I come by my bargain-hunting skills honestly. As a child I accompanied my parents on many a Manhattan Upper East Side Saturday thrift-shopping excursion. They and their fellow flaneurs - among them a managing editor at Vogue, Columbia professor of Arabic history, and the noted antique dealers John Rosselli and Furlough Gatewood were so well-liked by the volunteer ladies at the Lenox Hill, Spence Chapin, Housingworks, and Memorial Sloan Kettering charity shops that the best donations were, at times secreted behind the counter for their perusal. The treasure hunters would meet for lunch in Germantown (86th street) to show what they had found and discuss each piece’s merits. I listened intently.
Any wonder that we should rejoice in filling the net zero house with second-hand furnishings bought for a sous? We make nearly weekly forays to Lund’s to see what’s on offer and more often than not come away with a prize. This past week it was a KitchenAid stainless mixer, a set of Community pattern silver for 12, and two armchairs for the parlor. I had been holding out for a pair of wing chairs embroidered in Bargello- but since the two chairs set me back $60 (retail likely $2,000 each) I won’t feel bad about trading them in when the Bargello numbers show up. Meanwhile, they are very comfortable. I am sitting in one right now.
Except to furnish the parlor - a period room with built-in bookcases, fireplace and William Morris wallpaper - we are looking for clean-lined pieces that are Mission or Modern. Below are some of the finds living lightly in the rental bungalow awaiting the move to Fernwood. Everything is from dear old Lund’s unless otherwise noted. Onto this base we will layer local textiles, painting, photographs and ceramics- generally things that are in the serene color palette of the house - or that adumbrate the theme of conservation. The contents of the finished house will be very largely (maybe not 99 and 44/100% ) used, salvaged, or locally produced. We can happily work with what is here.
Teak parsons table style desk and Hans Wegner chair (Chair from The Fabulous Find)
Mid Century pottery on a barley twist drop leaf table (Pottery from Kim’ on Pandora)
Lee chairs and a coromandel lamp
Oak Bay landscape (Kim’s)
Imari dinnerware (more of them in the bottom row)
A modern piece I did not buy - a lot of work by this artist came up for sale recently
Detail of the Coromondel lamp (we got 2) some of the best buys ever
Pencil post bed and side tables
Mission bookcase - original wavy glass especially beautiful
Flat weave vintage rug of uncertain provenance but jazzy disposition,
Leaded glass transom lights
Murano glass lanterns
Imari resplendent
Stones and shells - one per day to mark the time we’re out of the house. Some kind of shrine will be erected
Welsh blanket - Lots of Welsh influence here in British Columbia found on Fort street
