hacked by PB?

Last week I was enraged to see Ballard knocking off my one-of-a-kind primitive bell. Imagine my frustration when our neighbor dropped off weekend's mail. Included in the pile of catalogs:

[summer issue of Pottery Barn catalog]

Let me draw your attention to the upper left corner of the cover, directly under the R in Pottery Barn...

 What's that? Look familiar you say? Gee, maybe it reminds you of this little treasure I snagged at a Charlotte antique mall this weekend?





Complete with a crack in the side. just. like. mine. ugh.

Luckily, PB isn't selling it. At least not yet. Though this is usually a frustration-- when I see something amazing they've used to style their glossy pages and can't head to the interweb to make it mine-- today I am happy about this. So until they mass-market their version, I will revel in my found uniqueness.

Hey Pottery Barn, wanna hire me as a buyer/stager? What are the odds I can start a bidding war between PB and Ballard for my talented eye? That'd just be awful....a girl can dream can't she?

charmed in charlotte

the trip to charlotte, nc was a success. despite the dreary rain on saturday, the bride was stunning!

i had success with the antiquing mission. we found the Sleepy Poet Antique Mall and were able to swing by for a few hours on our way out of town.

we walked into the warehouse building + were greeted with a smile and quick run-down. this place is 55,000 square feet of antique booths. FIFTY-FIVE THOUSAND. luckily, they give you a map + the floor is marked with aisle numbers so you don't get lost. there's also a handy place to make notes in case you want to return to an item later.

[yep, there's a retro clothing section AND a vintage vinyl records selection]

we stumbled upon some treasures:

[chippy paint porch balusters. LOVE the color!]

[scary punk-rocker doll]

[oversized ceramic cat. hellooooo 1987]

[lamps made from re-purposed industrial grates]

[cricket stumbled upon this. this photo is now his id on my phone.]

and we made it home with a few scores:

[cracked wooden architectural finial. LOVED this + the bridesmaid bouquet adds a little color]

[recycled glass jar. i'm thinking of diy-ing a terrarium in this jar, similar to the PB hack @ A Soft Place to Land. the little red books were a steal, too!]

[vintage books. including "little women."]

[cricket got a treat for his patience roaming the aisles. nifty camera, eh?]

so we brought home the camera, jar, architectural finial, + books for about $100. not bad, and the antique mall supports the local roller girls team--how fun!

all in all, some of the booths were overpriced [for example, some antique iron + wood windows from mexico were priced at $250+. i bought mine, as shown behind the finial, at Lakewood last fall for $40/pair.] we also stumbled upon some candleholders with the pottery barn outlet sticker still on the bottom. ummm....

but there ARE plenty of great finds at reasonable prices, too. i feel like this is the case with any similar antique mall set-up. people will try to sell anything, but you can definitely find some unique pieces. or, it's a fun way to kill a few hours on a cold, rainy sunday.

all in all, i'd MUCH rather spend $100 on several unique pieces at a place like this that supports the local community instead of walking out of pottery barn with just one pretty [that my neighbor is likely to also have].

3 shiny circles

I've teased this and now am ready to show it off. To complete the board + batten in the dining room, we needed something for the wall above the trim. We struck out on an antique MEATS sign, so onto plan b. But what was plan b?

We had no clue until we brunched with my in-laws at sun in my belly. They had some cool mirrors all over the walls, and we liked em enough to ask the source. Ikea of course. We went and scooped up a trio and they've been hanging out in the living room ever since. Remember the smoke alarm incident?



We finally installed them!

1. Found the wall center & drilled the anchored screw into the wall.



2. Laid out the mirrors face down to measure where the other screws should fall. For some reason, the math wasn't quite working out as simply as one would think.


3. Drilled in the anchored screw and voila!



It amazes me how much brighter the room is now that the drum pendant's light is reflected off the sparkling wall. Can't wait to see it in the daytime!







Cost
Ikea Grundtal mirrors @ $29.99 each. Not bad for large wall art...which we can always move if we get tired of 'em here. Or ever a find our perfect vintage MEATS sign.

Note: if you're shopping for these in-store, they're with the bathroom stuff, not the mirrors.