Sweet Antique Wicker Sewing Stand Makes A Charming Plant Holder Or Vanity Organizer

Get That Cottage Look With An Old Wicker Plant Stand

How sweet is this old wicker sewing basket stand now used as a plant holder? I can not believe I did not buy this beauty. First of all the wicker stand is absolutely charming.It was in very good condition and fairly priced at "Not Just A Crock" in Westbrook, CT

Using A Wicker Sewing Stand In The Vanity
I could also picture this lovely white painted wicker sewing basket stand converted into a wonderful vanity organizer to hold all kinds of accessories. Picture the back lid with a mirror insert and the top compartment as a place to keep all your vanity and bathroom accessories. So cute...so cottage!

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of I Antique Online an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.comVisit my website, CDianneZweig.comDianne is a member of:The American Society of Journalists and AuthorsThe Society of Professional Journalists

Off The Porch And Into Your Shop: Using An Old Shabby Railing For Displaying Artwork And Vintage Trays

A Shabby Painted Porch Railing Can Really Do The Job Used Indoors As A Display For Large Metal Trays, Prints And Artwork

I spotted this shabby display at the Bleu Willow in Simsbury recently. How clever is this, using the spaces between an old porch railing to organize your framed paintings, tole trays, large prints etc.

Using architectural salvage indoors is quite trendy right now. Glad my friend Laura rescued this piece. She has a picker who bring her these goodies, but we all have seen similar examples of discarded house parts. Now we can put them to good use and feel great that we re-cycled great stuff.

For more ideas and resource information about this topic, be sure to read my book, "Hot Cottage Collectibles For Vintage Style Homes".

Photo and idea courtesy of The Bleu Willow

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.comVisit my website, CDianneZweig.comDianne is a member of:The American Society of Journalists and AuthorsThe Authors Guild, Inc.

Kitsch n Cottage: Romantic Cottage Collectibles At Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford

Announcing Kitsch n Cottage: My Beautiful Collection Of Romantic Cottage Collectibles Now In My Shop At The Collinsville Antiques Company, CT

I took the plunge, I took an additional glass showcase at my Antique Mall which is called The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford. I added an expanded collection of Romantic Cottage Collectibles.

Introducing My Collection Of Romantic Cottage Collectibles

You will find some of my favorite finds including:chocolate pots, Vanity items, Half Dolls,Lipstick holders, Tea Cups,
handbags, Jewelry, Mirrors, Pill Boxes, Crystal, Silver Plated, Serving Pieces, Salts, Mustache Cups, Creamers, Sugars, Vases, Doll Accessories, Small Doll Dressers, Decorative Plates and Bowls, Victorian Accessories, Sachets, Powder Jars etc.

Hot Cottage Collectibles For Vintage Style Homes

As many of you know, I wrote a book about this topic called Hot Cottage Collectibles For Vintage Style Homes. You will find over 50 contributors in this book with fabulous examples of their collections. I particularly love some of the gorgeous
hand painted romantic dining collectibles.
Sweet Vintage Linens And Textiles On Hand
I find that many people who love cottage collectibles, also like vintage tablecloths, hankies,doilies, tea towels and embroidered textiles. Delicate floral patterned linens, as well as lace textiles are always sought after when in good condition and priced fairly. I love these textiles, but they are a lot of work!

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.comVisit my website, CDianneZweig.comDianne is a member of:The American Society of Journalists and AuthorsThe Authors Guild, Inc.

Antique Wicker: A Cottage Style Favorite

Have Your Lemonade
Sitting In An Antique Wicker Chair Or Sofa

Wicker has always been a favorite on porches. Popular during the Victorian era, the word wicker is actually derived from the Scandinavian words wika, meaning "bend" and vikker, meaning "willow". Although many people refer to "wicker" as a material, it is actually a catch all term to apply to many different materials which are woven.

Types of Wicker

Materials available for weaving depend on the climate of a given region. For example in warmer areas you will see reeds, palm leaves, canes, grasses and of course rattan made into furniture.

Cooler Climates Use Different Materials

Crafters in cooler climates avail themselves to wood strips, rushes, wild grasses, willow twigs and roots for designing furniture.

