Organize Your Home Office Day

{type cabinet containing type ~ source}

{side view ~ source}

{repurposed type shelf ~ source}

INSPIRATION 2014 #70: Another holiday I knew nothing about ~ Organize Your Home Office Day! A good opportunity to share a great way to organize laces or ribbons. The letterpress shelves above are not as common to find as those shown below ~ also, as the spaces are narrow and different depths, they can be hard to work with. My sister gave me a shelf like those above ~ I have been using it for thin spools of ribbon, but l like the idea of using it for lace as is shown above ~ using it sideways is another clever solution.

{smaller type drawer}

 {type cabinet filled with bits and baubles}

The type drawers are a great way to organize small bits of ephemera, buttons, baubles and beads. Having these organized makes working with them so much easier ~ plus, keeps your workspace manageable. So, enjoy Organize Your Home Office Day ~ perhaps celebrate by organizing just one small area. If this is not your cup of tea, it is also World Plumbing Day, so you could celebrate that (I don't have any suggestions on how though) instead!

New Addition!

{photo taken by Sandra Bowe}

INSPIRATION 2014 #64: I was so inspired by this cabinet that antique dealer and friend Sandra posted on Facebook the other day, that I had to go and check it out - thanks Sandra! It is lovely ~ beautiful paint color and patina along with vintage hardware. Needs a bit of repair to the drawers, but once done, this will be such a great piece to keep my collections of ephemera, booklets, old photos, sheet music, and even lace all organized. Post with details coming soon!

Walnut 2012 ~ Part 1

{gorgeous green wicker hamper}

I cannot believe it has been more than 2 months since our trip to the Walnut Antique show AND it has taken me this long to do a post! Well, it has been a busier (and terribly hot & dry!) summer than I expected ~ or maybe the older you get, the more quickly time passes? I did take quite a few photos this year, so I will break them up in a couple of posts ~ the first being a theme of one of my favorites ~ drawers, cabinets, containers & organizers ~ or things that one can hide all their junk (or in my case, treasures) in! I really do love drawers and cabinets ~ if you'd like to see more go here.

I now wish I had looked at the price of this metal bucket for gathering olives or grapes ~ I love the look of these and just recently saw them for sale in an ad from Tuesday Morning for $50! The double decker metal grocery cart also caught my eye, but it was already sold ~ thereby preventing me from even considering it!

This large slatted wood bin would also make a great storage place for toys, quilts or just about anything ~ perhaps an ill-behaved child? We were interested in it as it was sturdy and made very well ~ the woven wire, canvas handle and metal hinged corners were nice touches. Not showing are the heavy duty wheels ~ a great industrial piece!

Then there were the drawers & cabinets ~ the dealers at Walnut always have lots of these to offer and drool over. Since I don't have ANY space left in my house, nor do I usually have a vehicle large enough for any of these pieces, I have no choice but to just take photos and dream about what could have been!

{primitive piece with surprisingly ornate handles ~ a nice juxtaposition}

In the right setting, this Tom's Toasted Peanuts cabinet would be so cool! It had just the right amount of paint loss and variety of colors on the fronts ~ plus it would hold lots of stuff. Wouldn't it be great in a boys' room as a place to keep clothing or books stashed away?

Now this was just a sign with an illustration of a hoosier cabinet, so I had to include it since it sort of fits the theme and I did like the sign.

My favorite and most impressive of all was this amazing four-sided revolving millinery store cabinet. I would DIE to have such a piece, but it was expensive, large and in pretty bad shape. I cannot imagine what it must have been like when it was first made ~ it had most recently been used in a hardware store to contain small pieces and parts, so much was taped over and broken or removed to accommodate the hardware.

In the top photo, if you look carefully, you can still see a few of the drawers have spool racks in them ~ the bottom photo shows a bit of the lovely craftsmanship and detail of this once most lovely piece of furniture. I'll bet some lucky person took this piece home and perhaps it will be restored to its original beauty ~ or at least cleaned up and enjoyed!

{carved wooden strip detail}

Above is a spool shelf I saw at Walnut. While I wasn't wild about this specific piece, I did like the detail of the doorknobs used as finials. One of my big purchases this year was 144 wooden spools ~ I plan to design a long spool shelf for behind my sofa, so I have been gathering research in addition to the materials needed. Now, I just need to carve out some extra time and figure out how to coerce my boyfriend into helping since he is the furniture maker in the household!

{beautiful antique boye sewing needle store display}

The last two combine two of my favorite things ~ organizers and sewing items. I am always drawn to these items and am amazed there is such a great variety, most of which is still affordable ~ it really makes them hard to resist! More to come........

