This is my bathroom as of September 2013, enjoy!
All photographs are courtesy of Ashley a. Photography, thanks Ashley!
This is my dining room as of September 2013, enjoy!
All photographs are courtesy of Ashley a. Photography, thanks Ashley!
This is the exterior and entryway of my house as of September 2013, enjoy!
All photos are courtesy of Ashley a. Photography, thanks Ashley!
One of my greatest dilemmas when buying things for my house is whether to buy vintage or buy new. There are merits to both! There are pitfalls to both! A classic pro and con list is called for.
Pro: Buying Vintage
If you found a (seemingly) one of a kind item at some dusty thrift shop on a gross side of town then make way for some major bragging rights. Oh, that old thing? It’s unique, awesome, and it was only three cents. Also, vintage items have that perfectly rusted and perfectly distressed look to them that just cannot be recreated (although we’ve all tried at some point). Vintage items can also be significantly cheaper than new items that look old. In my experience the further away from any major city you go the cheaper the items are (not to be city snob but country folk don’t always know what they have). Another pro? Finding a cool vintage piece feels like winning the lottery. You searched and you found that perfect vintage school map for under $100 and the shopper’s high is incredible.
Con: Buy Vintage
Buying vintage is kind of a lot of work. I mean, it’s not like you can just go to the one perfect thrift shop in town that has all the cool stuff for affordable prices (unless that place exists, in which case, tell me where!). Buying vintage takes driving around to all the thrift shops in town and sifting through loads upon loads of unorganized, dusty junk to find that one brass figurine that your heart has always desired. Your hands will smell and you’ll be hungry and you’ll get drowsy from all the driving. Not to mention that vintage items can be really overpriced. I’m sorry, you want how much for the dinged up, not to mention non-functioning, letter ‘T’ from an old neon sign??? I mean it would look insane in my dining room but I’m not paying three figures for it! And now with the proliferation of blogs and Pinterest that once unique light up globe lamp that you found for $12 (ahem) doesn’t look so special when ever other photo on the internet showcases one. If you think about it, we are basically buying stuff that was mass produced 50 years ago, it isn’t really that unique, it just happened to have survived the last few decades.
Pro: Buying New
Pretty much any store that sells housewares has vintage-looking items. That distressed crate with French words, the side table with the brass capped legs… you know what I’m talking about. The obvious pro to buying new is convenience. Any home store will have a vintaged-ly patterned china set and hey! it will all match and you won’t spend hours/days/years thrifting to find a matching set. Also, can I just say cleanliness. Thrifting isn’t for the faint of heart, I have been in some straight-up nasty stores looking for vintage stuff, in comparison, you could perform surgery in Target it’s so clean. Buying new will also provide you with more knowledge of the piece you are buying. If you are buying a new mid-century style dresser you will know the quality based on where you purchase it, buying the same style dresser at a vintage shop and your guess on it’s origins, quality, and life span are only just that.
Con: Buying New
My number one problem with buying new stuff is unoriginality. Sure I love a lot of stuff at IKEA and Target but the likelihood that someone I know will also purchase the same piece is up there. Number two? Price. I wanted a side table that looked like a bar cart but I knew that if I purchased it new it would be over $100, so I buckled down and thrifted until I found what I wanted for $15. Also, buying new doesn’t necessary mean it will be good quality. Most furniture sold today is particle board or some sort of manufactured wood, but vintage stuff can often be well made. Just think about it, there is a 0% chance that Lack side table from IKEA is going to last even until next year let alone 30 years from now. Vintage furniture has stood the test of time.
So what do you think? Are you dedicated to the vintage hunt or are you happy with the convenience of buying new? I definitely lean more toward vintage but I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of buying new things. I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments!
Remember how I am a terrible painter? If you missed my last attempt at painting, here is the link. You should look at it if only to laugh at how bad of a painter I am. The thing that is ridiculous is not that I’m a bad painter because painting is hard, but that I keep trying when I know I’m not good. I’ve just always loved painting, so it’s hard to give up the dream that I could be good too. There is always the hope that next time I’ll be better.
So I tried again and my latest attempt was less of a ‘major fail’ and more of a ‘eh’ (which is how a lot of my DIY/craft projects turn out).
A few months ago I showed you guys this painting I found at a thrift shop (more about it here):
It was only $2.99! And it’s pretty big at about 14″ tall and 18″ wide. I love a good deal and I also like things that are just slightly ugly. This scene, while quaint, isn’t the best painting ever or anything. But when I saw it I really liked the frame and what the scene evoked. I also liked it because I’ve been wanting to do a ‘re-painting’ project. I’ve seen a lot of projects lately that take old thrift shop paintings and update them by painting over or accenting the original (examples here, here, and here).
So I did it!
And it looks… eh. It’s just so… ‘eh’. Why do I keep attempting painting projects??? That is a question that I just can’t answer, but swearing off of painting has done me no good in the past so I highly doubt it will make a difference now.
Not sure what I’ll do with this painting. For the last few months it’s been on my dresser leaning against my Scratch Map so it will probably remain there.
Have you attempted any re-painting projects? I’m a huge fan of them, but apparently they aren’t quite as easy as they look.
Right now this painting is just leaning against my bedroom wall but I have a few ideas about how to spruce this guy up.
Idea #1:
Paint over the existing painting with new colors. I saw this on Pinterest awhile back and thought it was such a creative idea. It’s basically a play on paint with numbers. It’s unique and cheap and could potentially be easy. Although, let’s be honest a lot of these types of projects look easy and I over-confidently think I can do it but then I get into the project and… it’s a mess. But I’m just crazy enough to keep trying projects like this.
OR
Idea #2:
I actually reference this idea in my last attempt at DIY art (here). I like this project because it is extremely simple. Stick letters on canvas, paint over letters, dry, peel, and done! I’m not sure what I could write on such a small canvas though…
What would you do? I’m leaning toward Idea #1 but I’ll see what my mood is when I decide to start this project. For now, it will just be a weird little painting in my room.
I’ve been doing this thrift shops series for twentysomethingindy.com which means once a month for the past few months I’ve been spending hours driving around trying out thrift shops for research. Best research ever! But also worst research ever because it’s so tempting to buy stuff. So far I’ve written pieces on thrift shops on the east side, north side, and the downtown. Of those three research trips I spent $16, $30, and $15. Not terrible, but it’s still money spent every month.
This past weekend I was out on the west side researching and I came across a globe. Globes are crazy trendy and since they are easy to find and generally affordable they are a great trend to jump on. So I was not surprised that I found a globe since they are everywhere but what was surprising was how cheap it was at $12.50. The globe in my entry was about that same price when I got it about a year ago, but lately I’ve been seeing them listed for $20 and up so I was pleasantly surprised to see one that cheap. But I still probably wouldn’t have bought it if it weren’t for this:
Shut. Up. It’s a light up globe. I nearly squealed when (after asking the store manager where an outlet was) I plugged it in and it worked! For $12.50! Seriously, you can’t buy a lamp for under $40 let alone an amazingly life changing globe lamp. Love.
Tip of the day: The further you drive away from any downtown area the cheaper the thrift-able goods get.