For those of you who haven’t spent time in second hand shops you might be surprised by what you can uncover. Antique stores, thrift shops, and second hand boutiques can contain real bargains and hidden treasures and the anticipation of discovery is part of the fun. You never know when you will find a great deal or something unique . Most of my furnishings and accessories have either been hand-me-downs (I had a Grandmother with fabulous taste and the means to buy quality) or "previously owned". Even now when I have access to thousands of new products, I still like to try to keep or add something with a past to every room I decorate.
 |
| Some of my finds: A french chair, a vintage desk with a leather top, an antique iron lamp. Even the buttons on the chair's slipcover are recycled. |
Lots of decorators know the benefits of second hand shopping. One of my
favorite designers is Sarah Richardson, you may have seen her on HGTV, she often buys things
second hand for her design projects, even if that means rescuing furniture off of the curb. (Something I’ve done myself.) These reclaimed pieces are part of what makes Sarah's signature look. There can be great finds in second hand
stores, but be careful, good bargains can be found but it does take a good eye to recognize a diamond in the rough and a little knowledge to know an original from a reproduction.
Second hand shopping is all about finding things of value in unlikely places. Once I found a signed, first U.S. edition of Daphne du Maurier's, Rebecca, one of my favorite books, for $8! I found a large French etching in a cheap frame, covered in dust for $65. I have a pair of italian chairs with down cushions I purchased at a neighborhood antique show years ago. I paid $250 for the pair and they now sit in my living room. One of my favorite pieces is a simple mahogany tea caddy I paid $100 for the last time I visited my grandmother in upper New York state and we went antiquing in Rhinebeck. I could go on and on but you get the point. I don't always find something wonderful when I go shopping and neither will you, but I almost always come home with something I didn't even know I wanted.
A LITTLE FLUFF. . . .
I feel like I must make a confession. In my second blog, I shared with my readers about my secret lamp addiction. Well, recently I fell off the wagon. It wasn't my fault. My mother and sister suggested we go poke around a few shops after a recent lunch together. They are clearly enablers.
First, I talked my mother into buying an awesome vintage wrought iron light fixture for the living room in her adorable craftsman cottage. In my defense, she did love it and the inexpensive fixture she had in the house didn't do the room justice and this one was ON SALE!!
Just as I thought I was going to escape unscathed, I spotted it. Sitting on top of a six foot tall book shelf with a totally unworthy shade, was a Murano glass, gilt wood and iron lamp. I started to breathe a little faster, my heart started pounding, I heard music playing (but that could have been the store's sound system). Why was I so excited? Well, Murano glass is some of the finest glass in the world and even at wholesale prices, Murano glass lamps aren't cheap. This one was marked $235. I think my mother and sister were a little skeptical when I started gushing about how fabulous it was but all that time in dusty shops and hours spent reading design magazines and surfing the web told me it was something special. I asked the shop keeper if he could "do a little better on the price" even though it was already a bargain at $235. I ended up leaving the shop with my dusty lamp with it's too tall shade for $200. When I got home I did a little research. I found the same lamp for sale on Ebay for $1,200 and a similar lamp that had recently sold on 1st Dibs (a website for high end antiques).
Of course, I have no place to put it yet and I need to buy the right shade but I still feel an adrenaline rush every time I look at it. Being a Lampaholic is a struggle. Pray for me.
