Going to the Fair

Country Living magazine holds a fair three times a year, where readers of the magazine can shop for antiques, meet the editors of the magazine, and get information on the latest products for the home.  This spring, one was held in Austin, Texas and next month, they're having on in Atlanta, Georgia.  This weekend, September 14 - 16, they're having on right up the road in Columbus, Ohio.

Source

Lucky for us, we never have plans, so when I asked the hubs if he wanted to go last night, he jokingly said, "I don't know if we'll have time.  The only thing I had planned was mowing the yard."

I'm really excited to get to attend, especially since it's less than a two-hour drive from our house.  I can't wait to see what I find to bring home!

Here's a link to the list of the vendors that will be there - there's over 150.  It's going to be huge!

They will also have on-site antiques appraisals by members of the Antiques Roadshow staff, a farmer's market, and cooking demos.

Here's a link to the schedule of events for the weekend.

Tickets are no longer available in advance online, but they are available at the door.  It's $16 per person for a one-day pass, and $20 per person for a weekend pass.  We're only going the one day - Saturday (I wouldn't put Patrick through that much shopping - poor guy).

I'll be sure to bring my camera with me to photograph some of the lovely items for sale, and I'll post photos of anything that I get to bring home with me.

Quickie Updates

Well the pillows stayed perfectly placed for about 20 minutes.  I came into the bedroom and saw this:

Bob Barker really appreciates the new pillows on the bed.  I try to keep things looking nice, and this is what happens.

I asked Patrick if he was surprised to see them when he came home and what he thought.  He said, "I was just like, 'Huh.  Looks like Karie went shopping.'"  Hmph.

I finished my spraypainting on the two items from the thrift store last Saturday.

The cow painting reflected in the mirror is one I did a couple of weeks ago.  I'll do a post on that sometime, even though I didn't photograph my progress along the way, but I can still explain the process I used.  Super simple.

It's here for now, just because our little rental house is so small there's not a good spot for it here.  I'm not sure how Bob Barker feels about this one.  (I think he likes the pillows a lot better.)  It needs to be on a smaller wall - I'm thinking at the end of a hallway - with a nice deep paint color behind it.  I'm really loving this color from Sherwin-Williams.

The owl is done too.

Well that's it for today.  Like I said, just a couple of quickie updates.  I'm *really* hoping I have some stellar news on the house search for you on Monday.  I haven't blogged about it because I don't want to jinx us.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Labor Day Weekend Thrifting

This weekend is proving to be a lazy one.  With an extra day thrown in.

Saturday morning we were in Loveland checking out a house, and on our way back to Milford, we passed a shop that I have seen but never had the chance to go in and poke around.  So immediately after passing it and seeing their OPEN sign illuminated, I yelled at my lovely husband Patrick to turn around so we could check it out.

I'm so glad we did!

This place is a gem.  It's called Vintage Market & Thrift  and their sales go to a good cause.  They have a huge selection of antiques and thrift items, with a ton of furniture and home goods.  I started a pile of things I wanted just a few minutes after getting in the door, and had to ask the nice guy at the counter if they had shopping carts.  They do.

I exercised a bit of restraint and came away with a few goodies, all for just $22.

I grabbed this mirror for $10.

It's a nice size and shape - I love the enlongated oval.  Not so nice is the 35+ or so years of junk that has collected in all the decorative nooks and crannies.

But I love all the detail in it.  It's going to get cleaned up and spraypainted (white gloss, of course).  It's not very big, so I need to find a suitable spot for it - maybe at the end of the hallway.

I also picked up this little guy for $5:

I'm not loving the retro gold and black finish, so it's also gonna get some sprayin' love.

He does have a tiny crack where his ear broke off at some point in the past, but whomever his previous owner was did a good job with the super glue.  Once he's painted, you'll never know.

This is actually my very first owl purchased for our house.  I guess I'm a little (okay, a lot) late at jumping on the owl trend, but I'm okay with that.  I prefer cuddly animals anyway.

I grabbed a dozen fake green apples for $7.50.

These babies are going to help me carry out my green accent for the story boards I've been doing.  And since there's twelve of them, I can divide them up if needed and use them in different arrangements or entirely different rooms if I need to.  I also grabbed another glass cylinder, which I picked up for $2.  I always buy these at thrift stores, since they're so cheap there.  It's a great money saver and you can never have too many.