Highlights from Roller Mills

As I haven't posted many antiques lately, I thought I would play a little catch up and share some images from a while back. As my parents live in Lewisburg, PA, whenever I visit them, a trip to Roller Mills Antique Center is always on the agenda as well. This time I only got a few photos as I was told they do not allow photography anymore ~ too bad, as I always think it is great free advertising for the mall and the dealers ~ maybe they will change their policy if visitors mention they saw mention on a blog!

This was a really amazing watchmakers cabinet ~ unfortunately it was in a glass case, so the photo is not so great, but I think you can still get the idea. This was also the last photo I took before I was told no photos, so I didn't get more than the one view ~ darn!

The above two images are of a freestanding Victorian Eastlake style book shelf ~ it would hold a ton of books in a relatively small area. Each shelf rotated as well, so you would be able to turn them as desired to pick the book of your choice. I think it was pretty reasonably priced, so I would have liked to get it, but getting it from Pennsylvania to Missouri would have been a problem.

As we entered the antique center, this wonderful water cooler was in the first booth ~ I guess it was really made for whatever muscadine punch is, but it would be a great piece to serve any sort of beverage in. I wonder if it was a store display for that specific drink ~ I've just never heard of that brand before.

I also spotted these beaded Christmas ornaments ~ they were also in a glass case, so again, apologies for the poor quality photo. At least the price tags (while they don't make my photo look good) were easily visible ~ it frustrates me to no end when you cannot see the tags or price of items when they are in a locked case and you have to go get an attendant to open the case. Unfortunately, more and more antique malls are using cases ~ most likely because of theft ~ a shame.

The Wooton's Patent Desk ~ The King of Desks!

Those of you who have been following along for awhile know about my fondness for anything with multiple drawers, nooks & crannies ~ here and here. When a woodworker friend of mine posted a photo of the Wooton Patent Desk on his FB page, I was totally smitten ~ I have never seen anything like this anywhere! I wonder if you came upon a piece of furniture like that shown below if you would even think to open it up?

Imagine finding this inside ~ I think I just might have a heart attack ~ especially if it was at a price I could afford! Guess I will keep an eye open from now on!

{images from here}

I did a bit of searching and located a few other examples that are shown below. I also found out a bit of history about the Wooton Patent Desk. This sort of desk was produced by William Wooton from 1870 through 1884 ~ it was called a "secretary desk" and its function was to organize any sort of office paperwork. These desks were expensive at the time (and now!) and only the wealthy could afford such a piece of furniture. The craftsmanship and details on these pieces is just amazing ~ I especially love the different ways the little drawers were designed ~ ie. the addition of numbers or the drawer pulls.

{images above from here}

{images above from here}

I love that this piece of furniture was advertised as "The King of Desks" ~ I can't imagine that there was much competition! Another of the advertising slogans used for the Wooton's Patent Desk was that it was "A place for everything & everything in its place" ~ nice to know where that saying originated!

{image & more info here}

{image from here}

Great vintage photo above that shows a Wooton desk being used in an office ~ must have been a successful business to be able to afford such nice office furniture. Below is a book on the desks ~ might be fun to take a look at to learn more and see other examples.

{buy book here}

So, how do we go from the Wooton's Patent Desk to that shown below? Granted, the cabinet below would fit most budgets, but after seeing a Wooton, this just doesn't cut it ~ plastic or vinyl drawers ~ UGH! Paperboard boxes with metal pulls would improve this considerably ~ even if it increased the price. What do you think?!

{image from here}

Obsolete Inc.

{iron arm molds from 1920}

While perusing the internet this evening, I came upon an online antique store called Obsolete Inc. ~ after digging through their beautifully photographed and unique items I am wishing I had unlimited funds and a larger house! Here are just a sampling of some of my favorite items:

{hand made bench made for a set of twins ~ circa 1870-90}

{wax bust of young girl complete with real human teeth ~ a little creepy, but intriguing!}

{wire cage light fixture}

{I'd use this like a painting ~ it would make a great graphic statement in a room}

{wonderful French spools of wool ~ love the colors}

The apothecary side tables shown above have hand painted labels on the drawers ~ these would be a great addition to almost any interior. Then again, I am a sucker for drawers and cabinets ~ I love the mechanics work cabinet with its original painted surface below.

But, by far, my favorite is this industrial steel cabinet from France circa 1940 ~ everything about it is perfect ~ the patina, the details, the size, the zillion drawers! Well, it does have one rather major defect ~ it has been sold so it is no longer available! That is probably a good thing as I would possibly have remortgaged my house for it ~ isn't it grand?

{all images from here}

New Addition!

Ordered a new couch for the living room this week ~ it will arrive next week! I ended up choosing the taupe leather instead of the cream because the two scots would have it mud covered in no time. Now to look for some pillows ~ any suggestions? I see another knit or crochet project in my future......