not long into my shopping excursion at the second shop, I scored big time.

Listening to good music and chatting with fellow treasure hunters,  I was in the zone.

I noticed a small booth full of glassware and whatnots.

I think my heart skipped a beat when I spotted the vintage James Keiller & Son’s Dundee Marmalade crock.

The thrill was in the find, but the deal was in the price.

ironstone-pitcher

It’s hard for me to resist adding to my pitcher collection.

Fifteen minutes in and I had already found two fabulous pieces.

That’s a good sign when you are treasure hunting.

vintage-bowl

I’m always on the lookout for small decorative bowls to use as jewelry and lipstick holders.

I liked the pattern and colors of this porcelain shaker enough to add it to the shelf for use as a loose face powder shaker.

powder-shaker-vintage

A gallery wall can never have enough small framed prints upon it.

framed-print

Holiday menu planning and recipe developing means staging appetizing and appealing settings for show and tell photos.

salt-pepper-shaker-set

Assorted ironstone plates, a brown and white Staffordshire vegetable bowl, and an ooh la la set of salt and pepper shakers are categorized as a must.

flea-market-finds

In anticipation of the upcoming holiday shopping season, our regional chamber of commerce is running a new promotional campaign inviting residents to shop local.

After this successful treasures found running fall roads shopping excursion, that won’t be a problem.

love your style

Auctions, Estate Sales and Antiques Treasure Hunting

Auctions, estate sales, and antiques treasure hunting expeditions write the latest chapter of my how I spent my summer vacation story.

Auctions, estate sales and antiques

Antiques auctions are my thing.

From start to sold, I love the workings of the antiques auction machine.

Dave the Builder and I have clocked many an hour in old barns, metal buildings, old storefronts and convention halls in hope of acquiring antiques and vintage furniture and accessories up for auction.

When live and in person isn’t in the bid cards, absentee bids are in order.

One of my very favorite auction houses, Gallery Auctions, Inc. invites absentee bidding, offers quality merchandise and is known for superb customer service.

cutting-boards

In the market for an antique bread or cutting board, I searched the listings with gotta have it success.

I placed absentee bids on several boards to cover the spread, and was thrilled to receive the phone call that I won the bid I really, really wanted.

The board is big, aged, perfectly worn and rich in patina and provenance.

Score!

bread-board-antiques-auction

Attending the highly anticipated local estate sale recently held less than one block from the Places In The Home abode turned out to be a good decision.

This particular estate sale was a treasure hunting must- one where quality meets quantity.

The bamboo light fixture immediately caught my eye, piqued my interest and held my attention.

foyer-chandelier

First day sale prices can send a wave of sticker shock throughout the antiques dealers, estate sale aficionados and interior design and decorating community.

The word on the tree-lined street signaled high prices ahead.

The price I was comfortable paying did not square with the sellers initial asking price.

I told myself if it is meant to be it will be, and waited for the next day price negotiations.

Holding firm with an offer does not always work out for the best, but in this case it did.

foyer-fixture1

Dave the Builder rewired the fixture, applied two coats of gloss white lacquer spray paint and here we are.

You’ll see this image again in a post I’m working on detailing more decor updates.

horseshoe

Horseshoe Bossier City Hotel and Casino

He said, “I need a vacation.”

She said, “Can we go auctions, estate sales and antiques treasure hunting?”

dare-day-clubDo we dare take a gamble on basing our vacation destination on past antiques inventory buying successes?

I’m willing to roll the dice if you are, Dave.

He said, “make the reservation.”

She said, “win, lose or draw, I’m ready to go.”

vintage-book

The who, when, where and what anticipation of discovery is the common thread between vacation getaways and treasure hunting .

painted-drawer-chest

First stop on the treasure hunting train: Kings Antique Mall.

The gotta have it list for our auctions, estate sales and antiques treasure hunting trips includes requests from clients as well as items for my personal collections.

A hold tag on the two drawer chest dashed my hopes for ownership, but it gave me an idea for a piece already in inventory.

painted-green-chest

Inspiration is everywhere.

applique

antique-butter-dish

I am always fascinated by the nouns of life and how we draw home decor inspiration from them.

