Antiques shopping with a friend

My friend, Judy from Gracious Southern Living, came up to Birmingham from Montgomery last Friday for a day of shopping and lunch. Judy and I met two years ago when she started reading my blog and emailing me. We became fast friends and finally got to meet up in person last year. We totally hit if off and I wish she lived here so we could get together more often. She has a son here in Birmingham as well as grandchildren, so gets up here pretty often and we always have a great time together. This day was no exception. It’s always fun to browse the antique stores with a fellow hunter who loves bargains and vintage as much as I do. We hit a couple of them, with lunch at Chic-Fil-A and made a day of it. I don’t think either of us bought anything, but it was fun looking!

Someone mentioned my top, so I have to come back and tell you this. I found it a couple of weeks ago of course, when I was yardsaling. For $1! and the cropped pants I already had (not Lili's though). I'm so drawn to this lime green color and have found so many things in it from the yardsales.

This is at the Hoover Antiques Gallery, a great place to look. They seem to have more upscale things and French and English collectibles. This is where I found my great chest of drawers last year.

This was a beautifully redone bedroom collection that has been painted black and distressed. We both loved it! Gorgeous Frenchy set.

I loved how this rice bed had been painted black too. What an update for an old classic!

Another beautiful old headboard.

How about this Empire chandelier, I think that’s what it is.

And this is Robyn’s booth, who I met at the Preserve Jazz Fest. Hope she does well with it!

Beautiful barley-twist leg table.

Old shabby aqua cabinet. Prices here are pretty steep.

Loved the way this one was painted.

Birdcage

So pretty aqua tole platter. I just love this color, but sure don’t need to start another collection. I already have black.

Old shabby cabinet.

Aqua lamp. Can you tell how popular this color is right now? It’s everywhere.

Now, moving on to Consigning Interiors in Pelham, this place is a treasure trove too, with very affordable shabby pieces. Lots of vendors in here and a very popular spot for antiquing. In fact, I was in there a few weeks ago and met one of my readers, Elizabeth, who has a booth in here. She was so sweet and gave me a green plate to go with my collection. Thank you and the other ladies there who read my blog! I told her I would be back to do a post on this fun place.

Prices in Consigning Interiors are very reasonable. If you get a chance to check out either of these places, do! You’ll really enjoy it.

Thanks, Judy for another fun day of shopping! I'll look forward to the next one.

On a special note: Today is mine and Peter's 4th wedding anniversary. If you'd like to take a peek back at our anniversary 2 years ago and how we met, click here for some wedding pics. We have a special dinner out planned tonight and I heard something about flowers arriving here at our house today. :)

Flea Market Shopping

This blogworld has opened so many doors to special friendships these last 2 years for me and one of them is dear Layla, that you probably all know and love too, from The Lettered Cottage. If you haven’t visited her yet, you really must. She is talented, sweet, and so genuine and we got to finally meet up in person this week for a day of antiquing and lunch, after chatting online and on the phone these last few months.

She is exactly as I knew she would be and I just love this girl and am cheering her on from the sidelines. Isn’t she gorgeous? She’s as beautiful inside as she is outside. We met up in Montgomery, AL at the Eastbrook Flea market which is very close to her and about and hour and 1/2 from me.

We had lunch next door at a wonderful Thai place and this is Cathy from the area who also joined us for the day. She’s a sweetie too and we all had a great time chatting and browsing. Meeting other bloggers is just like meeting an old friend, truly!

So, come on along for a little antiquing with us. I spotted this really great looking bamboo bakers rack that was so pretty and only $119, a great price I thought. I racked my brain trying to think of where I could put it and came up empty.

I could see this in a big bathroom filled with fluffy towels and containers of bath stuff. Someone needs to buy this! It’s a very unique piece.

Did you know they are making these old-timey gliders again? This set is new but in the old style. So cute!

Layla had spotted this piece already and I think blogged about it, but it’s a really pretty old looking island in that beautiful shade of blue that we all love.

Layla was checking out this iron candleholder, but decided against it. That’s the thing with antiquing. You pick things up and then put them back when something better comes along.

This old mantel caught our eye too.

And this booth made tables out of reclaimed wood that was very stylish.

Another reclaimed wood table all set for spring.

I found a pretty black and white toile chair that I really loved and had to try out.

Can you see why I loved it?

Layla and I both loved this old window made into a coffee table. Isn’t that the neatest piece with the letters on the wood piece inside too?

All I got were 2 white pieces to add to my collection, a planter on the left and a cute rustic mixing bowl on the right, so I only spent $7.

Fun day, great friends! Doesn’t get any better.

New Treasure: Corner Cabinet

After seeing that cute corner cabinet at the other antique mall that Grandma and I visited, I was determined to see what else was out there before I made a decision. So, a quick jaunt through the Chelsea Antique mall uncovered this gem, all the way in the back of the store, hidden away in a corner. The perfect corner cabinet for my kitchen. It’s the right size and I love the simplicity of it, especially the glass-front doors which will be perfect to display more of my dish collection.

So, I’m painting it creamy white (working on it today). It’s not a fine piece of furniture, but very sturdy and it’s all wood (maybe some plywood in there, but still very solid). Not particularly pretty the color it is currently, I think it will be a standout when I paint it.

This little gem was $125, not a bad price for such a big piece and I measured the space to be sure it would fit. You should have seen me and my neighbor hauling it home in her little SUV, with 10” of it hanging out the back. I sat back there with it holding on for dear life in case it decided to slide on out. You do what you gotta do to get these things home!

So, now it’s home and waiting to be loved on with a fresh coat of paint. Another project to get my hands dirty with, there’s a big smile on my face with the anticipation of making this lovely into a pretty little treasure. Funny how the lighting changes the color so much from the store to home.

Here it is after a coat of primer.

One coat of creamy white latex paint in eggshell. I’m using the same color paint as my dining room walls. I love to reuse paint for something else. These tiny foam rollers are the best thing to use on furniture in my experience. I’m loving this piece and really happy with the deal I got on it.

After one coat of paint. One more coat of paint to go and then I think I need to paint the back walls a different color. Picture creamy white with….what color? You know my walls are olive green. I was thinking either a brighter lime green or even some scrapbook paper would do the trick too. I’ve got red and black accents in the kitchen, but I’m really not sure what color? Lime green? Red? Maybe a black and white paper? Here’s my kitchen fabric:

Got some ideas? Throw them at me! Let’s fix this little cutie up into something really special. I've got to figure out how to get some lights inside where the glass doors are. I think I can put some tiny holes in the backing and maybe add some of those halogen puck lights.

Anyone else using Blogger having problems with Scheduled Posts? I always schedule my posts in advance and that feature has not worked since Saturday. I checked Blogger Help and several others are having the same problem, just thought I'd ask ya'll too.

Don't forget the Spring Fluffing party coming up Wednesday (click on the button for more info). I've got to get busy and do something cute to my foyer table! Hope you'll all join in the fun and show off your spring finery.