Vintage Chic

Vintage furnishings are enjoying quite a hype these days. In fact, there was even an article in today's Globe and Mail about it. I have plenty of vintage items in my home, so I thought I'd show you some examples of how great these can look in your home. And keep in mind, none of these pieces required any repairs or work.



Awesome mid-century coffee table in absolute perfect condition.



I am a total sucker for this colour, so of course this one stopped me in my tracks. And someone had put on those amazing oversized chrome drawer pulls..... Yummy!



Both of these plant stands were found items (on the curb). The chair is second-hand and is ridiculously yellow and furry. My cat loves it!

I adore old, vintage things. To me, they have an inherent character that you just can't find in a new, mass-produced item. Not to mention it's a form of diverting items from landfill. Last year I decided I would only buy vintage items (except for appliances and electronics). So if I need an planter for outside or a dresser for the bedroom, I have to wait until I find something at an auction or thrift store. It's actually a great plan - you end up with incredibly unique pieces, you are only spending a fraction of the cost of buying new, and it really makes you re-asses whether you really truly need that certain item, or if it's just a whim.

So here's to happy hunting!...

New York, New York!

Being a bit of a procrastinator, it was only this weekend that I finally sent off photos from the last few years to be printed. This included photos from a recent trip I took in October to New York City with some girlfriends. I had only been a couple of times before, but always on business, so I never really got a chance to truly check things out. Well this time, we walked just about everywhere on Manhattan Island south of Central Park. Whew!

The visit to New York was fantastic - I finally got to walk around Central Park (see girlfriends posing in the photo above!), which is so much more beautiful than I had imagined. 

We also made a point of walking through Grand Central Station, which is jaw-droppingly stunning. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the ceiling is a gorgeous shade of teal, and is covered with stars and astrological symbols. It's awesome!

We were so productive, we even took the ferry over to Staten Island, which gives you a great view of Manhattan on the return trip.

We even were able to take pictures at sunset from Brooklyn Bridge.

Amazing! The goal for the next visit is to stay in Brooklyn. It seems so intersting and bursting with things to discover. And I hear there's a giant flea market there, which would be a total treasure trove! Can't wait!

New This Week at Relish Vintage

Brand new items have been added again this week to Relish Vintage! Here are my favourites...

Vintage Bird-Etched Cocktail Shaker

Vintage Green & White Pyrex Baking Dish

Vintage Clear Glass Vase

Stay tuned for more great items next week!

Art Wall Continued...

Well I thought since I had an artwork theme going yesterday, and Hamilton has such amazing artists, I should probably share some more great artwork that we have picked up since we moved here...

This is the second print we purchased from Matt McInnes entitled Hamilton Theatres. I adore this one because of all the great colours in it, which contrast perfectly with the graphic illustrations - and the background is covered in hot pink dots! What more can you ask for?! (we still need to find a thrift-store frame for this one...)

This piece is called ZigZag by Emmy Skensved - I actually won this by bidding volunteer hours at Hamilton's very first Timeraiser event. (This, by the way, is an incredible event which will be here for it's 3rd year this fall. It's basically a silent auction for local artwork, but instead of bidding with dollars, bids are based on hours that you pledge to volunteer with a local charity. Great idea!) I have to admit this one is not my boyfriend's favourite, but I LOVE it. I definately have a weakness for stripes. And check out Emmy's website - she does some seriously beautiful and incredible work and has had exhibitions across Canada from Halifax to Vancouver (at venues ranging from local galleries to the National Gallery of Canada), not to mention Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

It's the Pigott Building!! This painting was our very first art purchase - we found it while on an Art Bus tour when we had stopped in at the Tiger Group Studio Gallery. The piece is by Robin Laffier and features what is possibly our favourite Hamilton landmark. My favourite thing about this one is that it's so dark and moody and crackled. Delicious.

This last one isn't on the wall yet, but as soon as I find a thrift-store frame for it, it's going up. My sister and I bought this off of a guy one night at the Pepperjack Cafe. We didn't actually see this band play, but their poster was awesome, so we had to go home with it!

Art Wall

As I've mentioned, this past weekend was a pretty quiet affair. The absolutely frigid temperatures made it very difficult for my boyfriend and I to go outside at all. The good news here is that we FINALLY got around to hanging the most recent additions to our "Hamilton Art Wall".

A very humble beginning, I know, but these things take time...

We have a couple of other pieces that still have no frames, but so far this wall includes artwork from some of our favourite, incredible local artists including Paul Elia (from his Hamilton Strip series), Amy Kenny, and Matt McInnes.

Our somewhat ambitious goal is to eventually cover all the walls of our living room in Hamilton art - I'll keep you posted on our progress!

The Inside Joys of Winter

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I am not a cold-weather person. Especially with this weekend's very much sub-zero temperatures. I only leave the house when absolutely required - to walk my dog. But once I'm outside even I have to admit that, despite the temperature, the snow does make everything look lovely...

Snow-covered seed heads on tall grasses in our garden.

Snow-covered candleholder that I never remember to bring indoors for the winter.

However, my favourite winter activities still involve snuggling up indoors to enjoy the weather......

Beautiful frost crawling across our house's old drafty windows (doesn't this look like trees?).

And the perfect excuse to make comfort food & snacks like my nana's recipe for Nuts & Bolts. A total old-school snack, not health food, and not really good for you at all, but damn delicious!

New at Relish Vintage

Well, it's Thursday again - time to show you the newest favourite items from my shop Relish Vintage on Etsy.



Vintage Federal Bowls

Set of 3 Amber Daisy Glasses

Emerald Glass Bud Vase

Vintage bowls, daisy glasses, and bud vases. So cute!

I'm always getting and posting new items, so keep an eye on the shop for that something you just can't live without!