Before and After: Vintage Vanity and Mirror - Together at Last!

 An incredible stroke of luck brought me to this piece that I had been searching for since last March! My husband and I were on a summer road trip through Oregon and he was kind enough to let me go pickin' along the way! 

Our trip started in St. Helena and we then traveled north to hit the Oregon Coast. With absolutely no reservations or plans we were free spirits - we both love 'winging it'! We've been pretty successful thus far with this modus operandi, finding hotel gems such as Ireland's Rustic Lodges (next blog post!)

After stopping at numerous thrifts and antique stores, I received a recommendation from a shop employee to visit another Antique store just up the road - but I had to hurry since they closed at 5!  We arrived at 4:45pm and the owner was kind enough to let me take a 'quick look'.

It is REALLY hard to take a 'quick look' at a beautiful antique store full of treasures and this one even had an upstairs! I was going to have to go fast!  I whisked along, my eyes darting to and fro, taking in as much as possible without causing sensory overload!

That turquoise blue always catches my eye and this beautiful milk glass piece jumped out and stopped me in my tracks!  I set it on the counter and then I almost took the stairs by two. When I got to the top I turned left - and then I saw it! The bottom half I needed to complete my vanity!

You see, I bought this mirror (shown here without the glass!) at a consignment store in 
St. Helena nearly two years ago.  I thought for certain I'd be able to match it up with a bottom half fairly quickly and then refinish it for resale.  But it wasn't as easy as I thought, since the mirror was huge and had a part that dropped down with no frame - I was going to need a special cabinet to complete the set.

  

 My husband said, "How do you know its going to match up with the mirror?"  I told him it was karma and I had been looking for a long time so I just knew it would match up! I quickly paid the lady and loaded it into our car.  I had no idea how well it would fit until I got home and took the mirror out of storage - it was the exact same width! The cabinet had two piers, which accommodated the mirror, since the mirror extended below it's frame.

I took the mirror out of its frame and sanded it down. 
Then I did a quick sanding of the bottom cabinet part of the vanity as well.

After a few coats of Annie Sloans' Old White, the pieces looked refreshed!

 I then distressed each piece to bring out the beautiful carvings and details . . 
.

 (Monet likes to give me advice!)

 . . . and added a coat of clear wax for protection. 
After almost two years, it was time to finally see the finished pieces together!

I carefully replaced the massive mirror and secured it with the holds. . .


and replaced the glass knobs on the drawers. Now for the  big marriage,
I heaved the mirror up to place on top of the vanity cabinet.

I absolutely love it!  My long lost vanity is now complete 
and I can't even think about selling it!

This is one piece I will hold on to - a piece to cherish 
and hand down to the next generation.

I guess it's true - good things come to those that wait!

 

I've joined these link parties! 

 Wow Us Wednesdays!

Chic on a Shoe String's Flaunt It Friday!

Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

"Beachy Blues Buffet" Tabletop

Sometimes a piece of fabric can inspire a table top!

In this case, a piece of Hawaiian print fabric in a variety of blues just happened to be what I needed to set the tone for a casual beachy buffet I hosted recently.

The yardage was one of the last things left in my mother-in-law's house when we were moving her to her new home.  I loved the various hues of blue and I thought the batik type print gave a Carribbean vibe.  The beachy buffet was held to thank those who had donated to my son's recent humanitarian trip to Haiti!

The colors in the fabric matched a lot of my depression glass that I had been collecting over the years so I gathered some pieces and put them to use.  The dark blue apothecary jar was my most recent find!

 I chose yellow and white daisies to contrast with all the blues!

The napkins were rolled up and encircled with jute napkin rings and placed in my cherished vintage sand bucket found at the Sacramento Antique Fair.

The light blue milk glass pedestal bowl was a gift from my husband - filled with lemon heads to carry the yellow through the table scape.  The vintage paper fish coasters were thrift store find, as was the blue cut glass handled bowl they are nestled in.

Here's a close up of the milk glass - I just love the curves in the pattern! 

They remind me of the ocean waves!

The tiny seahorse slat and peppers had to be included!

After adding the little starfish and some silver glass glitter to the edges of this sign found at Marshalls, it was ready to welcome the guests!

I placed the blue vase filled with daisies atop a vintage soda crate to create some height, added a couple of blue and yellow candles in a pair of milk glass candlesticks, a few seashells, and the "Beachy Blues Buffet" table top was complete!

I'm linking up to Tabletop Tuesday!

Easter Chicks, Bunnies and Eggs, Oh My!

 Sometimes it is so hard to choose which of these symbols of Easter I want to base my decor on each year so I decided to play with all three this year!

My husband and boys found these fresh blue flower plates years ago at Pottery Barn and gave them to me for Mothers' Day.  The blue flowers match the blue on the tablecloth I found at Marshalls perfectly!  The green juice glasses are from Pier 1 and the green candlesticks were another gift from my guys, found at Anthropologie.  The yellow placemats and green handled silverware were Marshall's finds.  I love to add fresh greenery or flowers to a tablescape, and fresh ferns grabbed my attention at the nursery.  I found the little fern pot and the blue pot at Goodwill.   Take a look at some close-ups from this tablescape!!

Salt and Pepper Shakers come in so many shapes and styles they can add a lot to the theme of your tablescape!  I found these bunny salt and pepper shakers at Pottery Barn two years ago and have used them not only for Easter, but for also for a baby shower with a "Peter Rabbit" theme.  The apothecary jar holds multicolored plastic speckled eggs and adds color.  I love using apothecary jars to decorate with - they are so versatile!  We sell so many different ones at Melange!

Adding more color are these glass eggs!  I found the large blue one and the small pink one at a great little store called Twigs in Yuba City.  I was so disappointed when the sales girl told me that was all they had left!!  You can imagine how excited I was when I was down in San Luis Obispo and found some more in one of my favorite SLO town stores, Old World Charm!  Arranging like objects in groups of threes and fives make an artistic display, and the way these eggs reflect in the vintage mirror caught my eye!  The fuzzy chicks came from Melange and the green vase,  Crate and Barrel.

When Kelly, a good friend and fellow vendor, brought this sweet little Easter chick into Melange, I knew I had to have it!  The fuzzy chick with the blue bow and wire basket reminded me of when my sons were born, and had to have a place in my Easter tablescape!  The vintage pitcher is Stangl - found it at the Sacramento Antique Fair! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also fell in love with the pseudo chocolate rabbits another fellow vendor, Cathy, brought into Melange!  The iconic rabbits sit atop a cherished gift!  The milk glass pedestal dish was a gift from a dear friend, Sandy, years ago and it is the perfect size to display treasured items, or tasty baked treats!  The "Happy Easter" prize ribbon embellishing the grouping was attached to a plastic bunny filled with Jelly Beans I found at 'The Tattered House' in Roseville. I thought it was just the added touch to finish off my tablescape!  Thanks for checking out my Easter vignettes and Happy Easter!