A Pair Of Stinky Tables

I recently was given a gift of a pair of 18th century Swedish Gustavian demilune tables! They are gorgeous! What a score!

Until I got a whiff of them. These tables are notorious for having been sold by the best antique dealer in town to a lady for $5,000 or so. The dealer had fumigated the tables with a chemical to get rid of wormwood, and all seemed well, until the tables were enclosed in the customer's house, letting off the most awful stinky stink. Of course the tables were returned.

The once stinky Swedish table in the home of the Visual Vamp
I spy an Anne Harwell painting!

They kicked around at a huge discount to a number of local decor mavens. A thick coat of white Kilz paint was applied. But still the stinky tables, as they have become affectionately known, were returned to the seller time after time.

The seller was moving and I always loved these tables, so he just gave them to me knowing I was fully aware of the issues.

The smell really was intense. Like chemical urine. It had seeped into the centuries old wood, and the prevailing humidity in New Orleans did not help matters. They even stunk up my back enclosed patio area outside, and they nearly gassed the poor seller when he drove them over to my house in his SUV, even with the windows open!

18th century Swedish demilune table with 1960's mod table layered under it
photo: Visual Vamp living room

I had nothing to lose so I did some Google research. The underside of the tables had been left unpainted, and unfinished. Basically bare wood. So I doused it with white vinegar and waited 24 hours. The tables didn't smell as bad, but they smelled like a giant pickle. Then a kind person emailed me a suggestion to use denatured alcohol. I doused the tables a couple of times, again with 24 hours in between treatments. This worked the best, but the stinky stink crept back, though much more faint. But even faint, trust me you do not want to smell this in your house!

My next trick was to spray them with a citrus orange oil room deodorizer. Again I waited 24 hours. This worked really well, as the oil soaked into the wood, and took over as the top note.
Then I painted the undersides of each table with three coats of white Kilz paint, and touched up the rest of the tables with more Kilz. I waited 24 hours. I sniffed them. They did not stink!

Glorious Swedish demilune tables at chez Visual Vamp!
I took this photo at 7 AM this morning

So I brought them in the house! Even though I am not an antiques maven, I seem to have alot of antique pieces in my vampy mix. I do love antiques, but I am not one for the strict period look of a room. So far so good. The tables are magnificent, and once in awhile I get a whiff of orange blossoms. I have sprayed them with Lysol, and this has helped tone down the orange scent too, and I think this stinky pair has at long last been tamed to be able to live indoors.



And for the fun of it, here is a mini round up look book of some antique Swedish demilune tables.

From Velvet and Linen HERE - Brooke is the Swedish expert for sure

via La Pouyette HERE
My pair of demilunes have brackets on the back so I can make one round table

From Inspiring Interiors HERE

via House Beautiful

via Karina Gentinetta HERE

Visual Vamp 18th century demilune tables

Do you guys have any stinky furniture stories and solutions to share?

Curiosity Look Book

Knock knock. It's the case of the creeping curiosities.

Antique hand door knocker from Buenos Aires

As I look around my house I notice there are many curious objects. It probably started when I was girl and wanted to be a scientist. I collected the typical nature specimens we all love as children: birds nests, insects, butterflies, shells, rocks, maps, old books.

Visual Vamp front door

I also loved old and crusty and rusty things, found objects like old keys and bottles, and broken bits of corckery I imagined came from "olden times".

Vignette on the front porch

Specimen charts and natural objects have found their way into mainstream decor accessorizing HERE.

Cholo loves this chair by the window with a sheepskin on it

Step right up and take a tour of Chez Vamp, where every room seems to have a curiosity or three.

The entry table is rusty
Birds, old keys, old house numbers

Rusty old house numbers and keys
Insect and bird antique plate

The door stop is huge chunk of amethyst

The dining room table has cowhide and metal antlers
And hooves on the table legs

A globe, butterfly specimen, botanicals in the dining room

Flower botanicals in the dining room
Sand in the hurricanes

Owl print on a very old vintage calendar
Oyster plate

Even though it is still 90 degrees in New Orleans, it still feels like Fall. A certain restlessness piques me. Recently Alberto and I started a kitchen revamp, and my beloved life size skeleton charts that were hanging in the breakfast area, were removed, rolled up and stashed away.

The living room then - wallpaper mural hides a door

But I missed them, and couldn't think of where to hang them. It's not easy finding a wall space in my house, much-a-less a space for two six foot tall anatomy charts!

Then it came to me! Behind the credenza in the living room!

The skeletons side by side in the living room
The mural is behind the one with the back view

Of course, this invited a whole new look for the credenza, a styling opportunity to use all the curiosities!

