Shopping Chronicles: Shoulda, Coulda, Wouldas... and some Dids!

If you're anything like me, you love to shop. I don't love buying things, necessarily. But I sure love the hunt. And let me tell you about Tennessee's secondhand goodness! Every once in a while I really feel some sorrow about letting some gems go. You might think I'm crazy, looking at a few of these pieces. But it's all about the merchandising once you get the thing home. Making sure it has a proper home where it can be showcased, but where its surroundings make the new "weird" item make sense!

Here are a few beauties I had to let go because 1) I don't have anywhere to put it (hello, Hoarders!), 2) it's not in the budget, or 3) I just missed the flash of genius at the time.

Some wire baskets. Would make such cool hampers or blanket storage.

Baller natural woven coffee table. Great scale (huge!) and love that it's a neutral and transitional at the same time.

My top two favorite things to thrift are books (more about that later) and art, as seen in a previous post. I just ADORE this pencil sketch, framed simply, of a little kid with some massive retro frames. So cute. WHY didn't I get this!? I should have! He's so quirky and weird. He would have made me smile whenever I saw him.
It's no surprise that I'm loving Aztec-ish prints these days. So these ottomans are right up my alley.

This massive, amazing copper tub would have been mine if I had an extra $4,888 lying around. It stayed at the store, natch.

Cool industrial metal console table.

Again with the tribal prints on a big upholstered item. Love it. Looks like it was probably originally a flat weave rug. That, my friends, would be creative repurposing.

This beast is totally awesome but it also had a beastly pricetag so it didn't come with me. (Who left their orange peel on the floor? Bad manners.)

Here's a piece I would die to own one day. So rustic but functional. I would have to have a wine party to fill the sucker though...

Now... here are some things that DID come home with me....

Butterfly throw pillow... printed on tea stained linen. Lovely!
Sick equestrian-style decanter set.

Hand-painted canvas of TN mountains.

Okay, and now to the other of my top two favorite items to search for secondhand. BOOKS! I got these books for next to nothing, and I mean, check out some of these titles! The Book of Inside Information. How to Work a Room. How to Attract Good Luck (which I WILL study!). Oh and at least a few of these I got for FREE. Whaaa? Yeah, it is as they say, "one person's trash..."


Love it. Normally I'm looking for hardcover books exclusively, but with a title and subject matter like this, how can I leave it there? (Leaving it would probably have brought bad luck...)

Where are your favorite places to shop for accessories for your home? What are your favorite things to hunt for in secondhand stores? Tell me about your best score!

XO

Elizabeth