My Mid-Century Conversion

Remember this $5 Parker table I bought at the op shop?

Here it is after I filled the gouge, lightly sanded it and applied a fair amount of oil. Now it's one of my favourite pieces of furniture and I'm so glad I brought it home and gave it a new lease of life:

I've certainly become a convert to mid-century furniture after years of not really appreciating it.

Lucky Find

I've been so busy working lately that I haven't been to an Op Shop for about three months. Prior to that I'd had a couple of months without finding anything and was a bit disheartened. So imagine my delight when I called in earlier this week and found this cute little table for the princely sum of $15:

When I arrived home I was asked where I was planning to put it (I seem to have a plethora of similar tables already) and I replied that that was not the point. I've learnt that a found object always finds a home if you love it.

My 100th Post

Well, I never thought I'd have enough to fill 100 posts, but it seems I've managed to do it, one way or another. My trips to the Op Shop have certainly been more frequent since I've become a blogger. Over the last two weeks, this is what a total of $20 has bought:

A pink Italian bedspread still in its wrapper and a previously unused afghan blanket:

A patchwork quilt and a green check travel rug:

A white marble vase and picture frame:

It's been fun collecting all these and other items since last October. Now, however, I'll be having a rest from Op Shops because on the 9th May, my husband and I are house-swapping in Europe for three months. We'll be swapping for a week in each location: Paris, the Costa del Sol, Barcelona, Provence, Umbria, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm and London. I was originally planning to give my blog a rest while I'm gone, but I've decided to attempt to post from the cities I'll be in. Not too sure how easy this will be, but I'll give it a go. So, from May 9th till August 2nd, my posts may become a little infrequent.But hopefully, I'll be able to offer some insights into the world of house-swapping. Thanks to everyone who's been kind enough to read my blog so far. Some of you have been really regular with your lovely comments. Hopefully I'll find something interesting to say from May 9.

Former Ugly Duckling

Found this table at an op shop a couple of weeks ago for $5. You would not believe how ugly it was. It had a patched wood-grain veneer top and the pedestal colour could only be described as 'tan'. I forgot to take a 'Before' shot, which is probably a blessing. It scrubbed up pretty well though. The only problem is that I now have three round white tables in the boatshed. I've definitly reached the limit. I know the theory is that, for every piece of vintage you take home, you should also divest yourself of one. But I fall in love with everything I bring home, so there's nothing I want to part with.

Reinterpretation of a Table

When I walked into the second-hand furniture shop a couple of weeks ago, this cane table called out to me to be rescued. As most people who've dropped into my blog are aware, I love reinterpreting furniture, but even I was appalled by the brown paint and the fact that the top had been covered with dirty old linoleum (who does that?)

So, two coats of paint later, here it is and I'm absolutely in love. Decorated with some other recent op shop finds such as a shell and some Johnson and Meakin china, along with some flowers from the garden, it's difficult to recognise that poor, sad old table.