Styling with curiosoites

I added an orange branch with a lady head bust, a metal V recently purchased at the new Anthropologie in New Orleans, an antique mercury pharmacy bottle, a large clam shell, a framed letter on sationary with a pelican on it, a framed print of Madame Pontalba (one of the founding mothers of New Orleans). The lamps made from chippy old porch posts add just the right amount of glam decrepitude.

Metal V for Vamp!

Antique mercury pharmacy bottle

The vintage Baker credenza is nine feet long, so there is plenty of room to clutter it up. No matter how many times I self edit, I start to miss the layered look I love and can do in my sleep.
So I say forget it, so I'm a clutter queen.

Bird pillow from Dwell Studio

I also brought the tree print pillow in from the bedroom

Antique mercury pharmacy bottles, a gold wood egg, tortoise shells


An antique painting with chippy paint was also added

The bedroom has a few curiosities too. I took the hide off the couch in the living room, and threw it on the floor.

Visual Vamp master bedroom

There are a couple of trays of shells on an armoire in the bedroom.

Shell collection in leather trays

In the kitchen, with the skeletons gone, photos of New Orleans in the 1940's took their place. I hung them like a film strip. A hide appeared under the table.

Visual Vamp breakfast area now

Here's a look at the then breakfast area where the skeletons hung for a very long time.

Visual Vamp breakfast area then
Skeleton anatomy charts in the kitchen


The skeletons also once hung in the guest room
I bought them in a flea market in Lisbon 8 years ago

Curious little owls on the mantle in the breakfast area

Visual Vamp breakfast area in kitchen now

Curious little details are fun! They make me smile if nothing else.

"Keyhole" on the guest room door
I cut it out from a Fornasetti book

Vintage concrete frog doorstop

The inside of an armoire looks like science class

A mercury glass beetle on a light switch

Is Fall making you restless to revamp and redecorate and rearrange things? Tell us what you are up to, and send photos to me if you'd like to show us. I always love to post what you all are doing.

The Teo Jasmin Look Book And Life After Blogging

Did you ever have those random moments when you think about life after blogging? Like what would you do if you didn't write or read blogs?

Does it ever get so overwhelming, so many blogs so little time? Do you still have the joy and excitement of creating and researching and photo gathering and editing and writing and sharing a post, or does it feel like an obligation akin to homework?

Are you a Wonder Woman or Superman, juggling blogging, a home life, maybe kids, maybe a job, and making it seem easy peasy and upbeat under the guise of your manufactured blog personality?

Do you live up to the image, the brand, the personality, your blog has created?

Things have been dicey at Casa Vamp. Alberto has been in and out of the hospital this week. He is fine, and will only get better. But a little jog like this in the road of daily routine can take you down rabbit holes you can't possibly imagine having time to go down into.

Blogging? Who has time? Answering e-mails? Who has the energy?

And yet when a night or two of sleep is accomplished, and the will to open the lap top reemerges, and I find the inbox jammed with messages of love and support, well I just can't imagine life after blogging and without my blog friendships.

So back to blogging today, and among all the personal messages and great blog comments I got a lovely note from the French company Teo Jasmin.

Teo Jasmin is a fabulous emporium of Pop Art images used in all manner of home decor and on fashion accessories too.

All of these images come from their web site, and I love how they show you to use Pop Art in decorating, mixing old and new forms.

The wit and the color add up to a sophisticated, yet accessible look.

I'm sure you can see by adding one piece of great Pop Art you can really add drama and excitement to a room.

It can be whimiscal and romantic too, and the nice thing is you can change out the art when the mood changes, and you know for us visual vamps this is imperative!

If you are a designer dealing with commercial spaces, Teo Jasmin is a valuable resourse, and they have a to-the-trade program HERE.

Shop owners can also inquire about wholesale prices for this fabulous merchandise.

The 2010 line features objects using the images of Wonder Woman and Superman.

The whole scope of images you can get from Teo Jasmin is international. And personal too. They will transform your images into Pop Art HERE.

They have a totally global view in their design policy.

Téo Jasmin, is THE trend setting online store for home decoration. Items include: wallets and pouches for women, fashion cushions, fashion handbags, gift ideas, interior design ideas, Pop Art, frames, and fabulous armchairs and settees. It's a fun site to peruse.

Global decorating is the way to go.

It becomes personal when you bring a little bit of another place into your space.

Sacs à mains, coussin déco, tableau déco - find out what they mean when you go to Teo Jasmin!

I hope you enjoyed this Paris inspired Look Book.

I think there are many good ideas that could be incorporated by both the professional and the home decorator.

And Alberto and I send you a big Pop Art kiss and a tango hug, and thank you for being there!