One Woman’s Junk…

I recently visited my niece (we’re the same age – long story) and every time I step foot into her house, I am overwhelmed by just how cozy, fun and unique her furnishings and decor are and as a result, I am immediately inspired to infuse my home with the same vibe.  She has a knack – or possibly even a genetic predisposition for finding gems among junk and sometimes using a little elbow grease to turn junk into gems.  Her home contains a mishmash of old and new pieces of furniture, hand made frames, hand sewn curtains, practical knickknacks and repurposed you-name-its.  Every piece serves a purpose and makes me ask, “What is the story behind this?”  And it’s not as if she has oodles of time and money to make these things happen – she is a mother of four who, with her husband, owns and operates a friendly, quaint (what did you expect?) restaurant in Baldwin City, Kansas whose decor is a mirror image of her eclectic home.  It is called The Mélange Apron.  She hand-sewed every napkin out of a different piece of fabric, each napkin ring is a matchless find she picked up somewhere along the way and the drinks are served in Mason jars.  And every decorative piece there, including the tables and chairs, are for sale.  Her attention to detail is incredible and again, she’s making all this happen in her home and restaurant while being mom of four little ones and boss of one big restaurant.  I am tired just thinking of it.

It just so happens that I am moving into a new house in a few weeks and so the timing of my visit with Kelsey could not have been better.  As I returned home, I pontificated on how I might be able to add some of what Kelsey’s got to my new abode.  At first, I went to a few stores looking for something Kelsey-esque, but quickly realized that the look I’m going for cannot be found in a store such as Target.  No offense Target, you are still my favorite place on Earth.  The vibe I’m seeking cannot be sold or bought in quantity – it has to be scavenged from thrift and resale stores as well as garage sales.  That is where Kelsey finds most of her treasures.

I emailed her to ask for some tips and also to tell her I found a quote in a home décor magazine that I felt summed her style up perfectly: “The best decorating looks like it happened over time,” it read.  So then I asked her, “How do I get that?”  She replied with, “If you want that eclectic look in your house you have to allow yourself to buy things… even if you won’t know what you will do with it.  Another thing is, let yourself be attracted to knickknacks or objects and then think outside-the-box – what could you use it for?  Could an old school desk be an end table by your bed, for example.  Could a strange jar you find be your pencil holder etc… Unique stuff fits so great in an older houses like yours soon to be – it’s got that ‘I have a story to tell’ feeling.”

Armed with Kelsey’s sage advice, I set out on a journey to find some gems for myself and my first stop included a store called “My Favorite Things” that I’d driven past a hundred times before and always wondered, “How does a place like that stay in business?”  But this time, I actually stopped, went in and excitedly wondered, “What could be waiting for me here?!”  It was basically a large room of stuff (okay yes, junk).  Some old and gross, but I knew this wouldn’t be easy and I would have to search until something hopefully caught my eye.  Needle in a haystack.  And there it was.  A vintage milk box – the kind people used to put on their porches back in the Milkman days.  It was love at first sight and triggered memories of friends’ houses that were lucky enough to have these during my childhood (yes, I was jealous over milk delivery – those shiny milk bottles – and what makes it even more asinine is that I hated the taste of milk).  I wondered, whose porch did this grace all these years and how long had it been around?  This is the story that Kelsey was talking about!  And then my next thought was, “What in the hell can I do with this?”  I wasn’t looking forward to starting a career in hoarding but I felt that I had to trust Kelsey’s advice to buy without having a purpose yet even if this thing sat in my basement for a while.  But before I knew it, I had a zillion uses for this thing!  It could be a flowerpot on our front porch, it could hold garden tools in the garage, it could be a step-stool or a little seat for a child or it could hold toys in my son’s room as an alternative to plastic tubs… yes, that was it!  This is exactly what I was going for – finding something with character AND a purpose and thinking outside of the… umm… milk box.  Sold!  The tag said $35, but I haggled the nice junk-man down to $20.  It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?  And no, I didn’t actually call him “Nice Junk Man.”

So, off I drove in my car with my first real find.  I felt a sense of pride that I had found this piece and that I was reusing something instead of buying anew.  I was hooked.  Next stop: a big, well-known thrift store in town.  Upon entry, I eyed a big, red rocking chair, sooooo Kelsey, I thought, but kept moving towards the back until I was stopped by a old-school, blue suitcase of sorts.  I didn’t know why I liked it, but I did.  I opened the latches and looked inside – it would be a perfect little storage case for a number of things – my son’s trains, my work stuff, magazines, etc.  And the price was right – $9.99.  On my way to the cash register, I found the section of kids’ books and after a quick perusal, I found a vintage Golden Book with the most amazing illustrations of children.  The phrases that went with them were slightly off and more and more the kids looked like they were all on LSD.  I envisioned some kind of odd wall art in my son’s toy room.  Regardless of how I would use this, I had to have it, regardless of if it induced nightmares.  And it was only $1.99.  Everything was paid for and then on the way out, a small, wooden bookshelf caught my eye.  It was the perfect specimen to be primed and painted a really bright color as an accent piece to a room – a useable accent piece (end table?) with a purpose.  And only $6.99!  I was making a killing here!

I took a few days off to collect myself for the last bout of thrifting (at least for a few weeks!) and this time I went to a place that not only sold used furniture, but also appliances, tiles, toilet seats, doors, window panes, bags of random doorknobs and other odd and ends.  It was like Goodwill’s version of Home Depot.  It was here that I spied my most valuable find so far.  It was a vintage school desk and it conjured up memories of my 6^th grade class – the only class in my life in which I sat in a chair like this.  I wondered who sat in it before me and why were there three holes carved in the desk?  I gave it a once over and knew I would find a place and purpose for this even if I didn’t know it yet.  All hail Kelsey!  I planned on staining it and having it in a little well-light nook in our new place.  A perfect spot to right a note, check some email or just sit and remember school days for only $20.  My new house was starting to have some character and it didn’t even know it yet.

I’ve found that finding treasures takes effort, a car larger than my Prius and a creative mind.  What I’ve come to understand is that if something speaks to you, find a way to use it – even if that means repainting or repurposing it.  Here are pictures of my goodies.  I hope they inspire those that want inspiration!

See!!  It’s awesome, right??!  Depending on where this thing ends up, I might paint it, but I do love the vintage writing and style it already has, so we’ll see.

Not sure if I’m gonna use this for Thomas, Percy, James and their friends or just a “Going to Grandma’s” bag for my kiddo.  Regardless, it rules.

See what I mean??  These kids look a little loopy!

Ready for some paint!  Will it be purple, teal, red, light blue, etc?  Yeah, probably a 95% chance of purple… I mean violet.

Before…

After!

Here it is.  My masterpiece.  I didn’t need to sand or prime it, just stained it and watched the transformation happen before my very eyes.  I love the rich brown color of the stain.  It even had gum under the seat (which I stained around and left intact).  I swear this is something I could see in the Pottery Barn catalog for $500.  I had high hopes that this would be a fun project for my son and I to do together, but after about 5 minutes, he made a beeline for SpongeBob Squarepants.  It was probably for the best with the intense fumes coming off of the stain, otherwise he might’ve ended up looking like one of those loopy kids that will adorn his toy room wall.