Violets remind me of my maternal grandmother, and memories drive the antiques business.

violet-plate1I almost overlooked this small violet adorned dish while shopping at Antique Shoppes at 1100 Barksdale, but luckily spied it sitting pretty atop a dusty shelf.

It currently resides on my bedside table as a holder for my reading glasses.

sheep-statue

statue

Hitting the copper jackpot at Antiques on Gladstone.

vintage-copper-kitchen-utensils

I love when an entire city block is home to antiques shops.  Kid meet candy store.

Finding the hotel silver dome put the cherry on the treasure hunting cake.

silver-dome-Shreveport

face-vasesWe are home sweet home again.

framed-needlepoint

Now comes the fun part.

Love your style!

 

 

 

A Most Fetching Friday 6

This Fetching Friday 6 features setting colors, fashionable words, traditional English style fit for fall, ooh la la in the kitchen, and a visual testament to a love of antiques.

fetch·ing

ˈfeCHiNG/

adjective

adjective: fetching

attractive.

synonyms: attractive, appealing, sweet, pretty, good-looking, lovely, delightful, charming, prepossessing, captivating, enchanting, irresistible

sunset

Being optimistic is always in fashion.

ff-be-optmistic-badgeBe Optimistic Felt Badge – Best Made Company

Open the window and let the air of fall weather in is coming to a cool morning and crisp afternoon near you soon.

fall-breakfast-areaArchitectural Digest

Leila Lindholm’s fabulous French inspired kitchen complete with eclectic extravagance with the accent mark on love the look!

ff-eclectic-kitchenSkonahem

A fascinating combination.

pretty-things-Kate-Spade

Never underestimate the decorative presence, power and inspired influence brought forth by the use of antiques and eccentricities in design and decor.  A point well made in the home of Houston antiques dealer Kay O’Toole as featured in Lonny Magazine.

plates-on-wall

I hope you have a most fetching Friday 6.

Love your style!

A Most Fetching Friday

This Fetching Friday 2 features antiques, words in the key of life, black and white statement pieces and an undeniable pop of pucker red in iconic Hollywood glamour via “The Look”, Lauren Bacall.

fetching-definiton

demiluneSmall Space Decorating via House Beautiful – photo by Jonny Valiant

Hollywood in KodachromeHollywood in Kodachrome by David Wills, Stephen Schmidt

outdoor-pumpkins Gorgeous entry in fall splendor via The Scout Guide

transitional-kitchenTransitional Kitchen by New York Interior Designers & Decorators David Scott Interiors 

chic-black-and-white-living-roomsStunning Statement via Simplified Bee

pillow-H&M

Through the Years via Sweet as Candy

I hope yours is a most fetching Friday.

Love your style!

A Most Fetching Friday

fetch·ing

/ˈfeCHiNG/

adjective

adjective: fetching

attractive.

synonyms: attractive, appealing, sweet, pretty, good-looking, lovely, delightful, charming,prepossessing, captivating, enchanting, irresistible

Places In The Home is an interior design and decorating show and tell. Goodness knows I have met the tell quota, so let’s concentrate on the show part of all this with a new blog series, A Most Fetching Friday. Architecture, interiors, design, antiques, travel and food will be the subjects featured in fetching Friday images.  Enjoy this debut collection of fetching Friday images of eye-catching features found down Southern states way.

Traditional Kitchen by Knoxville Architects & Building Designers Home Design Elements LLC

deeringantiquesahlmiamicircle_002Dering Antiques – Atlanta, Georgia via Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles

foxgloves-antiquesahlmiamicircle_015Foxglove Antiques & Galleries – Atlanta, Georgia via Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles

new-orleans-restaurant1St. Lawrence in the Vieux Carré – New Orleans, Louisiana

lemon-icebox-pieLemon Ice Box Pie – Food & Wine

Bill PaxtonDishing with Texas-born Actor and Director Bill Paxton via Southern Living

fetching Friday imagesMain Street Revival – Garden & Gun

I hope you have a most fetching Friday.

Love your style!

Diamonds In The Rough: Architectural Antiques

Dave the Builder frequently stops by our friend’s antiques shop for a cup of coffee, an antiques market analysis and to scan the inventory architectural antiques.

antique-store-rabbit-drinking-coffee

 Tiara Juzi on Unsplash

Each time he goes to the shop I remind him to keep an eye out for my lates

Corbels, pediments, light fixtures, porcelain signs, concrete statues, iron oddities, table legs, vintage doors- yes please!

