last night i got bit by the rearrange bug!  it actually started earlier in the day when i dashed in the antique mall to kill a little bit of time between appointments.  there.  the trouble began!

i don’t too often fall in love with furniture but as i came down the aisle, peeked in one of my favorite spaces, i saw it…a fabulous, perfectly chippy, blue hutch!  S.O.S.

i have way too much furniture as it is and the absolute last thing i needed was another anything!  and blue?  for crying out loud.  thankfully, i’m not opposed to introducing a single color to a room and then completely ignoring it.  plus, all that glorious chippy-ness was calling my name!

i measured it.  like that was going to make a difference!  and then i began to flirt with the possibility that i have a hutch-thing.  in the end, i was unwillling to acknowledge that!  i left as the sold tag was being taped to it!

i thought about having buyers remorse, but i couldn’t see any use in that…so i got excited and started thinking about where-the-heck i was going to put it!

that’s when the rearrange bug bit me…i decided i wanted to put it in my breakfast room.  that meant that i had to find a place for the hutch (don’t say it) that currently occupies that space.  it’s two pieces, so i took it apart and moved the bottom half to a wall in the den where i had a metal desk.  that worked, until i realized i didn’t have any place to put the metal desk…or the top of the hutch…and so it went…

i pushed things around…squeezed things in…stacked this & that and it all worked out!  and, now, i have the perfect place for my new hutch!  i was too freaked out to remember to snap a pic of the new hutch.  when i get it all *fixed* i’ll be sure to show you how fab it is!

in the process of all the shifting, i regrouped my mercury glass collection, added a superbly discolored ironstone platter behind it and fell in love all over again!

here’s the two piece hutch that i took apart…the mercury glass started out here on the shelf below the clocks…

the mercury glass…and the bottom of the hutch…find a new home on this wall…

now.  how to break the excellent news to the hubby….i know he’s going to be thrilled!  after all, chippy is his favorite word! 
i think…

can i tell you how great it was to pop in the Antique Marketplace yesterday!  what a luxury!

i had one quick chore to do in my space…plus…admittedly i was a wee bit curious!  i know.  it’s only been a few days since i moved in, but i’ve been shouting it from the mountain tops!  sure enough a couple of things sold!  ahh, that’s a good feeling!

anyway, the manager of the mall (who was not there tuesday when i moved in) followed me to my space.  and was extremely complimentary of the job i’d done!  he kept wanting to know if i had a degree in interior design or was i a graphic artist.  HUH?

no.  not me.  i have no education to brag about.  i have no formal skills or training.  i’m just ME doin’ MY thAng!

what i create in my space is a direct reflection of who i am.  and what i love.  it comes from my heart.  that’s it!

so he says to me: hey we have these two walls (that join two rooms of the mall) and we’d love you to rent them!  we want someone who’s good at merchandising and you’re great at that!

what?  me?  i don’t do walls…i mean, i’m great at covering them, but i completely stink at the next layer…what in the world would i do with two walls?

walls completely panic me.  i never have the right things to hang on them.  i’m always searching for something big that takes up a lot of space so i don’t have to think about it.  i always leave my walls for last.  procrastinating.  and then i have to gingerly (right.) place my foot in the middle of ironstone and vignettes that were carefully placed and lean and stretch to get something…anything…hung on my walls.

i don’t do walls.

so what did i tell him?   really?  me?  wow!  okay!   yeah, let me think about it.  uh-huh.  uh, but not before Marburger!

did i just commit to renting two walls?  crap.

but as the day wore on i got more and more excited!  I DON’T
DO WALLS.  that’s right.  and that’s exactly WHY i’m seriously considering doing these walls!

there go those marbles rollin’ around in my little blonde head!

man.  i am so tempted…

I love these RED Friday posts!  Sometimes I’m in panic mode because RED just wasn’t on my radar until Tricia started this, but now I’m definitely seeing RED!

I had these little kid scissors for sale in my space at Marburger last week.  They are really adorable all stacked up in an Ironstone gravy boat!  I sold one to a sweet lady who spent 15 minutes (not kidding!) agonizing and searching for the perfect pair! 

Personally, I don’t shop that way, but more power to her!

Happy RED…Happy Friday!

BURIED - IN – JUNK!

After getting home from the big *adventure* it took me a few days to recover!  Coming down from a shopping-high is far worse than coming down from a sugar-high!  phew!

Once I got my feet under me…I dove in!  Here are a few pictures of the abyss…ahem, the dining room!  I have a workroom upstairs, but I couldn’t fit all this JUNK any one place! 

plan of attack…upstairs with the Ironstone and downstairs with everything else!