Rattan A Natural Material Is Very Popular

Most of us are familiar with rattan the most popular natural material for weaving. Because rattan is a solid core vine it is very sturdy and a good choice for furniture. ( Wicker Design By Mary Whitesides 2003).

Wicker Styles

Wicker can be divided into several styles: Victorian, Art Deco, Bar Harbor, Stick Wicker (Modern). You will find more photos of vintage wicker in my book, Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes (Collectorbooks.com).
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Photos Courtesy of Preservecottage.com and natashaburns.com

Check Out http://iantiqueonline.ning.com/group/antiquewickerfurniture


C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link:
C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff

Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com

Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com

Dianne is a member of:
The American Society of Journalists and Authors
The Authors Guild, Inc.

Freshen Up Your Cottage Style With Aqua And Coral Color Combinations: Ideas From Michele's Cottage Gifts And Antiques, Plantsville, Connecticut

Fun, Funky, Whimsical Cottage Style: Mixing Aqua And Coral Colors In Furnishings And Accessories: Now Featured At Michele's Cottage Antiques In Plantsville, Connecticut

Freshen up your cottage style decor with aqua painted furniture and coral painted walls, This color combination is delicious and perfect for relaxed living. And you can find so many vintage accessories to compliment this whimsical palette. Many collectibles and textiles from the 1950s showcased these popular colors,often called "desert colors" .
Rich Pastels Colors Of Coral And Aqua

While you often find cottage style furnishing in softer pastel colors, Michele of Michele's Cottage Antiques in Plantsville, Connecticut likes her pastels rich and colorful. She also likes to paint vintage accessories in some of the same colors as her furniture so that customers can easily coordinate accents pieces with their dressers, vanity tables, chairs etc.
Her painted pieces are exceptional.


Retro Aqua Vintage Birdcage

My favorite find on my recent rip to Michele's was the aqua painted bird cage. I really would adore having this retro birdie condo. But then I would have to buy the dresser and the barkcloth lamp and all the other great re-cycled collectibles and furnishings. You know, I may just go back to Michel's tomorrow and buy the whole room...stay tuned.

Michele's Cottage Gifts And Antiques
53 Main Street
Plantsville, CT
860-329-0033

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link:
C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff

Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com

Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com

Dianne is a member of:
The American Society of Journalists and Authors
The Authors Guild, Inc.

Rejuvenate An Old Round Vanity Bench With Vintage Barkcloth Fabric And Scalamandre Tassels

Gorgeous Shabby Chic Round Vanity Bench That
Looks Great With Vintage Barkcloth And Tassels

Even if you are not handy in the sewing room, you can rejuvenate an old round French vanity bench in a few easy steps.

The beautiful bench shown here was once an ugly ducking and now it is a Shabby Chic powder room delight. But with Cabriole legs and a lovely painted finish in excellent shape, all this bench needed was a fabric re-do! The trick was to find the right fabric that would lay nicely on the bench and allow the floral design to lay centered on the bench.

Meet my Restoration Guru, Pam of Rusty Rose Petals

Pam of Rusty Rose Petals on Etsy is my restoration Guru. She really knows how to transform a outdated tacky bench into a very pretty Shabby Chic vanity bench. With a couple of easy steps, you can change the look of most benches from tired looking to fresh and feminine.

Choosing The Right Fabric

Because this bench is round, it is important to find a fabric with a design that will work well on a round format. The vintage barkcloth chosen here has a large center rose with smaller flowers around it. By cutting the fabric in one large round piece larger than the bench, you will be able to center the design on the vanity bench.

Of course you could also use a fabric with an overall repeat pattern such as checks or small flowers and still create a lovely bench. But this Romantic Cottage Style bench features the lovely rose centerpiece and roses are adored by Romantic Cottage gals.

Tacking Down The Vintage Barkcloth

Pam added her Barkcloth fabric over the existing red velvet cusion (hard to believe). As stated earlier, you must cut out a circle larger thatn the size you need. Then you can use upholstery tacks to fasten the fabric to the bench. Upholstery tacks are very tiny with a very sharp point. These tacks are easy to use with a hammer. You could also use a Staple gun. To keep the fabric laying smoothly, Pam notched her fabric circle with a little triangle cut in about eight different places along the edge of the fabric.

