The Victorians Might Have Loved Thrift Shopping

As I came away with a bundle of unique goodies from the Red White and Blue thrift store this weekend, I realized: the Victorians might very well have loved thrift shopping.

I mean think about it: they enjoyed changing up things in their homes regularly, and transforming hard furnishings with layers and layers of textiles...

They were big on mixed and matched furniture-- particularly those in the middle class who couldn't afford full sets, but who still wanted their modest homes to feel elegant...

Along those lines, these were folks who, if they couldn't afford an expensive bronze statue, were able to mass-produce a similar spelter or plaster one, at a fraction of the cost. They tried to evoke a mood in their homes, and did it cleverly within their budgets.
I see careful needlework tablecloths and tablerunners, and imagine them being snapped up by Victorian ladies who loved to layer, blown away that they themselves would not have to spend hours tatting that delicate edgework.
I picture ladies in rustling skirts scoping out the furniture section and wondering whether that tea trolley, with a lick of black lacquer and some careful decoupage, would look Japaned.

Or perhaps standing there considering whether a few souvenir plates from around the country would properly display that famed Victorian love of travel.

I envision silver trays and serving pieces being bought for so-civilized future get-togethers. "Imagine all of this," they would say, "and we don't have to wait for it to arrive from the Sears Catalog!"


And then I see them getting in their carriages and popping off to somewhere like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Tuesday Morning, or even Pier One... Debating on which plaster bust to choose, what mirror, which rug.

I see them pondering things inspired by-- or made in-- countries halfway around the world. The selection! The possibilities! And so much of it so reasonable! You could travel the world and still never leave home!

Of course, today we can evoke the same decorating principles in our homes of our Victorian ancestors and not have to wear corset while we do it. Right now, those tablerunners wait for that one person who loves detail to come and give them new life...

And the silver sits in stacks, hoping someone will someday have the time and inclination to give 'em a good polish and allow them to shine once more on the dinner table.

So many folks prefer streamlined surfaces now. Most of us don't have the time to dust all the things that would go into a a Victorian home.
So for those who love romantic decor of this type, you may just find there's very little competition for the things you adore. And that's funny because given today's economy, thrift stores are busier than ever, with people in every aisle contemplating their treasures-- no matter what those treasures might be.

Even younger people seem less afraid of the stigma of buying used. I heard a couple of teenagers in line behind me yesterday talking excitedly about how they found a particular designer item of clothing that, "you couldn't even touch this in a regular store during a sale... not even during a really good sale...This is crazy!"

So while the economy may be bad, in a way, it's a fortunate time we're in, folks. Those veterans of buying secondhand finally get a chance to openly say, "Hey, I knew about the wonders of thrifting all along!" Dare I say, we might even be on the cusp of being...(gasp!) trendy.

The Victorians would have liked that, too...

Though I imagine the carriage parking would be a serious pain in the bustle.

• If you missed last Treasure Box Wednesday, click here for quite a mix of fun finds.

And as for this coming Treasure Box Wednesday, I'll show you why an unusually late start in day's thrifting seems to have made absolutely no difference in my treasure-hunting success!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Hot Cup o' Good Fortune

After a few errands on Saturday, I set out on that gray, blustery day a-thrifting down Route 30.

Why does it seem when winds do howl and rain does pelt against the windows, there's comfort wandering around a brightly-lit thrift store or quiet antique mall? It's one of those times where, even if I found nothing, it's just fun to look.

But find things, I did! And I managed to hit a couple of really good sales, too. Like the 50% off of these already well-priced Carnival glass pieces at the Ligonier Fleatique...

I'm not sure how old they are, but you can't beat the rainbow of colors on them!

Speaking of colors, how about these excellent lusterware teacups from the Salvation Army? ..

Seeing them there together, I just knew they had to have come from the same lady's collection. Do you ever ponder things like that when you shop? What place the item held in someone's life before it arrived at the store?

At the Good Samaritan thrift store in North Versailles, I uncovered this pink 70s French glass serving bowl to match my set...

I like it because it looks so much like Depression Glass. And this time I was doubly thrilled because I'd missed out on this very style piece once at a different antique mall; they wouldn't sell it to me because it wasn't priced, which I totally understand. But the guy running the desk also didn't want to call and bother the dealer to find out how much it would be. Needless to say, it was a disappointing "No Sale" that day...

