Antiquing, New Friends, and Great Finds!

By Kate Riley April 25, 2010

Well, top of the mornin’ to ya folks, hope your weekend was fabulous !  Mine was exceptionally great, especially since I had the opportunity to go to the Antique Faire here in town, the one I mentioned here that was written up in Country Living a few short months ago. 

The weather was perfect and so was the company – check out these lovely ladies who drove from all over the Bay Area to pay a visit to our Antique Faire !

group of 7 Emily and Jillian; moi; Marie, Pauline from Struggling to Be Stylish; Claudia from Viva Frugality, and Kim from Yep They’re All Mine.

The group split up to hunt for treasures but met up later for a fantastic lunch.  Here’s a glimpse at some of the cool antiques I spotted.

This gorgeous bow front chest with bonnet top hutch.  It was a soft gray, I loved it !

bow front chest

These throne chairs had the coolest weathered wood detail.  They needed reupholstering but they were tempting !  Hope they went to a good home. 

king and queen chairs

 

I spy a lot of end tables like this in thrift stores – these look especially cheerful redone in a mustard yellow.  How wonderful in a gray and white master suite would these be ?  Just that perfect pop of yellow. 

yellow end tables

These vintage tin canisters are fantastic.  They’d be swell behind glass cabinet doors in a kitchen or up on open shelves.   Great bookends for cookbooks too !

vintage tins

 

I love this idea – a helm revamped into a wine rack !  So great on a kitchen or dinette counter !

ship wheel wine rack

 

More end tables, the perfect shade of blue gray.  This dealer had an amazing collection of coral too.  I need to learn more about selective harvesting and sustainability before buying though.  

perfect blue gray endtables

 

They were really beautiful to look at and they make stunning decor. 

coral 1

 

A gorgeous secretary – loved this detail. 

secretary

 

One of my favorite vendors sells furniture, mirrors and coat racks made from reclaimed wood. 

salvage racks and boxes

 

Do you love these vintage knobs on a coat rack ?

salvage rack crop

 

He makes these original mirrors too – you can see how one could customize a similar version with some framing, a split leg glued to the framing, some finials, a mirror and some decorative trim. 

salvage mirror

 

How sweet is this garden cart ?  Such a great outdoor end table !

flower cart

I loved this pretty display of vintage silver bud vases in this painted box.

silver bud vases

Here’s a clever idea to bend old forks or spoons into napkin rings:

spoons napkin rings

 

I love how old gin, rye, and whiskey bottles glisten in the sunlight. 

old rye bottles

Lots of pretty blue Ball jars to choose from:

ball jars

 

A large burlap bulletin board, classically good looking.

burlap bulletin board

 

Another beautifully painted bureau for $135 !  Such a great price for this piece.

bureau

I hunted high and low for some botanicals for my living room with one dealer, but then decided to skip them and perhaps attempt some pressed flower art instead. 

vintage botanicals

 

I’m soooo in the market for a potting bench, but I’m planning to build one myself someday soon.  This one is so perfect !

potting bench

And this was my favorite part – the drawer handle fashioned from a spade !

potting bench drawer

Then I found this vendor Randy Foster who makes shelves and hanging art out of reclaimed turn of the century ceiling tins.  He came all the way from Ashland, Oregon.  You can see his Flickr page featuring all of his work right here

antique ceiling tins

 

We took a break and met up with the gals for lunch.  Delicious pumpkin ravioli in butter sage walnut sauce, yum !

lunch at risibisi

 

After five hours of antiquing and lunching, I grabbed my goodies and we headed home.  What did I find ?  So glad you asked !!  :-)

From the ceiling tin guy, I bought some vintage tins of my own for a super cool art project I have planned. 

Aren’t these completely fabulous ? 

vintage ceiling tins 3

 

I also found this beautiful terrarium – the dealer gave me a small discount so I picked it up for $40 dollars.  For now, it sits in our foyer – I love the patina, the shape, everything about it !

terrarium on highboy

Finally, I found this stunning Alfred Meakin Ironstone pitcher from England, such a beautiful shape and a great size too.  I filled it with some flowers just blooming in the yard – floribunda roses and gorgeous viburnum.

pitcher duo

roses and snowball

What a day – my feet ache !!!  I never should have worn my wedges, will I ever learn ?  Antiquing must be done in comfortable footwear, duh !

Many thanks to the ladies who joined me on this fun excursion, I simply cannot wait till next year !

47 comments

  1. Fabulous antiques!!! I can’t even decide what my favorite is….I’m pretty partial to blue Ball jars…and the garden cart…genious! Adding that to my “see if I can figure out how to make that” list! :-) Thanks for the beautiful inspiration!

  2. I really wish I didn’t live on the other side of the country from you! Looks like you had a fun day and you brought home some beautiful things!

  3. Oh my stars, I loved this post – it was like getting to go out with you! And oh, there are so many things that I loved… the teal garden cart, the ironstone, the ceiling tins, the old knobs on the coat racks. Ah, lovely trip first thing on a Monday morning, thank you!

  4. I want it all!!! Seriously, just once in my life I want to find an antique fair like this. Guess I need to go to the west coast!
    Love your blog…will definitely be a regular visitor:-)
    Suzanne

  5. Love the terrarium! I was just looking a post on Design*Sponge about terrariums yesterday. My favorite thing is the ironstone pitcher thought. That is gorgeous!