Faux Metal Antiques Sign

Faux Metal Antiques Sign

Adventures in antique shops and flea market treasure hunting is like the box of chocolates Forrest Gump’s mama told him about- you never know what you’re gonna get.

Cinematic side note:  Harold Herthum, the lovely gentleman who played the doctor in Forrest Gump, was a dear friend of my father.
He was a true character on and off the screen.

More times than not Dave comes home empty handed, but last week he came home bearing gifts.

When Dave walked in with this lovely our conversation went something like this:

Dave:  “Is this what you’re talking about?”

Me:  “Yes indeedy!”

Dave:  “Do you know what it is?”

Me:  “I’m not really sure, but I sure do love it!”

Dave:  “It’s a bedpost.”

Me:  “Fabulous!”

Dave:  “What are you going to do with it?”

Me:  “Put a MacGyver on it.”

bedpost

Country Living

We’ve been known to buy a curiosity piece without an inkling of what it is. This is where the fun begins.

We channel our inner MacGyver and usually end up with a piece we love. The trick is to come up with a piece we love and hopefully a client will love.

antique-regency-mahogany-boat-shaped-canterbury (2) (1)

One afternoon Dave came home with what was once the bottom of a Mahogany Canterbury, sat it in front of me and announced this is going to be your new footstool.

He built up the top piece with foam and upholstered it, flat polished the Mahogany and casters, and left it at home almost an entire month before taking it to the shop.

Our finds tend to find a new home pretty quick upon completion.  It’s the nature of the business.

What are we going to do with the new find?  We’re considering cutting the post in half to make a pair of lamps.

burlap lamp shade

I love the balustrade column lamp Dave made a couple of years ago, and I’ve been wanting to replace the lamps in our bedroom.

Floor lamp with a marble base?

Decorative trim molding on the end sections of a kitchen island?

See how the creative process takes on a life of its own.

Do you have a love for diamond in the rough pieces?

 

Treasures,Trinkets and Trash: Flea Market and Antiques Shopping

Flea market and antiques shopping is all the rage, and why not?

antiques-sign

Flickr

Discovering fabulous finds from yesteryear or the quintessential pièce de résistance races the heart and feeds the soul of a true treasure hunter.

Many flea market aficionados regard Paris and the Les Puces de Saint-Ouen Market as the holy grail of flea markets – the epitome of ooh la la chic and vintage style.

Paris

As for flea markets here in the good old USA,  isn’t it always flea o’clock somewhere?

I’ve frequented the best of the best- the rusty, chippy, in need of tender love and repair cream of the flea market crop.

Louis-Vuitton-vintage-luggage-stacked

Lonny Magazine

My one and only item purchased from a Paris flea market is a vintage Louis Vuitton suitcase.

Factoring in the signs of age, gentle use and the honey patina,  this piece is a keeper.

Louis-Vuitton-luggage-soft

Dave the Builder brokered a deal for this little goodie as a surprise Christmas gift.

A  fellow interior designer friend of ours purchased the suitcase for her husband while antiquing and fleaing in Paris.

Louis-Vuitton-luggage-monogram-1

Now don’t hold me to it, but this Louis Vuitton suitcase may just be the closest I ever get to an actual Paris flea market.

It is a dream trip on the list, but in the meantime the finds this side of the Eiffel Tower satisfy the decorative joie de vivre.

Darryl Carter for Benjamin Moore

Darryl Carter – Benjamin Moore

If there is a better way to spend a weekend afternoon than perusing the antique shops of south Louisiana I’ve yet to find it.

Louisiana-Mississippi-map

It’s a wonderful substitute for an afternoon in Paris and only a couple of hours from my driveway.

GPS in this case stands for Grand Paris Style, and we’re off to become lost in the European flair of decorative furnishings and continental treasures. 

antiques okl

One Kings Lane

Antiquing and fleaing at flea markets is a weekend ritual of absolute bargains and beauty in the eye of  the treasure, trinkets and trash beholder.

The appeal of flea market and antique shopping  is rooted in curiosity, appreciation, vintage love, and the art of the deal.  Avid, seasoned, and even novice flea market treasure hunting and antique shoppers know of what I speak.

