Flea Market Decorating 101

Posted: August 3, 2014 | Author: janeray | Filed under: Flea market, Fun Finds, Home and Garden, This Old Row House, Vintage tablecloths, What we collect | Tags: Flea market, jadeite green, painted furniture, thrift store | 2 Comments

Don’t you just love seeing what other people have done in their houses? I do!

Flea market decorating has gone mainstream, judging by the amount of magazines you can find on the topic. I’m gratified to know my house is finally cool instead of just cheap!

All these titles feature dozens of tips about what’s hot, how to convert trash into treasure, and where to shop. What they don’t do is tell you how to start decorating from scratch.

Click here for my opinionated advice!

Cutter tablecloths get a second chance

Posted: May 28, 2014 | Author: janeray | Filed under: Makeover, Sewing Project, This Old Row House, Vintage tablecloths | Tags: cutter tablecloth, vintage tablecloth, vintage tablecloths | Comments Off

99.99% of the time I couldn’t cut up a vintage tablecloth for a sewing project. But sometimes they just can’t be saved. Holes the size of an egg right in the middle of an otherwise wonderful tablecloth released me from all guilt in turning this one into a small curtain for my front door.

I sewed this so long ago that the yellow flowers have almost completely faded from exposure to the morning sun. I probably ought to replace it.

The other half of the same tablecloth ended up as a small valance over my kitchen sink window.

Yep, there’s more!

The collecting bug bites early

Posted: May 19, 2014 | Author: janeray | Filed under: Memories, This Old Row House, Vintage toys | Tags: Akro Agate, antique shopping, china cabinet, Hazel Atlas Moderntone platonite | Comments Off

“Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.” What do you think of this Jesuit motto? Is it true?

I don’t have to go any further than my dining room to see where my childhood and present intersect.

I got my first piece of furniture–a china cabinet–when I was only three years old. My father built it from knotty pine and scraps of Formica counter top. I distinctly remember wanting to be tall enough to see what was on the top shelf. (Now it barely reaches up to my elbows!)

My early American china cabinet.

Yep, there’s more!

Thinking inside the box, coloring inside the lines

Posted: May 15, 2014 | Author: janeray | Filed under: Social Media, This Old Row House | Tags: cathedral quilt, creativity, granny square afghan, hooked rug, Instagram, vintage, vintage plaid scarves | 3 Comments

Just this week I put two and three together and realized I really like thinking inside the box. When it comes to design I’m attracted to squares. And things in grids. Especially if they have lots of colors.

You can find boxy grids all through the house, starting just inside the front door. I comb-painted the foyer floor in raspberry and white squares a long time ago.