But it's all balanced out now!

I also got a great big bag of Shiny Brite ornaments from the Good Samaritan. It's really never too early to pick these bright li'l fellows up!...

At the L&L Fleatique in Adamsburg, I bought a nifty gift for one of my friends (I'll show you all that post-gift-giving, so as not to ruin the surprise for her.) And I got myself a small McCoy planter-- which was also on sale!

And lastly, following the grand tradition of my father's, which involves buying things he doesn't know what they are... I bought...

Um...

Something I don't know what it is.

It's definitely styled like my downstairs light fixtures, so it's probably from the Depression era. And it's done in the same airbrushed colors. But as for its function?...

Here is the back...
So what do you folks think? Did it come from some other light fixture? Or perhaps part of curtain tiebacks or rods?

Any and all suggestions appreciated and ready to be taken for consideration! As the thing was just seventy-cents at the UFO in Greensburg, I figured it was worth that just for us to mull it over.

Anyway, it's pretty, and you all know me-- I probably can make use of it somehow.

So that's it for today's Treasure Box Wednesday!

• If you missed Sunday's part two of the fireplace installation, that wraps up here.

Well, it's not precisely wrapped up, but I'll give you something non-fireplacey to read about on Sunday to mix it up more. I imagine that will be a relief to all of us. :)

Have a great week, friends, and I hope to see you Sunday.

Fireplace Fun: Part Two

When last we left the Great Fireplace Installation of 2009, most of the wooden trim had been attached, and the fireplace was getting an extra coat of paint...

Little did I know the unexpected challenges I would face!

The first one, was the molding which went around the frame itself. Even though the fireplace frame was built to its largest size, the top molding that came with it for some reason was still many inches too large to fit. Yes, I would have to cut it to size.

I cut it to size all right...

An inch size smaller than I needed it to be! So I had to cut an extra inch off to add in there, and putty over the oops. Sigh... and I thought I'd measured carefully, too!

I also puttied in places where the various molding pieces didn't fit together snugly...

Then I attacked the central place where the fire would be. I'd batted around a number of different ideas for this, but eventually decided on a sort of trick-of-the-eye paint job...

You can see it a bit closer here. Using black and brown paints, I painted a "floor" and a "brick" back for our chimney...

It's amusing to me, given the wall is really just plain plaster and concrete.

Well, that went quite well, I thought-- So I admit, I wasn't quite prepared to face the problem with the five-foot mantel shelf. Here it is. It looks nice, doesn't it?

And yes, it looks very nice there on the floor. But up on the fire surround brackets, where it's supposed to live, that was a whole other story. The five feet, apparently, of this five-feet surround is at its very largest part-- the top! Meaning, the slope to the base of it is nowhere near five feet.

As it was in a box-- a bit larger than five feet was that box, I might add-- I didn't even imagine that the base would be way too small for my fireplace. It looked a bit like that old Chris Farley Saturday Night Live skit, "Fat Man in Tiny Coat."

And with the next mantel size up being six feet, I wouldn't have enough room on either side of the mantel to fit that! What was a girl to do?

Well, a girl was to wander around too many stores looking for an answer. And staring at planks of wood. And checking out standard shelving and finding they came in four feet max. And staring at more planks of wood.

Eventually, I came across the only solution that would work...

Stop staring at the planks of wood, buy one, and cut it to size.
So here we are. With a simple mantel shelf and everything else just about in place. I have a few small finishing touches to do, and then I'll show you all photos of the full room once things are back in their places.

Lessons learned from the project?

• Always measure twice and don't cut wood when you're tired.

• Mantels are sneaky and are not to be trusted.

• Ibprophin can be an ambitious fireplace builder's best friend

• You can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it! (Also if you start at planks of wood long enough.)
  

I wish you all the best on your next project, and thank you so much, folks, for joining me on mine.

• If you missed the fireplace tale, part one, click here.
• And if you missed the goodies found last weekend, here's last week's Treasure Box Wednesday.

This coming Wednesday, I have some interesting goodies to share with you from some Saturday adventures... Because, really, sometimes a girl needs to get away from the fireplace....

Badly.