Do you brake for antique and vintage treasures?

love your style

Formal Dining Chairs and Primitive Dining Tables

Formal dining chairs and primitive dining tables alone catch the eye, but when paired together the outcome qualifies as visually fascinating.

peach-pink-burgundy-wedding-inspiration-kelly-oshiro-elizabeth-messinaSBChic- Pinterest

Fabulous, by my design definition, is being anything but in accordance with the usual requirements or customs.

Pairing formal dining chairs and primitive dining together brings about conversation and focal point contrast, giving the space a unique personality- the quintessential element of design and decorating.

I highly recommend seizing every opportunity to show and express personal style through home decor and home furnishings in an original way.  

There’s a place and a time for keeping with well, that’s the way it’s always been done, so…  

The cure for decorative complacency can be found in the mixing of styles. 

Geschke Group Architecture

Geschke Group Architecture

Flattering in presence and stunning in design execution, the pairing formal Louis XV-style dining chairs with a 19th-century French farm table is a stroke of tasteful genius.

french-country-farm-table-dining-room

House Beautiful

As showcased in Atticmag,  formal Chippendale dining chairs paired with a primitive three plank farm table equals a comfortable formality that steps out of the expected comfort zone.

farm-table-paired-with-formal-dining-chairs

The first primitive dining table I purchased was at an antiques auction in 1999.

farm table Jan Jones LLC

Jan Jones LLC

Dave the Builder and I previewed like it’s 1999 the night before the Saturday afternoon auction, and as my eyes zeroed in on the mark, a late 1800’s primitive harvest table in pristine condition, my antiques loving heart began to race.

Dave the Builder, who questioned my judgement, thought I was crazy as I wrote the item number down in my notebook.

“Why do you want a picnic table?”  he asked.

elegant-refusal-dining-room (1)

Country Living

That picnic table, which I won at the auction, turned out to be a magnificent addition to the Hopefully Classic inventory.

It sold within the week, and remains the primitive piece that got away.

I definitely regret selling it.

Mix Match Chairs

One Kings Lane

The next year we purchased a late 1800’s Cypress farm table.

The grayish patina threw me a curve in the pairing department.

I recently brought in a set of six Mahogany Regency Sabre leg dining chairs, not really knowing what piece to pair them with, but knowing I could not pass them up.

Dave the Builder was arranging items, and I was with a client so I was not paying much attention.

Dave had placed the chairs around the farm table and the look blew my mind.

The woods, patinas, and styles played perfectly off each other and hit a note of design accord.

The set sold the next week.

The Regency dining chairs and Cypress farm table were great stand alone pieces, but when matched together the look was flawless.

farm-table-houzz-2

Austin Architect

Dave the Builder and I were drinking coffee one evening and found our conversation focused on a recent buying trip. 

Authentic antique farm and harvest tables are becoming more scarce and prove difficult to locate.  

Artisans, custom wood and furniture makers, and DIY aficionados are rising to the occasion to produce gorgeous interpretations and meet demand.

Dave the Builder has built farm tables for 4 of our clients.  

Our school of thought is to introduce a new twist on an old way of doing things. 

One custom table was built from Victorian square grand piano legs and Louisiana reclaimed Cypress planks. 

He dry brushed the piano legs with paint to match the patina of the Cypress. 

The table now resides at a cattle ranch in West Texas.  

Talk about formal meets primitive!  

antique-farm-table-paired-with-rattan-chairs

Country Living Magazine

The table featured below is the most current one he has built. 

We purchased the antique legs and married them to our first choice, Louisiana reclaimed Cypress planks. 

The  patina is achieved with a two step process. 

He begins with a dark stain application until the desired patina is reached.

The  formal introduction was complete upon returning from a friend’s antique shop with the finest set of six formal white washed wheat back rush bottom dining chairs.  

A designer friend scooped the set up for a client.  

The chairs did not stay in the shop long enough for me to photograph.  

I like that!

The final step is the trick.

We recommend and use Johnson Paste Wax. Available at hardware and home improvement stores, Johnson Paste Wax gives furniture a safe, hard, and protective  finish with a soft luster.

Don’t be afraid to blend formal with primitive pieces.

The contrast surprises, complements, and is easily capable of becoming the focal point of the space.

Love your style!