In case you’re in the market for a luxury paddle ball set this spring, here you go.
Antique
Do you decorate with garlands? If so, are your garlands fresh or faux? I don’t seem to have much consistency with garland decoration. Each year brings something different depending on my mood, available time, and greenery selection. This year, we’ve opted for real garland (a mix of cedar and pine) around our front entrance and faux inside. We’ve outfitted both garlands with loads of white lights. Overall, I definitely prefer real greenery for both inside and out.
The garlands in these homes are a mix of real and faux, over-the-top and simple.
I have now acquired the two major pieces of furniture for my home office – the desk and bookcase (my office design plan is coming true!). Both pieces are absolutely stunning, and they make me so happy. Isn’t it funny how furniture affects us? Is it just me?
Although my office is still in a state of disarray, I love working in it. The light that shines in at this time of year is just perfect.
I now enjoy this view from my desk.
It’s not white! (And I won’t be painting it.)
My antique Italian armoire is 7 feet tall, and it fits all of my books (and more). The solid bottom of the doors hides my not-so-pretty binders and academic books, and I’ve been able to add trinkets and art among shelves of my non-academic books and magazines. I do quite like the wire front panels, but I can easily trade this out for glass, mirror, or fabric in the future.
Once I find a rug and modern light fixture, then my office will be just about complete.
So it seems that I’m on Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji every day. You, too? Please tell me I’m not the only one who browses these sites so frequently. One of the items that I’m the lookout for is a mirror…or more than one, in fact. I have some idea of where one (or several) may end up, but I’ll know more as soon as I see one that I love. Over the last few months, I have bought three mirrors at a fraction of what they might cost at a store and, more interesting for me, they’re all antique (and unique!).
Here are some mirrors that I’ve come across lately (in Ontario) on Facebook Marketplace.
I feel lucky to live so close to St. Jacobs. It’s a charming area in the Waterloo Region. The village has cute shops and excellent food. The Saturday market is vibrant and fun…with excellent food vendors. The Mennonite community is so unlike other areas of the region (e.g., the university sectors, the tech community). In addition to all of these great qualities, the antique markets are full of interesting items, and if you’re a collector of just about anything, I’m sure you can find something to add to your collection here.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a look around, and I’ve enjoying observing what’s “new” in the world of antiques.
I noticed white and non-white collections of:
- wood dough bowls
- felt pennants
- cake plates in every material
- Cloisonné
- figurines
- teacups (do these every go out of style?)
- pottery (including a lot of crocks)
- quilts
- portraits
- and more!
As I recently mentioned, now that I live in house that was built in 1908, I feel like I want to incorporate some old, charming, refined, beautiful pieces into our interior design. Yes, there will still be a lot of white and modern pieces (like lighting, I hope!), but I just feel like this home should not be filled to the brim with modern and shiny.
I’m not really spending time on one room at a time, but rather I’m going to use the approach of when I spot things we love, that we think will work in a room, and where the timing of the purchase is right, we’ll make the purchase. Slowly, we’ll build each room to our liking.
This approach is slow, yes, and it feels like I’m juggling things in the air a lot, but I also feel like it’s a bit hard to concentrate only on one room at a time. In addition, we don’t actually need anything (combing two houses means you end up with a lot of stuff!), but it’s moreso that we’re trying to add pieces to our existing collections that will enhance function and style in our new old home.
On top of all of this, I’m also practical and we do have a budget to balance. We do have to spend money on less fun things as we get settled – this week’s purchase was a water softener. Not so fun, but very much needed in Waterloo.
So, anyhow, I bought a beautiful antique desk a few weeks ago, which is setting the tone for my office. I think I would like to add a wood hutch/wardrobe to serve as a bookcase, and a new rug and light that keeps the room modern. I’m not yet sure about art. I know a lot of people loved the gallery wall in my first home, but I think a similar installation would overwhelm my new office, so it’s unlikely I’ll be recreating it. Besides this, some of the art has already moved to other areas of our home. The colourful rug is currently in my office, but it, too, feels like it’s overwhelming the space and doesn’t quite match the desk, so I’ll be moving it out soon.
With that, here are two options that I quite like at the moment.
