Art and design (and stinky thrift store) summer!

Since a trip to Palm Springs in May that involved scouting for vintage at the most picked-over Goodwill store imaginable and a hotter-than-hell but fun midcentury modern architecture bike tour, I've been absorbed in vintage as part of this interior design journey.

Visiting Palm Springs, California, was a midcentury modern architecture and vintage goods TRIP as everyone knows (unless you're living under one of the many rocks maybe at nearby Joshua Tree National Park) it's a mecca for iconic design. Above is a beautiful glass display in one of the many vintage stores and this home is one of the many examples of well-preserved MCM architecture.

With June came a temporary-turned-continuous vintage booth at the Penny Lane Antique Mall in Bellingham and an opportunity to literally get my hands dirty while exploring this segment of the business after over two years of incorporating quality crafted vintage furniture and decor into client projects.

So far it's worth it just for the fabulous art and design knowledge crash course. It's also been a bit mentally overstimulating and overwhelming and I'm kinda exhausted from zipping around trying to assess items, figure out whether to buy them, clean them, price them, tag them and style them in the store. There's a lot involved and I'm making some money but when I add up all the time spent, I most certainly am not, lol.

It's all learning and that's the priceless part of all of this. I'm learning about regional and national and international artists and designers by picking up items that I'm drawn to and seeing some gorgeous regional architecture at estate sales and meeting people I might not otherwise meet who have been at this a lot longer than I.

And I've seen up close that more and more people are into it. Some estate sales have felt more like game shows in which people have only one minute to grab everything they can. And good luck getting a shopping cart at some thrift stores on a Monday morning. It's a little much. I've learned that while you won't get it all the good stuff, many people don't actually want what you want and after a frenzied start, calm eventually comes (sometimes the prices slow our roll because we're all there in the dusty allergy-inducing chaos to find a deal and it's not happenin'). Go often enough, though, and you'll find something to write a blog post about. We scored these vintage Danish mugs, for example, that were buried in the back of a bottom shelf. And here's a tip -- often saucers are not stocked near mugs (quelle horreur!) Look for saucers in the plate aisle. We found 9 of these mugs and 5 saucers and as you can see, they are a thing of glazed glory.

At a recent not-quite-estate sale, I remembered why I like all of this. I had randomly checked estatesales.net (a great place to find sales in your area!) on a Sunday even though I had looked a few days earlier and hadn't seen much. Up popped a sale in its second day promising generous discounts. Photos of the items seized my attention (and if this happens to you move mountains to go that sale). We were READY when they opened the garage. Dan beelined over to a table that I hoped to get our hands on. And we got it. We got it!

The '80s postmodern side table (on the right) has a black marble conical base, round glass table with a topper that screws to the base through the glass.

Now our home is in no way finished, whatever that even means, but I've been working on this corner for years trying different things that haven't made the grade. This postmodern marble and glass wonder of a side table is the cherry on top. If you look at the photo you can see how the tan topper speaks to the wood floors and the black marble with white veining ties to the surfboard coffee table. The round top also says hey there to the brutalist wooden bowl with round feet. Not to mention the glass table is a green that complements the blue in the rug and it being transparent allows the other nearby elements to shine while reflecting the sky at different times of day.

We also took home a magnificent antique oyster plate from that sale as well as a 50's chair and a wool rug. Maybe the best part was getting to talk to the woman selling the items about her career spanning commercial photography, selling antiques and working at a museum, and having her tell us about the objects and their stories. What a treat.

This method of putting a home together isn't easily done in a month or even a year. But if you want a home infused with personality and charm, it's the only way to go. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want tips on how to find the good stuff and first dibs on special items I'll preview here. If you want me to do the searching, get in touch and let's do it!