treasures






Mary-Laure's current post about the treasures she brought back from a weekend trip to London inspired me. I have been on a thrift/antique/juntique store tear as of late and I've found tons of stuff that fit my poor man's Parish-Hadley style. You really don't ever know what you will find.

The horse sculpture on the mantle is from Target. (I know, I know... I TOTALLY despise the floor-to-ceiling brick also. It doesn't fit at all with my style, but it's so expensive to replace.) I love that celadon crackly look. They just priced all of their Global Bazaar stuff 50% off and I got that for $10 yesterday. The ikat pillow next to the pale blue needlepoint pillow came from Target, too. It wasn't on sale, but it was only $15.

The snail was just so cute. It was $2 and it reminded me of Jonathan Adler's animals. The round mirrored frame was also Global Bazaar. Sale price? $5. The finger vase was $10 at a thrift store a couple of weeks ago.

The photo of my coffee table has a Tiffany rock crystal votive I bought at another thrift store recently. In the background you will see my two Henredon club chairs I scored for a song recently. I actually bought the pair of votives... the other one is with the horse. The two together were $20 and this brings me to a question for you:

When you see something really underpriced at a thrift store or garage sale, do you tell the person or do you just figure it's their problem for not checking their stuff out? I actually pointed it out to a teenage girl who was working at this thrift store - they still had the Tiffany blue sticker on the bottom - and asked her if they meant to sell them at that price. I even suggested that they could sell online for at least $50 for the pair and she just shrugged and said she guessed so. At that point, I dropped it.

What do you think? Would you have said anything at all? Pushed to bring it to the attention of a manager? Does the value of the item affect your decision? Does it matter if you are buying from an antique dealer vs. a thrift store benefitting a charity? I really want to hear from some of you.
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Pigtown*Design said…
I find that the people in your larger thrift stores price the bright and shiny things and the "designer" things very high. But I've found solid copper pots (unpolished) for $5.00, cashmere sweaters for $5.00 and a pair of handmade riding boots for $12. But then you see Abercrombie t-shirts for $10, and faux crystal for $25.

I don't tell them, because they should know. Oh, and my best find? A cartier watch for $.50. that's right - fitty cent!
February 20, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Anonymous said…
It all looks great. Did the snail come from Target?
February 21, 2008 at 1:34 PM
Anonymous said…
Hey EE - I e-mailed you awhile back regarding the Target urns - I did the House Voyeur thing on More Ways to Waste Time blog (check it out and let me know what you think - I'm the refined but relaxed in RI post, last Friday...) But back to your question - I would never say anything but like you, when I see something so cheap but I know is expensive I think a stroke is going to come on - perfect example is my Mecox Gardens $1800 mirror that I got for $24.99! Love your blog! ~Billy
February 22, 2008 at 7:37 AM
Laura Stockett Roberts said…
Anon, the snail did not come from Target. It came from a thrift store.

Billy, thanks for the shout. I visited and posted. I love it!! I think I'll link it so that all 14 of my readers can find it!
February 22, 2008 at 8:52 AM
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