Some of the Ironstone and boy don’t I just love it when I have like-a gazillion butterpats to price!

My little helper, cookie-cat, and the fabulous motel blanket that started all that sneezing!

I’ve managed to work my way through most of it!  I bet you can even see me smiling!

Don’t forget…last chance to leave a comment to be entered in the SweetTalk Halloween Package give-away!  A winner will be picked…tomorrow!  So…hurry…leave a comment!

I’m just not good at it!  Quite honestly, I simply don’t have the patience to frequent thrift stores!

BUT…..as of this a.m. I may very well be finding the time! 

I woke up this morning with this need to go and I had a sack of books to donate so why not!  And I scored…big!

first up….four Homer Laughlin platters….good, huh?

turned the corner and ’bout pee’d my pants when i saw this Ironstone washbowl…..

gravy boats aren’t hard to find and they all look pretty much the same, but i bought this one…just cuz!

next, i found this silver leaf dish.  i don’t know…could go either way!  i liked it better after i put it on one of the Homer Laughlin platters!

i found these the last time i went to a thrift store…remember…

guess what i found to go with them?

haven’t done anything with the fans….but thinking, along with the bells and some cute ribbon, they are going to be perfect on a Christmas tree!

That’s it!  Not bad for a girl who doesn’t DO thrift stores!  BTW….figured out the trick…..DON’T get a buggy!  Seems every time I leave the shopping buggy at the front door, I score!  Sadly, this time there was no cute basket to rescue me!

Comments, please!  I know you got something to say and I wanna hear it!  Besides, that’s the only way to get entered into the July SweetTalk give-away….Variety Gift Tag Package!

I made the drive to Rockdale last week to work on my space at Antique Queens!  I hadn’t been in a while and everything needed to be touched!

It was fun to move things around and re-do the walls!  Here are a few pictures of the finished product…

Love this child’s hutch in pink, no less! I leaned a gold frame against the top in hopes of disguising how cute it is…now, maybe no one will buy it!

If these legs don’t walk off by September then I think they will definitely be at Marburger!

Please pardon the glare…this is one my favorite things I did this time! I hung this great tray and then dangled adorable baby shoes!

Wide shot!

I’ll end with a few of the things I cherish: Ironstone, pink and words!

Up for grabs in the SweetTalk July give-away….a SweetTalk Variety Gift Tag Package!  The perfect finishing touch to all your gifts!  Just leave a comment on any of my posts and I’ll enter your name for a shot at winning!

I kinda have this flimsy rule in my life:  
                            be careful what you say out loud

I always think that people have a certain expectation when you say something out loud…like…well, you said it, now do something about it!  That’s not always the case. 

Sometimes I just like to carry-on about things and have absolutely no intention of doing one single thing about it! 

But there’s always that nagging in the back of my mind….gee, I hope soandso doesn’t think I’m gonna do something about that now…..

This is a case where I would sincerely appreciate it if you would step forward on behalf of my *addiction* and have a huge expection of me doing somethin’ about what I’m about to say OUT LOUD!

I gotta get it out there cuz if I don’t there’s a distinct possibility this particular piece will disappear amongst my collection never to be talked about again!  Except for the occasional ooh & ahh by me as I pass by it, dust it (right.) or, perhaps, show it off!

Here it goes…it’s that collection that I love more than chocolate…more than shoes….

Dare I say…it’s an IRONSTONE CAKESTAND!

Here she is in all her glory…..

scallops…i feel faint!  and she’s stamped!  help me!

My palms are sweating!  But here’s the kicker….the part I can’t stand….the part I reallyreally don’t want to say out loud…..

This cakestand…did I mention 12″ across and in excellent condition…WILL BE at Marburger this Fall as in September 28th!

There.  I said it…out loud!

This incredible compote sits in the middle of the table where we eat most of our meals.  Needless to say, it is one of my prized possessions!   Don’t mess with my Ironstone!

One evening we were dining on something I whipped up for dinner (delicious I’m sure!)……and I pointed to the compote and casually said to the husband ”Uh, you know this is old, right?” 

I don’t have to tell you the *look* I got!  So, in order to be sure he understood, I drilled my point home by saying “Well, I just didn’t want you to think I bought it at Target last week and it would, therefore, be OKAY with me if it broke.” 

Right. 

I don’t have to tell you about that *look* either.  Although no words were spoken…by him…I’m confident he GOT IT!

The day Cookie-Cat decided to chase her tail in the 100+ year old compote I couldn’t get my camera fast enough!  Yeah, you’re right, I wouldn’t be one bit mad at her if she broke it! 

Hey, that’s just life at my house!

Happy Red Friday and Happy Weekend!