Vintage Vignette In the Hall Of the New House

I’m ever so slowly getting things put together here in the new house. I’m talking about turtle slow. Slower even!! Some days I’m all gung-ho and others are… well… not. There are, however, a couple of vignettes – vintage vignettes -I’m fairly satisfied with, but I find myself over thinking everything. Plus, I don’t have all my stuff here. A ton of it is still in storage. So I’m working with what I have and buying new things along when I fall in love with something. That’s happened 3 times so far. 

Anyway, I’ve always loved this old, oak chest. (The color’s a little goofy in the picture below.)

The chest has a history. I found it at an estate sale over 20 years ago. The daughter and I had gone to school together from kindergarten through 12th grade. Her dad had been one of the local obstetricians. Her mother and I had become friends later through sewing. This was in the basement, covered in thick paint just like the inside of the drawers. They, wondering why anyone would want such a thing, were asking $6.00 for it.

Back then, you have to understand, this… paint… wasn’t as desirable as it is today. I wish now I’d left it alone, but I’m not unhappy with the outcome, either.

I started stripping it and gave up. It sat under the carport for several years before Ricky, God bless him, finished it for me. He wasn’t able to get all the paint out of the grain of the wood, but I really like it like that! I’ve been using it ever since.

I tried to put it somewhere downstairs in the new house, but it just didn’t seem to really fit anywhere. So upstairs it went. You’ll be among the few people outside of family to ever see it.

I thought I’d like to use the landscape prints with it. They have a history as well. Another friend had given us his parents’ stuff. Yippee! I kept a whole lot of it. These prints were part of that.

(At the bottom of this post is a list with links to similar products used in this vignette.)

But I couldn’t decide what to pair with them on the table. I “overthunkit.” They and the chest are pretty country. Would the metal bust and floral painting vignette work? Should I go with country/primitives? Could I add color? What to do? What to do? After much gnawing and gnashing of teeth, (I mean come on! It’s not that big of a deal!) I decided to try the green chippy drawer, just as I’ve always used it — with the metal bust, the marshmallow tin full of old, crepe paper flowers and the naive floral painting.  It wasn’t unpleasing. I’d use it. The green paint on the drawer, in the floral painting and the print all kinda match, too. A pleasant surprise!

But what else? I just started trying things and came up with this box and stuff:

Yes? No? Maybe???? Awww. Sure. Why not? I’m okay with it. Yes, it could be better, but I’ll do the best I can with what I have here. 

That chippy paint thing with the flowers and bottle on it? It’s an old, plaster, lamp base. The flowers around the neck are antique… I don’t even know what to call them. I don’t really think they’re millinery flowers, but that would work I guess. The dried rosebuds in the bottle were from an arrangement I got for my anniversary or something years ago. The candlestick between the box and the drawer was one of a pair. They’re metal and the other one broke. Italian, I believe. The tall candlestick is newer. Probably from somewhere like Hobby Lobby but I picked it up at a yard sale and have had it at least 5 years. The box? Just a wooden box I picked up somewhere. They’re fairly easy to find.

 

The pillow was made by my friend, Melanie.
I have plans to change out all the builder grade wall fixtures. To what, I haven’t a clue.
It looks like I need something on the wall above the chair.

The rest of the hall is bare.

As you can see, I have a long wall on the right to play with. I have a few ideas. I guess it will get whatever I find first.

To the immediate right is a bonus room (that we’re actually using as a grandchildrens’ bedroom) that has an alcove going into it. 

Since the doors open inward, I can probably use some little something along that short wall.

To the immediate right in the above picture are the stairs going down.

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So where do you find similar products used in this vignette? I collected mine over the years, mostly at estate and yard sales. I always recommend shopping those places as well as thrift stores and antique malls, but more often than not, that takes awhile. A quicker way is to check out eBay and Etsy. Here are search links for some of the items (Some brought back too many or zero results) with the pertinent info already filled in for you.  These links are affiliate links meaning if you buy something, at no extra cost to you, of course, I’ll get a super tiny cut of the money. We’re talking pennies, but those pennies help keep things going! I’ll never pass up a penny!

• Pastoral prints on Etsy and eBay
• Chippy drawers on Etsy and eBay
• Metal busts on Etsy and eBay
• Old crepe paper flowers – believe it or not! – on Etsy and eBay
• Simple floral paintings on Etsy and eBay
• Marshmallow tin on Etsy and eBay

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Pins are always appreciated! …….

Moving has been good and sad. I don’t regret it, but it seems to have made my bouts of melancholy rear their ugly heads more than usual with a lack of productivity being the result. But I’ll snap out of it! I always do.

“This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.”