Adding Vintage Scalamandree Tassels

Once the vintage Barkcloth is tacked down, the final step is to cover the tacks with some form of trim. Here pink and white vintage Scalamandre tassels are added with a hot glue gun. By the way, Pam does not suggest using a glue gun for the first step. Upholstery tacks are a better choice for adding the fabric to the bench. If you are not a tassle perosn, you could use a gimp or braided trim .

Visit Pam at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/rustyrosepetals


C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link:
C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff

Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com

Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com

Dianne is a member of:
The American Society of Journalists and Authors
The Authors Guild, Inc.

Painting Several Pieces of Older Furniture "Aqua" to Create a Charming Baby Nursery or Children's Corner in Your Shop

Painting Your Vintage Furniture "Aqua"

What can you do with the color aqua? Well you can do what my friend Laura did in her shop The Bleu Willow in Simsbury, CT. She created a cottage-y feel in her Vintage Nursery and Junior section by painting several pieces of shabby furniture the color "aqua". As you can imagine, this soft pastel color is charming!

Color Organizes Rooms

By sticking with the same color for a variety of furnishings you will instantly organize your room. Laura has done just that...transforming one corner of her shoppe into a sweet flea market inspired ensemble instead of a mish mosh of unwanted hand me downs. While Laura's "aqua" groupings serve to showcase her baby items, you can certainly accomplish this delicious cottage look at home as well. This is a very practical and affordable decorating trick.

Aqua is an Easy Color to Live With

Aqua is a an easy color to live with and goes wonderfully with yellows, pinks, neutrals, whites, reds and more. Consider putting together an aqua themed room by painting older tables, dressers, hampers, armoires, desks etc. in the same color . Add some charming vintage prints of children on the walls with a touch of aqua as well.

Utilizing Every Space Available

The Bleu Willow is a small shop that is packed with a combination of antiques, collectibles and vintage style accessories, jewelry and furnishings. You will find that every space is this store is utilized. The drawers of cabinets and dressers are stuffed with goodies which are easily visible.

Laura also likes to create interesting "stacks" of treasures, using vintage boxes, books, containers etc. for propping up or containing small items.

Photos Courtesy of The Bleu Willow
http://www.thebleuwillow.com/


C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link:
C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff

Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com

Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com

Dianne is a member of:
The American Society of Journalists and Authors
The Authors Guild, Inc.

Decorating With Cottage Style Shelves

Cottage Look With Glass Shelf

One of the most exciting features of cottage style decorating is how clever one can be with odds and ends, flea market finds, found objects and so on.

Each time I think I have seen just about everything in the world of cottage collectibles and furnishings ....lo and behold a new twist to an older idea seems to surface.


Lot's Of Cottage Furnishings at Used Furniture of Canton, CT

For example, on a recent visit to "Used Furniture of Canton", CT, owners Mark aand Holly were displaying a newly acquired "shelf' made from an old bed headboard which had been re-painted Seafoam green. (See very top photo) .Now let's face it, most of us have already seen our share of shelves made out of this and that. But what was novel for me was that the shelf was "glass" and that this particular re-purposed decorative wall decor had been hanging in a huge bathroom.

Special Features of The Green Shelf

This lovely shelf has several unique things going for it:

Painted green instead of white or wood toned.
Used in a bathroom instead of hallway or livng room.
Utilizing a glass shelf instead of a wood one.

Other materials for Cottage Shelves

Other fun ways to build cottage style shelves is to use old doors, shutters, picket fence, stairway spindles etc. You can also add decorative trim from other salvage items. The red painted shutter shelf looks great in a beach themed cottage or in a child's room. Above is a photo of a shelf made from an old door. It serves as both a shelf and a hall tree for coats. It's wonderful to be able to re-cycle older materials and find practical uses for these items in your home.

You will find so much more about cottage decor and collectibles in my book Hot Cottage collectibles for Vintage Style Homes (collectorbooks.com


C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link:

. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff

Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com

Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com

Dianne is a member of:
The American Society of Journalists and Authors
The Authors Guild, Inc.