With great excitement, I would like to like to introduce a new weekly series here on Poetic Home entitled “A Few of My Favorite Vintage Things.” Each week, I will happily feature creatives from around the blogosphere who will graciously share their favorite treasures and the stories behind each. I can’t wait to share with you the guests (some who may just be your favorite artists and bloggers) that we will have this week, starting tomorrow!
To start the series, I would like to share with you a few of my favorite furniture things. While I do love whiskers on kittens and brown paper packages tied up with string, I also love card catalogs and vintage desks. Here is a peek into my home and some of the treasures that call to my vintage-loving heart.
Antique library card catalogs have historically escaped me. Some escaped me via a faster driver from Craigslist, while others were simply out of my budget. However, one day, as my husband and I were strolling through an antique mall, we spotted this beauty — just in time for our anniversary! I had to wait around the corner to wait for another admirer to walk away before we swooped it and lugged it home. It was so serendipitous, and indeed, this vintage card catalog is one of my very favorite things. It has transformed many times — from a buffet in my dining room holding silverware — to its current rendition of a “bookshelf,” inspired by what Darwin may have enjoyed in his home library.
In my world, this is the desk that launched a thousand words. After graduating from college, I started my writing career at this very desk, whose aged lines exuded literary wisdom to me. I took the name of this piece, “a 1930s ladies writing desk,” quite seriously and literally. While my dual monitors and bulky PC tower no longer fit on the desk, I love sitting here on the weekends and typing letters and poems. Another favorite vintage treasure in this photo is the “Paris” hat box, which my husband — on his very own — found in an antique mall for my birthday a few years ago. It was the perfect soul mate to my treasured desk.
Originally from an old San Diego theater, this pair of theater seats is one of my favorite pieces. Not only does the wood patina glow, but it’s amazingly comfortable and ergonomic too! Flip up the seats and there are “hat racks,” perfect for a time where wardrobes were more stylish and culture was gentler. My husband and I drink wine and watch movies from the comfort of these chairs.
Tune in tomorrow for another “a few of my favorite things” installment from a very special guest contributor!