Do you resist...
those resin, wood, or metal decor items with the "Made in China" sticker on the back?
Come on now... You know the ones I am talking about. They have invaded every hobby and decor shop in strip malls across America. Some are very pretty, some are too cutesy, many are kitsch, but mostly all are made for a fraction of a fraction of their retail price. Did you get that?
Every Target, Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, Kirkland's, Tuesday Morning, T.J. Maxx, Marshall's, and Ross are full of them in droves. A complete store list carrying imported decorations is so long it would take months to type. The imports even managed to invade department stores from the low end like Kohl's, to the high like my all time Texas favorite... Neiman Marcus/Horchow. That oh-too-common sticker on the back has caused some minor political debates about jobs and merchandise being made and sold from this country. But, when people start to shop for decorations, low prices usually trigger most of us to toss any political correctness to the side. Many times I have been one of those PC tossers and because of my "real life" budget, I will continue to be for a very long time.
I prefer to find these imports second hand, or passed on to me by others who got tired of looking at them in their own home, or by rummaging garage sales and charity thrift stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and an original in Austin... Top Drawer Thrift.
TDT's charity sponsor, Project Transitions was created in 1986 by Barbara Davis to help support people dying from AIDS. In 1993 the thrift store was opened under the charity's vision to incorporate its proceeds to PT, helping to cover the cost of supporting individuals and families with HIV/AIDS. This thrift shop has been awarded many times as the best in thrift by the Austin Chronicle.
Once upon a time, my vanity motto was to not indulge in supporting the import invasion, because I naively looked forward to a day when stores would stock primarily American made items that we actually don't NEED, but WANT. But the geographical areas we all live in are full of thrown out decor treasures, old and new, large and small, American made and imports from various countries. Recycling anything usable is powerful, imports included. Besides, the truth is this world consist of countries that have been importing merchandise for over thousands of years and will continue to do so till the end of time. So get over it PC'ers! The world seems even smaller while clicking on the Internet and you can now get that treasured decoration for your home shipped from wherever in less than a week!
The point is that there may be times to shove aside PC thoughts and buy what you are attracted to and can actually afford without breaking your budget, or worrying about what others will think. The most affordable decor fillers ARE imports or thrift store finds. For me, tweaking the appearance to give these items a different appearance turns them into a personal treasure. It's like having a one-of-a-kind piece that actually blends with the interiors and it carries at least some partial "Made in the USA" pride, lol.
The point is that there may be times to shove aside PC thoughts and buy what you are attracted to and can actually afford without breaking your budget, or worrying about what others will think. The most affordable decor fillers ARE imports or thrift store finds. For me, tweaking the appearance to give these items a different appearance turns them into a personal treasure. It's like having a one-of-a-kind piece that actually blends with the interiors and it carries at least some partial "Made in the USA" pride, lol.
Here are some of my latest import and thrift store tweaks, plus one purchase makeover that was not a bargain.
(of course I forgot to take some of the before photos)
(of course I forgot to take some of the before photos)
A Goodwill found metal planter that had a horrible orangey/dark brown spotted finish is now the right color for the entry area in our townhouse. (ignore the lower level floor…wood will be on it in the future)
These small small vintage Syroco (Made in America) wall shelves were purchased on eBay for the kitchen, but now they will be placed above each of the nightstands in our bedroom with some type of large white sea shell on each against the black wall.
The downstairs powder room is very narrow and needed a slimmer trash bin. I found this wood one at Goodwill and used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey, Country Grey and stenciled the fleur de lis with Old White, then followed with a finishing wax.
Next is a 24x24 inch wood, fleur de lis wall plaque that I purchased online for the kitchen because it was inexpensive and distressed white. It arrived with the cheapest/cheesiest distressed paint job I have ever seen, and I have seen plenty. Despite the dark lines this thing looked awful and had minimal depth, no texture, or variations of white. Plus the paint job was so mat and chalky and it was rubbing off. The first photo is what is seen online, but in person this thing really looked CHEAP! I had no choice but to repaint it and by layering it with 6 different paint colors, followed by some sanding and finishing wax, I got the texture and color variation it should have had in the first place. Of course then it would not have been so cheaply priced.
Redone it now hangs on a black painted wall in the kitchen. For now I take all of this blogs pictures with my iPad and it did not pick up the color variations and textured details very well, please forgive me. (note to self…must add a digital camera to my wish list for this blog)
A fleur de lis cross statue found at Goodwill that was brown with metallic gold on its edge lines. The main color is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey and this is will sit on my nightstand next to a smaller Waterford Crystal cross. I love seeing beautiful crosses used like art pieces in interiors.
I grew up looking at a Last Supper picture in every relatives home I visited. Of course my mother had one too. I searched and searched for a small carved one and found this vintage Syroco piece on Etsy in the shop called TandRTreasures. I painted it white and followed with a Valspar antiquing glaze and placed it above the kitchen window.
This was a dark stained carved wood and metal box.
I do not like the pole/stand paper towel holders. I prefer to use containers. The outside of this old brass planter for the kitchen paper towel holder was spray painted white, leaving the inside and handles with the original tarnished brass.
I painted the old wood top on this flea market found glass canister, which is used for holding laundry detergent and added a pewter butterfly knob.
All the thrift found inexpensive baskets in the kitchen laundry closet were washed, dried, then spray painted with Rust-Oleum's Heirloom White for a crisp look against the greige (Martha Stewart's Sharkey Grey) laundry closet walls and shelves. The kitchen itself has black walls and black honed granite counter tops, with a white ceiling, doors, trim, cabinets, modern ceiling fan and antique milk glass light fixtures. The tile floor in the kitchen, pantry, and laundry closet is a gray-beige marble.
This cute Goodwill oil painting had a dark brown frame and beige cloth matting that I spray painted white.
Remember the cross pictured at the beginning of this post, well it was given to me by someone who was throwing it away and I never cared for the color, but really like the fleur de lis accents. It is now spray painted with two shades of white and hanging in the laundry closet.
Here is the "not a bargain" piece. I purchased this folk art cross at Cowgirls and Lace because I wanted a large one made from solid wood this shape and size, with a rustic metal floral design attached. It is 38 inches tall and very heavy. The red was very pretty and a great shade...more like a country red that looks great anywhere. I just needed it to be a more neutral color for our home. So I sanded it down a bit to remove the sealer and whipped out some color sample paints that I had laying around and began brushing. Some of you may think I am a bit crazy for painting it, but the new color blends better with what's going on around it.
Some things found at a thrift stores are broken, like the resin fleur de lis top of this metallic gold scroll tree, which is leaning on its base. Sometimes it seems there isn't much creative effort put into these imports when it comes to the painted finishes. In another color combination this piece will be very pretty. I'll pull out the magic glue and wait till its dry then paint away! But this will be one "after" photo you will have to wait to see in a future post and I promise to add more color to it than white or gray-beige. I have plenty more thrift find tweaking projects to share with you later.
~
Till next time...
Seek the thrift and you will find!
~
Linking to...
Fridays at Redoux