On Sunday morning, the hubs and I packed up and headed off to the Tri-State Antique Market in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.  It's just across the border from Cincinnati, but since we live on the far east side of town, it's a 45 minute drive for us.

They always hold it on the first Sunday of the month, and October is the last month of the 2012 season for them.

Patrick is pumped, can't you tell?

It's at the Lawrenceburg Fair Grounds, on Route 50, just off of Interstate 275.  For just $3 to get in, you can browse the state's largest antique-only show every month.  This one is good because it's exclusive to antiques and vintage items.  No shady vendors hacking Nascar blankets here.

Me, in my antique market outfit.  Vintage dress, Hunter boots, fake pearls.

Since they hold it at the fairgrounds, there is a ton of space and a lot of vendors.  Some of them have to brave the elements out on the lawn, but many of the booths are in covered pavilions.

This rabbit statue sits at the entrance to the expo pavilion. 

What a handsome fella!

Although the skies were ominously dark the whole morning, we only had a few drops here and there.  The vendors were breaking out the tarps just in case.

Stormy Skies

Since there are so many vendors, and it's a strictly antique and vintage only market, the variety of things for sale is vast.

Vintage Signs

They also have a lot of really nice furniture pieces. 

Vintage Chest O' Drawers

They have some great old industrial worktables that we'd love to buy to use as a kitchen island.  Here are some inspiration photos:

Source

Source

Source

Source

We only brought $40 with us so that we couldn't get into too much trouble.  I did pick up a few items, though.

I purchased this piece of ironstone for just $5.

English Origin Stamp

Rim Detail

I love all of the fine lines showing so many years of use.  Although, it will serve a purely decorative function at my house.

I also bought a couple of antique crystal doorknobs for $20.  My goal is to have all of our doorknobs switched out to these one day.  One day.

These will add a little vintage glam to our doors.  I can't wait to have a home for them!

She's Gone Country!

Oh how things change with time and maturity!

As we get older and our lives change, so follows the evolution of our style and design philosophies.  Once the pets and kids come along, ultra-modern furniture no longer seems practical or comfortable.  Soon we're concerned about the scrub-ability of the fabrics we're choosing, and after a long day working, want to come home to relax on a sofa we can really sink into.

I think it's ironic that since moving to "the city" my own personal style has drifted more into the Country / Rustic genres, and I'm more concerned about incorporating natural materials and colors into every room.

I've realized that living in a home that's filled with only man-made, modern objects can feel sterile and unwelcoming.  So to bring the nature in, I've been incorporating a lot of natural and found elements into each room:




Deer Horn with Driftwood in a Jar




Gnarly Driftwood in the Bedroom

Abalone Shells Collected from the Little Miami River

I've also been buying a lot of antiques lately.  Adding items that have lived a life before you encountered them adds history and a sense of rustic comfort to a house.  I really like looking for antique crates and baskets to help corral the everyday items that can get disorganized easily.  Plus, they tend to be cheap, so you can pick up multiples at one time.

I have an antique metal milk crate in the bedroom that keeps all my magazines and catalogs together.  Then when it's time to recycle, I can just take the crate outside.



Milk Crate Magazine Holder

I also picked up a couple of wooden crates at the Tri-State Antique Market to keep around the house as organizers.

This one is a cranberry crate and it sits just outside the kitchen so we can kick off our flip-flops before walking on the carpet.  Plus it hides our dirty shoes and looks a lot better than having them sitting out on the floor.



Cranberry Crate for Shoes

The Schweppes crate I picked up because it says "Cinti, Ohio" and is from the factory here in town.  Plus, I loves my gin + tonics with some Schweppes.

I don't have anything in the crate just yet, but when we get the house I think it'll go in the kitchen to hold either recyclables or potatoes and onions. 

The basket sitting on top of the crate is from the Newtown Farm Market and it was just $0.99.  I use it when I go out to the garden to pick vegetables.

So I've decided to call my new mix of styles:

"Modern Rustic Vintage"

Because it incorporates my persistant preference for shiny surfaces and clean lines and simplified forms (Modern), the new addition of varied textures like worn wood, natural fibers, patina metal and muted colors (Rustic), and antiques or items that have been used as something else in the past (Vintage).

It may not seem important to define one's style, but it helps to focus your vision a bit, in order to make sure that what you add to your home becomes a cohesive element and works with items you already have. 

Styles change and people change, but I think that this is a design theme that I'll have for a really long time, since it allows for a lot of flexibility and changing out of indiviual items to freshen things up every so often.

Happy antique hunting!