  6. Wow! Amazing finds! I would have wanted to buy everything!

    I really need to find things like this in MN, or not because I have no money and no need for any of this stuff since I’m in college. Oh well, it’s still fun to look!

  7. Wow it looks like a wonderful fair… I’ve made that mistake about the shoes. Sometimes it’s hard to forgo cute shoes.

  8. I love that potting bench.
    Keep me posted when you make yours. I have meant to make one for about ohhhhh 5 or so years now lol

  9. Thanks so much for inviting us to your wonderful town!
    Those flowers look perfect in the pitcher but I think I am most envious about you snagging the terrarium :)

  10. What a fun time…….so wish I could have been there….. who knows… maybe some day! The terrarium looks gorgeous in it’s new home …. and love the white ironstone pitcher! I would have had a hard time with all those goodies to choose from…. thanks for sharing!

    Keep your eyes open for old calenders… many have lovely botanicals….. but I like your idea of pressing your own flowers even more! Have a great week, and soak those tootsies in that fabulous spa bath…. remember chocolates help!

  11. Love Love Love the pitcher. I would have had plenty of ewe and awe moments if I had been there. Thanks for sharing pix!

  12. LOVE those ceiling tins! What a fun trip with the girls. All of the painted furniture is drool worthy!

    I just sent my hubby up the road to pick up a free dresser that’s been tempting me for days. Sooooo excited to get it and rehab it! I love a good roadkill rescue.

    ~Amanda

  13. Your pitcher is amazing!

    I have been in the market for side tables for our bedroom and I LOVE those end tables you found. So jealous that I don’t live in California, I haven’t been able to find anything in St. Louis… *sniffle*

  14. Must of been the weekend for fabulous shopping! In love with those tables! I went this weekend as well and found some woderful items. Have a great Monday!
    Take care
    Kristin

  15. Fun! I live in Ashland! We’ve got GREAT wine up here, you should come check it out some time.

  16. Hi Kate! It was great meeting you yesterday! Sorry we got lost from the pack. Too much good stuff to look at. And by the way, my friend’s name is Jillian. Mind if I borrow the group picture to use on my blog later this week?

  17. That looked like so much fun! I sure wish I could have been there! I love all the pictures you shared. That white pitcher does resemble mine, but yours is much prettier! I got mine at goodwill for 5 bucks. It was an ugly tan color and I spray painted it white. :)
    Have a great day, girl!

  18. I can’t believe I missed this! I moved to Marin a year and half ago, but we attend a church in Petaluma – and I have been waiting for a great antique fair in the area! I started following your blog about a month ago, and completely missed that this was happening in Petaluma…will you be doing the same thing for the next one?

  19. How could you possible pick a favorite thing?? LUV it!!! Thanks for sharing the great pics let me live vicariously:) Looks lie you gals had an AMAZING time!
    Happy Monday

  20. Looks like you had a perfect day! :) I love the ceiling tiles you found…can’t wait to see what you dream up with them. J’adore those mustard colored end tables. I’ve been hunting for some for my Family room to replace the mid-1990s-ish looking ones I have. Those are great! Have a wonderful week, my friend! :)

  21. I grew up on a lake and almost every home had some sort of nautical decor. I think it was a city ordinance or something :) So when I grew up and moved away I made a little vow not to go there with my own home decor – to be different. However, seeing that ships wheel wine rack might just make me change that long standing no nautical vow…

  22. Petaluma was beautiful on Sunday for the faire. Sorry I missed shopping with you ladies, I decided to stay home and organize the stuff I already have. Assembled two giant craft supply cabinets, laid my new FLOR carpeting and set up my table for soldering in my garage. So it was a good day after all and the willpower not to go antiquing paid off. But I would have loved to have spent it with you & co. Another time soon Kate!

  23. How fun; I love the antique ceiling tiles. Ceiling tiles are my newest obsession. I can’t wait to see what you have dreamed up for the tiles!

  24. Loved the spade handle, the blue ball jars, the white pitcher . . . I also appreciate you mentioning properly harvested shells and coral. This is a huge issue. People think that the shells seen in stores are just picked up on beaches around the world, when in fact many are taken from the sea with their inhabitants still living inside. Resin replicas are still beautiful but are animal friendly.

  25. Wow! You scored some amazing finds. I love everything YOU brought home. :) I would have picked them up too! I also enjoyed seeing the amazing treasures you came across. I love coral but I agree with you, sustainability first. I have some of the faux-coral from pottery barn in my house now.

    The helm wine rack is so awesome!

    ~Karla

  26. What a fun day! And such great finds. I love that dresser. And those ceiling tins are to die for wonderful!

    XOXO
    Jen

  27. OH. MY. So many wonderful treausers. Where, oh, where do I begin listing my favorites. Lets just say I like them all – and I’ll take on of each please – HA, HA.

    Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing (ps. I know have a few more items added to me wish list for the next time I head out to sales – thanks)

  28. i have been following your website for several months now but only commenting here i think for the first time. i so enjoy and look forward to every post and thanks for introducing me to forloveorfunny, too.

    just wondering…when you use the paint tray, do you not loosely wrap it with a larger plastic bag and knot it one end so you can just throw it away after use?

  29. I found your blog while looking for a coat rack. Do you know the vendor’s name who made the distressed coat racks? I’m redecorating my kitchen and would love the red one!

    Thanks!
    Ashley

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